One Mission, Two Governance Projects

The world has shared a clear signal for a transition to a carbon-neutral, plastic-free, just future. Growing global awareness of plastic pollution and our changing climate has saturated consciousness among diverse demographics. The demand for change is clear.

But how? How can the needed change be realised? How can people be inspired to be part of the change? How can actual, tangible change be leveraged to provide increased security and value for all?

The actual process of creating change, shifting what has been established and introducing new methods, ideas or products is called innovation. To create a fair transition to a circular economy requires innovation. This is why the Innovative Sustainable Economy Mission of the Interreg Euro-MED Programme established two governance projects: Community4Innovation and Dialogue4Innovation. 

The Innovative Sustainable Economy Mission was developed by a highly qualified and transdisciplinary partnership with 43 organisations between the projects’ consortiums and joint associated partners. Opening in January 2023 and running through September 2029, Community4Innovation and Dialogie4Innovation confront the urgent global call with tangible pathways for a sustainable model of development that respects planetary boundaries. These programmes incubate innovative technical knowledge to create new solutions, and transfer them into public policies. The programme area covers 14 countries, from Cyprus to Portugal, with a look at the whole Mediterranean Sea basin. This region provides ideal conditions to  work with both the need and opportunity to accelerate the transition towards a green, blue, circular, and inclusive economy. 

Programming is designed to contribute to:

• Facilitation, exploitation and reuse of knowledge, experiences, and project results among stakeholders.
• Facilitation of the transfer of  results to other stakeholders, programmes and territories and mainstreaming into local, regional, national, and European policies.
• Increase of coordination between stakeholders covering the Mediterranean based on shared knowledge, experiences, and results.

Community4Innovation

The Community4Innovation consortium is integrated by 10 partners from Spain, Italy, Greece, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Belgium, France, and Bulgaria. As the successor of the Green Growth Community, the programme continues to be coordinated by BETA Technological Centre and will run through 2029. As an Interreg Euro-MED Thematic Community Project, Community4Innovation aims to strengthen the innovative sustainable economy (ISE) in the Mediterranean region. 

Community4Innovation supports ISE specifically by developing and enhancing research and innovation capacities for the uptake of technologies. Community4Innovation provides a platform for relevant stakeholders and institutions to engage with one another and foster collaboration. In this manner, solutions for common challenges can be exchanged and promoted to transfer novel practices to other actors and territories, with the aim to integrate the solutions into tangible policies and strategies. 

The Community4Innovation plan envisages recurrent opportunities to tackle both top-down (UfM, UNEP/MAP, IDP, regional authorities) and bottom-up (TP, end-users) needs. Overall coordination is set to ensure collaboration with relevant institutions and contribute to the implementation of the UfM GreenerMed Agenda and the UfM Ministerial Declaration on Sustainable Blue Economy, as well as to the Mediterranean Strategy for Sustainable Development and UNEP/MAP Medium term Strategy 2022-2027 for the overall achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.

The main outputs of the programme are designed to produce a set of integrated and mutually reinforcing activities that support the overarching Innovative Sustainable Economy Mission. The activities will build capacity and transfer knowledge to Business Support Organisations, NGOs and public authorities. 

These activities include:

• Activation of a Community of Practice as a process of collective knowing and learning among projects through transnational cooperation
  Map of potential target groups, stakeholders, networks and innovative projects.
• An interactive Catalogue of Actionable Knowledge; a compilation of solutions that are available in the field of ISE.
• Commencement of the animated Innovative Sustainable Economy Community Hub to establish a strong and multi-sectoral network in the field of ISE to amplify synergies and facilitate the replicability of solutions in the whole Mediterranean region.
• Support for challenge-driven stakeholders alliances.
• Organisation of Mediterranean Innovation Events to build capacity and foster joint advocacy activities that contribute to the implementation of key policies, strategies, agendas, declarations, and action plans for the overall achievement of the SDGs.

MedWaves’s role:  

MedWaves is the only partner involved in both governance projects, playing a crucial role in fostering collaboration and knowledge transfer.

MedWaves contributes its expertise in circular economy, green and blue growth, and acts as a direct link to the Barcelona Convention and UNEP/MAP activities.

Within the C4I project, and being involved in both the C4I and D4I, MedWaves plays a key role as co-leader of WP3 Coordination. Thanks to its strong expertise in policy development and its close relationships with institutional and governmental stakeholders, MedWaves is main partner for Activity 3.1 – Community4Innovation Strategy and Coordination, as well as leading Activity 2.6 – Mainstreaming through Policy Labs, which complements the “Implementation of the Transformative Innovation Policy Lab in the Mediterranean” activity within the D4I project, and Activity 3.4 – Advocacy Activities, which includes the Advocacy Strategy leading to the development of three policy papers.

Additionally, MedWaves is the main partner for several other key activities, such as the ISE Community of Practice (Act. 1.4), including drafting white papers for the Industrial Transition cluster; Capacity Building for TPs (Act. 1.5); the Peer-Review Process (Act. 1.6); the Mediterranean Innovative Sustainable Economy Hub (Act. 2.3); Capacity Strengthening for Takers (Act. 2.4); Transfer through Capacity Strengthening for Takers (Act. 2.5), including mentoring and twinning between givers and takers; and Synergies with Other Programmes and Initiatives (Act. 3.3).

Furthermore, MedWaves is also a main contributor to several other activities, including among others, the Observatory for Innovative Sustainable Economy in the Mediterranean (Act. 1.2); Mapping of Potential Target Groups, Stakeholders, and Networks for the Open Monitoring Platform (Act. 1.3); MED Innovation Days (Act. 1.9); and the Interreg EuroMED Academy: Creation of Content (Act. 2.2).

In addition, as leader of the C4I Advocacy Activities, MedWaves participates in the Liaising4Advocacy Working Group, reflecting its dual role within the project.