The Regional Development Fund of Western Macedonia (RDF Western Macedonia) and the National Center for Research & of Technological Development (EKETA), project partners «GREENSMARTMED – Green and Resilient European Excellence Network for Smart MED SMEs», whose main objective is to promote “green industry”, they carried out 23rd May 2025 and 13th June 2025 respectively, at the headquarters of the Regional Development Fund, ZEP Kozani, the actions, «1 Workshop meeting Living Lab with participating agencies of the Region of Western Macedonia» and «2 Workshop meeting Living Lab– Stakeholders Workshop, Training Seminar» with participating organizations and Wine and Cheese businesses of the Region of Western Macedonia.
Its purpose 1 Workshop Meeting Living Lab was the dissemination of the project objectives and the application of the GREENSMARTMED methodology to inform the stakeholders of the Western Macedonia Region about current funding opportunities, European and National funding tools, available for submission. For this reason, Program invitations were presented Life 2025, the invitations 61 «Strengthening the sustainable development and competitiveness of enterprises / Business recovery in the Region of Western Macedonia” of the Program “WESTERN MACEDONIA” NSRF 2021 – 2027, 62 “Strengthening the sustainable development and competitiveness of enterprises / Business start-up in the Region of Western Macedonia” of Program “WESTERN MACEDONIA” NSPA 2021 – 2027 and the invitation “Support for investment in the processing, marketing and/or development of agricultural products” in Intervention Π3-73-2.3 of the Strategic Plan of the common Agricultural Policy 2023 -2027.
The goal that was set was to create synergies between local entities for the utilization of financial sources centered on the protection of the environment and the circular economy. In this context, GREENSMARTMED will continue to actively support the local working groups that have been formed, with an emphasis on agro-food (Cheese and Wine sectors).
At 2 Workshop meeting Living Lab– Stakeholders Workshop, Training Seminar with participating organizations and Wine and Cheese businesses of the Region of Western Macedonia an approach was carried out to businesses operating in the Region of Western Macedonia, with the help of representatives of the agencies that staff the working groups.
Representatives of the Board of Directors of the Cluster of Cheesemakers of Western Macedonia, wineries of Western Macedonia, the Special Management Service of the “Western Macedonia” Program (EYD) of the Region of Western Macedonia, the Directorate of Private Investments and Innovation of the Region of Western Macedonia, the Smart Specialization Structure of the Regional Fund participated of Development of Western Macedonia (RIS/RDF DM Structure), of the GEOTECHNICAL CHAMBER OF GREECE – WESTERN MACEDONIA BRANCH and ANKO WESTERN MACEDONIA S.A. – DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATION OF LOCAL SELF-GOVERNMENT.
Through the interactive workshop and the training seminar that followed, the companies were informed about the current financing opportunities, European and National financing tools, their individual specificities and the proposal submission process. Also, with the help of ANKO, they were informed about the possibilities of developing their extroversion. At the same time, they had the opportunity to express their needs and concerns to local public bodies and lay the foundations for the creation of joint working groups.
