Press release

finMED – Boosting the financing of innovation for green growth sectors through innovative clusters services in the MED area

CTA ORGANISES 5th FINMED CONSORTIUM MEETING

32 attendees from 9 European countries have participated in this meeting that has been held by videoconference

Technological Corporation of Andalusia (CTA) hosted the 5th consortium meeting of FinMED project on 31st March and 1st April. The main project objective is to boost the financing of innovation in sectors linked to ‘green growth’, i.e. sustainable or environmentally friendly, in the Mediterranean region.

32 attendees from 9 European countries participated in this coordination meeting, which was held by videoconference due to the mobility restrictions decreed by the COVID-19 outbreak.

The meeting focused on analyzing the results of the evaluations that have been carried out of the two tools developed by the project: one as a service of the public administrations themselves, and the other to support companies seeking financing in green growth sectors.

In addition, the project partners have started planning the next activities, contextualizing them in the new pandemic scenario. To do this, the Piedmont Region, as project coordinator, has prepared a contingency plan which contemplates possible scenarios for dealing with the risks associated with the current situation.

FinMED is co-funded by the Interreg-MED Programme and brings together 15 partners from 9 European countries (Italy, Greece, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Portugal, Cyprus, Slovenia, France, Malta and Spain). The project is going to last 48 months and has a total budget of 4.3 million Euros.

For further information and to join the network, please contact:

Ioanna Makri

finMED Project Manager

Regional Development Fund (RDF)

i.makri@pta.pdm.gr

or visit our website https://pta.pdm.gr

PRESS RELEASE – ARTICLE

PRESENTATION OF THE REGIONAL ACTION PLAN OF THE REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT FUND OF WESTERN MACEDONIA IN THE FRAME OF THE ECOWASTE4FOOD PROJECT

In January of 2019, the Regional Action Plan of the Regional Development Fund of Western Macedonia, which was drafted in the frame of the ECOWASTE4FOOD project, was approved by the Joint Secretariat of the Interreg Europe program. The ECOWASTE4FOOD project: “Supporting eco-innovation to reduce food waste and promote a better resource efficient economy” addresses the crucial issue of food waste through the exchange of experiences and the improvement of regional policies for the promotion of ecological innovation in the project’s participating authorities, the improvement of regional policies and the promotion of ecological innovation in the project’s participating authorities.

The regional authorities participating in the project committed to work together, exchanging their experiences and know-how, promote in their territories eco-innovations to reduce food waste, as a way to move forward a smart, sustainable and inclusive growth and to improve their own policies during the four years duration of the project, in particular by influencing or even by raising existing European Regional Development Funds (ERDF) within their Regional operational programs 2014-2020.

As a result of this commitment, regional authorities developed Regional Action Plans which aim at influencing the respective policy instruments of each region. Each Regional Action Plan defines actions relevant to the reduction and valorization of food waste whose implementation will be funded by ERDF funds.

The Regional Development Fund of Western Macedonia completed the drafting and the revision of the Regional Action Plan for Western Macedonia through a process that lasted 17 months, started in September of 2017 and ended in January of 2019. The process for the drafting, revision and finalization of the Action Plan is presented in the following diagram.

The process included the following activities:

