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.

Dialogue4Innovation

The need for a transition to a just and circular economy requires improved governance. The work to support policy makers and truly Improve governance for a more innovative and sustainable economy actually requires an all of society approach. Dialogue4Innovation engages a large network of organisations from public sector, business, research and civil society. In order to build capacity among policy makers and stakeholders to be able to meet the Sustainable Development Goals more effectively, the programme works with territorial actors through Transformative innovation policy labs (TIPL). 

Dialogue4Innovation is an opportunity to create and sustain long-lasting, improved conditions for institutional and social dialogue in the Mediterranean region. The programme bridges transnational matters with local solutions, increasing coordination, policy coherence and alignment of actions for an innovative sustainable economy. 

The Dialogue4Innovation platform mobilises Mediterranean stakeholders to foster more open, inclusive and effective governance by increasing visibility and relevance of the Mediterranean instances at the European and international levels. To amplify its impact, the programme supports MED challenge-driven multi-actor alliances. 

Building on the outcomes of the Interreg Euro-Med thematic projects, Dialogue4Innovation narrows the gap among policy priorities at local, regional, national, Mediterranean and European level. Co-funded by the Interreg Euro-MED program, the programme will contribute and work in synergy with Community4Innovation to achieve the objectives of strengthening the Innovative Sustainable Economy (ISE) in the Mediterranean.

The consortium is coordinated by the Emilia-Romagna Region and is formed by 10 organisations, from 6 countries (Italy, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, France, Bulgaria, and Spain).  

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 D4I project, and being involved in both the C4I and D4I, MedWaves plays a key role as leader partner of WP1 RE-USE, aiming at narrowing the gap between the TPs’ outcomes and  policy priorities, through a more systemic and integrated mapping and visualisation of innovation projects’ outcomes, fostering the opening of collaborative networks, and identifying policy priorities in the Mission area.

Additionally, MedWaves is the main partner for several other activities, such as the Implementation and Replication of the Transformative Innovation Policy Labs in the Mediterranean (Act.2.2 and Act.2.5), complementing Activity 2.6 – Mainstreaming through Policy Labs of the C4I project, as well Activity 3.1–Innovative Sustainable Economy Community Hub (ISEC Hub), leading MedWaves pillar COLLABORATE, to identify and establish regional hubs and build synergies, and foster a unified Mediterranean voice to foster coherent and impactful policy messages. Moreover, it is the main partner for the drafting of Common Key Policy Papers (Act.3.3), outcomes of the D4I Advocacy Activities. 

Furthermore, MedWaves is also a main contributor to several other activities, including, among others, Capacity-building for transformative innovation policies (Act.2.4), Contribution to the Euro-MED Academy (Act.2.6), and ISEC Innovation Camps (Act.3.3).

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