EU-Funded Platform Connects SMEs, Researchers On Green Tech

By Catherine Saez

A European Union-funded initiative is seeking to strengthen the links between small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and the research community on environmental technologies.

GreenEcoNet is coordinated by a consortium of six research networks which specialise in green economy transitions. The website was launched at the end of June to serve as a platform connecting SMEs to each other and “to solutions, to finance, tools and to policy makers,” according to the website.

The platform is expected to include a searchable database of good practices, case studies and tools, and “a series of in-person dialogues and workshops,” according to the website. It is supposed to help connect SMEs, policy-makes and researchers in order “to explore the opportunities, challenges and innovations required for the transition to green economies at a practical level.”

The consortium is composed of the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), an independent international research institute; the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), a EU think-tank working on EU policies; the Green Economy Coalition (GEC), a civil society group working on green economy issues; the Ecologic Institute, a private non-profit think tank for applied environmental research, policy analysis and consultancy; the Joint Implementation Network (JIN), a knowledge centre working on climate change and sustainable development; and the University of Piraeus Research Centre (UPRC) (Greece).