• Research for eco-innovations in Western Macedonia and Greece and communication with the stakeholders-enterprises that apply them, in order to analyze the eco-innovations and to instigate their participation to project activities. The research began in September of 2017, was completed in February of 2018 and resulted in the identification of significant eco-innovations in Western Macedonia and Greece concerning the reduction and valorization of food waste and in creating interest from stakeholders to participate to the project’s activities.
• Participation to interregional workshops of the project that took place in different project regions and aimed at exchanging experiences and know-how in the reduction and valorization of food waste between partners and stakeholders from all project regions.
• Implementation of five cross-visits and one ad-hoc visit for the exchange of experience in Ferarra, Italy, in Poznan, Poland, in Seinajoki, Finland, in Devon, England and in Marseille, France. The objective of the visits was the presentation by regional stakeholders to representatives of stakeholders from other project regions including Western Macedonia, of eco-innovations and good practices in management of food waste.
• Organization of a cross-visit in Western Macedonia in April of 2018 during which the Regional Development Fund of Western Macedonia hosted stakeholders from the rest of the project regions and innovative practices for the management of food waste presented.
• Organization of six stakeholders’ meetings in Kozani with regional stakeholders from Western Macedonia aiming at:
  • informing stakeholders,
  • exchanging views about the needs of Western Macedonia in relation to food waste and to the support of food waste initiatives,
  • involving stakeholders in project activities and in the formulation of the final Action Plan.
• Organization of the Peer-Review workshop in Thessaloniki, on December 2018, for the peer-review of the Regional Action Plans.

The Regional Action Plan of the Regional Development Fund of Western Macedonia was the result of the aforementioned actions of experience exchange through the following steps:

• Identification of stakeholders from Western Macedonia and definition of their role in the Regional Action Plan.
• Analysis of the internal and external environment of the Region of Western Macedonia to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats as well as obstacles and requirements based on the technological, economic, legal, environmental and social context.
• Connection of ECOWASTE4FOOD good practices, identified as suitable to be transferred to the Region of Western Macedonia, to the Regional Action Plan.
• Definition of strategic objectives, priorities and timeplan for the achievement of the Action Plan’s main objective.
• Specification of actions and of the parameters of each action of the Regional Action Plan.

The main target of the Regional Action Plan is to avoid food waste through the implementation of actions aiming at reducing and / or valorizing food waste in the Region of Western Macedonia and through the definition of specific actions that could be include in Thematic Priority 3: Improvement of competitiveness of SMEs of the Regional Operational Programme of Western Macedonia 2014-2020. More specifically, the Regional Action Plan targets  investment priority 3a: “Promotion of entrepreneurship, especially through the facilitation of financial valorization of new ideas and the support of the foundation of new businesses including business incubators” of the Operational Programme of Western Macedonia. Indicative types of actions of this Investment Priority include actions of supporting businesses in the application of innovations and/or results of research and technology.

The actions which are included in the Action Plan of RDFWM and are proposed to be integrated in the ROP Western Macedonia 2014-2020, are the following:

1. Reducing food waste at the source: Application of innovative practices and development of new production lines or upgrading and improvement of existing production lines for the valorization of food waste or residues that are produced from the productive process
2. Re-use of products which are considered today to be unusable or could not be sold: Application of innovative practices for the valorization of food waste resulting for the development of new products.

The calls of the Managing Authority of the Operational Programme of Western Macedonia which will include the actions of the Regional Action Plan, are expected within the first four months of 2019.

More information about the ECOWASTE4FOOD project and the Regional Action Plan can be found at:

https://www.interregeurope.eu/ecowaste4food/

http://www.pta.pdm.gr

PRESS RELEASE

Organization of the Forum for the presentation of the Regional Action Plan in the frame of the ECOWASTE4FOOD project Regional Development Fund of Western Macedonia

January 31, 2019

On Thursday, the 31^st of January 2019, the Forum for the presentation of the Regional Action Plan of the Regional Development Fund of Western Macedonia, in the frame of the ECOWASTE4FOOD project which is co-funded by the Interreg Europe programme, took place.  The project ECOWASTE4FOOD: “Supporting eco-innovation to reduce food waste and promote a better resource efficient economy” is a project that aims at addressing the critical problem of food waste through the exchange of experiences, the improvement of regional policies and the promotion of eco-innovation in participating territories.

Participants in the Forum included representatives of regional development bodies, of enterprises, of public bodies and academic institutions. During the Forum, the actions of the ECOWASTE4FOOD project were presented, along with the experiences gained by stakeholders who participated in its activities, the challenges of the food waste problem for Western Macedonia, relevant initiatives implemented by stakeholders in Western Macedonia, as well as funding opportunities for enterprises of the agri-food sector.

The focus of the Forum was the presentation of the Regional Action Plan of Regional Development Fund of Western Macedonia and the respective selected funding actions for enterprises which will be integrated in the calls of the Thematic Priority 3: Improvement of the competitiveness of SMEs, of the Operational Programme of Western Macedonia 2014-2020.

The last session of the Forum referred to a roundtable discussion with the participation of all attendees about the developmental challenges of the Region of Western Macedonia, proposals and ideas about the establishment of clusters that will address these challenges and the potential planning for their establishment.

Finally, a press conference was given in the frame of the forum by the Governor of Western Macedonia, Mr. Theodoros Karypidis and the Director of the Regional Development Fund of Western Macedonia, Mr. Dimitrios Mavromatidis about the project ECOWASTE4FOOD and the Regional Action Plan for the Region of Western Macedonia.

More information about the ECOWASTE4FOOD project can be found at https://www.interregeurope.eu/ecowaste4food/.

PRESS RELEASE

Forum for the presentation of the Regional Action Plan in the frame of the ECOWASTE4FOOD project Regional Development Fund of Western Macedonia

January 31, 2019

On Friday the 31^st of January 2019, the Forum, for the presentation of the Regional Action Plan of the Regional Development Fund of Western Macedonia, in the frame of the ECOWASTE4FOOD project which is co-funded by the Interreg Europe programme, will take place.  The project ECOWASTE4FOOD: “Supporting eco-innovation to reduce food waste and promote a better resource efficient economy” is a project that aims at addressing the critical problem of food waste through the exchange of experiences, the improvement of regional policies and the promotion of eco-innovation in participating territories.

During the Forum, the actions of the ECOWASTE4FOOD project will be presented, along with the experiences gained by stakeholders who participated in its activities, the challenges of the food waste problem for Western Macedonia, relevant initiatives implemented by stakeholders in Western Macedonia, as well as the Regional Action Plan of Regional Development Fund of Western Macedonia and the respective selected funding actions for enterprises.

The Regional Action Plan which is the main result of the 1^st Phase of the ECOWASTE4FOOD project, aims at reducing food waste through actions of reducing and valorizing food waste in the Region of Western Macedonia, and also to define specific actions which aim at the integration in Thematic Priority 3: Improvement of the competitiveness of SMEs, of the Operational Programme of Western Macedonia 2014-2020.

The Forum is addressed to all enterprises which are active in the fields of food and innovation, to business support organizations and public bodies of the Region of Western Macedonia.

More information about the ECOWASTE4FOOD project can be found at https://www.interregeurope.eu/ecowaste4food/.

PRESS RELEASE

END OF PHASE 1 OF THE ECOWASTE4FOOD PROJECT

The 1^st Phase of the ECOWASTE4FOOD project, which is co-funded by the Interreg Europe program, was completed successfully.

The ECOWASTE4FOOD project (Supporting eco-innovation to reduce food waste and promote a better resource efficient economy) addresses the crucial issue of food waste through the exchange of experiences and the improvement of regional policies for the promotion of ecological innovation in the project’s participating authorities, the improvement of regional policies and the promotion of ecological innovation in the project’s participating authorities.

The project started on the 1/1/2017 and it will be completed by the 31/12/2020. The ECOWASTE4FOOD project led by CIHEAM-IAMM from France brings together seven City and Regional Authorities from seven countries throughout Europe. The Regional Development Fund of Western Macedonia / Region of Western Macedonia is a partner of the project while the rest of the partners are the Wielkopolska Region from Poland, the City of Ferrara from Italy, the Regional Council of South Ostrobothnia from Finland, the Regional Council of South Region from France, the Devon County Council from the UK and the Waste Agency of Catalonia from Spain.

The ECOWASTE4FOOD project addresses the crucial issue of food waste, not only to stop an unacceptable situation which causes the loss of up to 50% of the agricultural production which is not consumed or is consumed in a wrong way regarding health concerns, but also to demonstrate that food waste could be a raw material which is resource efficient and environmentally friendly economy-wise.

Local and regional authorities and the project partners have committed to work together, exchanging their experiences and learning from each other, to promote in their territories eco-innovations to reduce food waste, as a way to move forward a smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. These public authorities have committed themselves to improve their own policies during the four years duration of the project, in particular by influencing or even by raising existing European Regional Development Funds (ERDF) within their City or Regional operational program 2014-2020 or equivalent.

In Phase 1 of the project, seven (7) cross-visits to the project’s regions were implemented, in order for every partner and local stakeholders of the hosting region, to present to selected representatives of stakeholders and businesses from the rest of the ECOWASTE4FOOD project areas, relevant to the project’s topics good practices and eco-innovations for the reduction and exploitation of food waste. RDFWM attended four (4) cross-visits along with local businesses and stakeholders from Western Macedonia as well as one (1) Ad-Hoc meeting which took place in the South Region in France. Furthermore, it hosted one (1) cross-visit in Western Macedonia in April of 2018. The result of these visits was for RDFWM and stakeholders and businesses to gain important experiences which were valorized in the drafting of the Regional Action Plan of RDFWM as well as in the synthesis of investment ideas from participating businesses.

In the frame of the Regional Action Plan drafting, RDFWM hosted six (6) stakeholders’ meetings in order to inform local stakeholders relevant to the project’s fields about the project, to exchange views with regards to the needs of the Region of Western Macedonia on the reduction and exploitation of food waste as well as to the needs for enhancing respective initiatives, and to instigate stakeholders in participating in project activities and in formulating the final Action Plan.

Finally, during the 1^st Phase of the project, five (5) Interregional Workshops were organized in different project regions aiming at bringing together partners and stakeholders from all project regions for the exchange of experiences and knowledge in the field of reducing and valorizing food waste.

The implementation of the ECOWASTE4FOOD project is based on the commitment of project partners to consider actions that will address the food waste problem within the Regional Operational Programs which are co-funded by ERDF funds. The end of the 1^st phase of ECOWASTE4FOOD meant also the end of the drafting of the Regional Action Plans of project partners including the Action Plan of RDFWM, which was drafted through consultations with experts of ROP Western Macedonia 2014-2020, representatives of the Managing Authority of the ROP Western Macedonia 2014-2020 and through the peer-review of the plan by ECOWASTE4FOOD partners.

The main target of the Regional Action Plan is to avoid food waste through the implementation of actions aiming at reducing and / or valorizing food waste in the Region of Western Macedonia and through the definition of specific actions that could be include in Thematic Priority 3: Improvement of competitiveness of SMEs of the ROP Western Macedonia 2014-2020.

In this respect, the investment priority of the ROP 2014-2020 of the Region of Western Macedonia that is targeted by the Action Plan is Investment Priority 3a: “Promotion of entrepreneurship, especially through the facilitation of financial valorization of new ideas and the support of the foundation of new businesses including business incubators”. Indicative types of actions of this Investment Priority include actions of supporting businesses in the application of innovations and/or results of research and technology.

The actions which are included in the Action Plan of RDFWM and are proposed to be integrated in the ROP Western Macedonia 2014-2020, are the following:

1. Reducing food waste at the source: Application of innovative practices and development of new production lines or upgrading and improvement of existing production lines for the valorization of food waste or residues that are produced from the productive process
2. Re-use of products which are considered today to be unusable or could not be sold: Application of innovative practices for the valorization of food waste resulting for the development of new products.

After the end of the first phased of the ECOWASTE4FOOD project the second phase of the project follows which concerns the implementation of the Regional Action Plan. The second phase starts in the first two months of 2019 and the pre-defined actions should be completed before the end of 2020.

More information about the ECOWASTE4FOOD project can be found at:  https://www.interregeurope.eu/ecowaste4food/.

AD-HOC VISIT OF THE ECOWASTE4FOOD PROJECT IN MARSEILLES, FRANCE, IN THE FRAME OF EXPERIENCES’ EXCHANGE ACTIONS

The Regional Development Fund of Western Macedonia completed the visits for exchange of experiences in the frame of the ECOWASTE4FOOD, a project co-funded by the Interreg Europe programme, in Marseilles, France. The visit was co-organized with the cooperation of the Region Provence – Alpes – Côte d’Azur (PACA) from France and included visits to local stakeholders and to the offices of the PACA Region.

The Project Manager and the Technical Consultant of the Regional Development Fund of Western Macedonia participated in the Ad-Hoc Visit. The objective of the visit was the review and analysis of the eco-innovations applied in South France and resulted in valorizing and reducing food waste. Furthermore, the objective was the discussion about regional funding programs of investments implemented in the fields of food waste reduction and circular economy, by public and private actors, in PACA Region, so as for the conclusions to be used in the improvement and finalization of the Action Plan of RDFWM for the reduction of food waste in Western Macedonia.

Other participants in the Ad-Hoc Visit included representatives of the Polish Wielkopolska Region due to the common interest with RDFWM in the funding programs of the PACA Region.

The visit lasted 2 days, starting on the 26^th of September 2018 and ending on the 27^th of September. The first day included the visits to the municipality of Châteauneuf-les-Martigues for the presentation of the local program for the reduction of food waste in municipal school restaurants, and to the CETA company in Aubagne for the presentation of ways to use unsold vegetables and fruits of the local cooperative of farmers in the production of high nutritional value food products. The second day included the meeting with representatives of the French PACA region and the Polish Wielkopolska Region. During the meeting, the representative of the PACA region presented the regional funding programs for investments implemented by public and private actors in the fields of circular economy and in the reduction and re-use of food waste. Furthermore, the parameters of the programs that led to their success and how they can be reproduced in the case of Western Macedonia, were discussed.

The Ad-Hoc Visit was the last experience exchange action of the ECOWASTE4FOOD project and closed a circle of visits in different European regions that led to the formulation of the Action Plan for the reduction of food waste in Western Macedonia.

More information about the ECOWASTE4FOOD project at:  https://www.interregeurope.eu/ecowaste4food/.

Stakeholders meeting of the “ECOWASTE4FOOD” project in Western Macedonia

The Regional Development Fund of Western Macedonia / Region of Western Macedonia and stakeholders’ representatives from Western Macedonia of the ECOWASTE4FOOD project, which is co-funded by the Interreg Europe program, attended the stakeholder’s meeting that took place on Friday, July 20, 2018 at the premises of RDFWM in Kozani.

The objectives of the meeting were to review the results of the 4^th Steering Committee as well as of the 4^th Interregional Workshop of the project in Marseille, and the presentation and the discussion of the revised action plan for the Region of Western Macedonia, as this was formulated after the stakeholders’ meeting that took place on the 25^th of May, 2018.

Through discussions that took place during this meeting and will be continued in the next stakeholders’ meetings, the revised action plan was assessed and decisions were taken for the reformulation of the action plan with the aim of finalizing until the end of 2018. During this meeting, the actions of the action plan that were evaluated as the proper ones for their integration in the OP Western Macedonia 2014-2020 were selected, basic parameters of the actions were redefined and new directions were defined for the re-planning and specification of the action plan’s actions.

More information about the ECOWASTE4FOOD project can be found at:  https://www.interregeurope.eu/ecowaste4food/.

4^th Steering Committee (SC4) and 4^th Interregional Stakeholders Workshop in Marseille France, in the frame of the “ECOWASTE4FOOD” project, which is co-funded by the Interreg Europe program and took place on July 3, 2018.

Experts’ & Steering Committee Meetings of the inter- Regional Project EPICAH “Effectiveness of Policy Instruments for Cross-Border Advancement in Heritage”, co-funded by the Interreg Europe European Program.

Joint Working Sessions: Wednesday 6th June 2018, 13:30 p.m., Kastoria

Study Visit in the Prespas Lakes Area of the  inter- Regional Project EPICAH “Effectiveness of Policy Instruments for Cross-Border Advancement in Heritage”, co-funded by the Interreg Europe European Program.

Wednesday, 6th June 2018, 09:00 a.m., Prespas Lakes Area (Florina)

Study Visit in the city of Kastoria of the  inter- Regional Project EPICAH “Effectiveness of Policy Instruments for Cross-Border Advancement in Heritage”, co-funded by the Interreg Europe European Program.

Tuesday, 5th June 2018, 17:30 p.m., Kastoria

Thematic Seminar of the inter- Regional Project EPICAH “Effectiveness of Policy Instruments for Cross-Border Advancement in Heritage”, co-funded by the Interreg Europe European Program, with the title: “ New approaches given at a local, regional and Cross- Border European cooperation Level on  the Tourism Sector.”

Tuesday, 5th June 2018, 11:00 a.m., Kastoria

Experts’ & Steering Committee Meetings of the inter- Regional Project EPICAH “Effectiveness of Policy Instruments for Cross-Border Advancement in Heritage”, co-funded by the Interreg Europe European Program.

Parallel Working Sessions: Tuesday 5th June 2018, 08:30 a.m., Kastoria

Thematic Seminar of the inter- Regional Project EPICAH “Effectiveness of Policy Instruments for Cross-Border Advancement in Heritage”, co-funded by the Interreg Europe European Program, with the title: “ New approaches in the Field of Tourism on the level of a local, regional, Cross- Border and European cooperation.”

5th June 2018, 11:00 a.m., Kastoria

3rd Workshop Meeting of the  inter- Regional Project EPICAH “Effectiveness of Policy Instruments for Cross-Border Advancement in Heritage”, co-funded by the European Program Interreg Europe.

Thursday, 24th May 2018, 09:00 a.m., Kozani, Regional Development Fund of Western Macedonia (ZEP Building)

Stakeholders’ Meeting of the project ECOWASTE4FOOD “Supporting eco­innovation to reduce food waste and promote a better resource efficient economy”, co-funded by the European Program Interreg Europe.

Friday, 25th May 2018, 9:00 a.m., Kozani, Regional Development Fund of Western Macedonia (ZEP Building)

7th Cross-Visit in Western Macedonia of the project ECOWASTE4FOOD Supporting eco­innovation to reduce food waste and promote a better resource efficient economy” co-funded by the European Program Interreg Europe.

Wednesday – Thursday 2nd – 4^th May 2018, Kozani, Grevena, Ptolemaida

3rd International Thematic Workshop of the project for 2^nd chance entrepreneurship REBORN: “Embracing Failure to encourage entrepreneurship and competitiveness”, co-funded by the European Program Interreg Europe.

Morning session: “Capacity building for entrepreneurs.”
Wednesday, 11th April 2018, 10:00 a.m. Kozani

Afternoon session: Study visit at The Chamber of Commerce
Wednesday, 11th April 2018, 16:00 p.m., Kozani

3rd Steering Committee Meeting of the project for 2^nd chance entrepreneurship REBORN: “Embracing Failure to encourage entrepreneurship and competitiveness”, co-funded by the European Program Interreg Europe.

Thursday, 12th April 2018, 08:30 a.m., Kozani

Technical Meeting of the project for 2^nd chance entrepreneurship REBORN: “Embracing Failure to encourage entrepreneurship and competitiveness”, co-funded by the European Program Interreg Europe.

Friday, 30th March 2018 19:00 p.m., Technical Chamber of Greece/ Department of Western Macedonia, Kozani

Stakeholders’ Meeting of the project for 2^nd chance entrepreneurship REBORN: “Embracing Failure to encourage entrepreneurship and competitiveness”, cofunded by the European Program Interreg Europe.

Friday, 30th March 2018 18:00 p.m., Technical Chamber of Greece/ Department of Western Macedonia, Kozani