ANNUAL REPORT 2018
Greenovate! Europe is a European Economic Interest Group (EEIG) headquartered in Brussels, Belgium, which was founded on 27 August 2007. Operations formally started on 1 October 2007.
This report covers the eleventh financial year (01.01.2018 – 31.12.2018)
President Gosse Hiemstra (Van der Meer en Van Tilburg) Vice-President Michael Heidenreich (MH Consulting) Board Anna Sager (RISE) Charalambos Panayiotou (Atlantis Environment & Innovation) Karen Hamann (IFAU) Rasmus Egvad (Gate2Growth) Tiziana Pagano (DOWEL Management) Managing Director Vicky Mosteyrin Perdiguero
Registered Address Rue d’Arlon 63-65, 1040 Brussels, Belgium
Phone +32 (0)2 400 10 09 Website www.greenovate-europe.eu Registration Place and Number Brussels, Belgium: BE 0 891 742 279
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CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION [4] EXECUTIVE SUMMARY [5] WHO WE ARE [6] OUR MEMBERS [7] COMMUNICATION [10] POLICY [12] PROJECTS [14] OUR TEAM [22]
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INTRODUCTION
The outcome of the recruitment has been that in June Vicky Mosteyrin joined us as new Managing Director. She has taken up the responsibility very successfully. Now it feels like she has always been with us. In the meantime the execution of the projects went on and we attracted also some new ones. Looking at the projects that we as a group have done and are still engaged in, gives me a sense of success. Together we have been contributing significantly to the development of a more sustainable Europe. And we will keep doing that: it is great to be a part of!
Looking back, 2018 has been an exciting year.
Together with you I look forward to a rewarding 2019.
We started with the recruitment of a new Managing Director for Greenovate! Europe. We thank again our outgoing managing directors, Astrid Severin and Katharina Krell, for their 10 years of service, which strongly contributed to the success of Greenovate! Europe.
Gosse Hiemstra CEO of Van der Meer & van Tilburg President of Greenovate! Europe EEIG Member of the Board
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
2018 has been a year of change and transition.
June was Katharina and Astrid’s last month as Managing Directors. Greenovate! Europe will always be indebted to them for their commitment, hard work and inspiration. Still it has been a very productive year for Greenovate! Europe. New Members joined our network, with the entry of Geonardo and Prospex Institute expanding both our geographic coverage and fields of expertise.
and MEMAN, which have been both a great success and a great window for Greenovate! Europe: a springboard for future collaborations. These projects are the final expression of our vision: to foster eco-innovation, green business, and sustainability.
We supporting our Members in the implementation of twelve EU funded projects, and coordinated the acquisition of two very challenging and promising projects: SCALIBUR and RUBIZMO.
Special mention must go to the brilliant Secretariat team, who have shown a great level of professionalism, no matter the changes and challenges at hand.
Both projects foresee key roles for many of our Members: in total over two million Euros were raised for our Members through these new projects.
Always remembering, that the challenges of today, are opportunities tomorrow!
2018 was also the closing year for landmark projects such as Best Paths
Vicky Mosteyrin Perdiguero Managing Director
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WHO WE ARE
Greenovate! Europe is an independent expert group dedicated to the development of sustainable business. Our members are experienced professionals with industry and technical know-how, who are able to implement innovative processes along the entire value chain – from research to market.
20 members from 11 EU countries
Together we offer the pooled experience of over 500 innovation advisors and 2,000 technical experts from 11 European countries.
Europe’s leading eco-innovation network
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FOSTERING COOPERATION
We promote cooperation between our members in a number of ways. Our monthly members-only newsletter highlights funding opportunities and updates from within our network. Physical meetings remain important too. In June during our General Assembly we hosted workshops to develop new proposals. In the evening after the General Assembly we hosted our traditional wine tasting, networking reception and BBQ with over 100 guests from the European Institutions and the Brussels’ sustainability sector.
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In December our General Assembly was hosted by ATB – the Leibniz Institute for Agricultural Engineering and Bioeconomy – in Potsdam. As well as discussing new opportunities, we were able to visit the ATB facilities.
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COMMUNICATION
We like to tell people what we are up to and provide updates on eco-innovation policies, programmes and projects.
18 new videos
8000 web users
17 new updates
35 news articles
400+ new followers
One new own publication
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NETWORKING & REPRESENTATION
In the name of networking - and keeping our finger on the pulse of EU developments - we are attending a number of events each year. Here is a selection from 2018: • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Digital Platforms for Manufacturing Grids meet Renewables EU Industry Days Factories of the Future for the Automotive Sector Sustainability benchmarking of advanced construction materials Effective stakeholder and public engagement in the bioeconomy Energy transition in Europe's regions Innovative bio-based products: Investment, Environmental Impacts and Future Perspectives The EU's vision for a modern, clean and competitive economy EU Bioeconomy conference ECTP conference Policy options for a reliable European electricity grid Forum for the Future of Agriculture EU circular businesses conference
We are also happy to have the opportunity to present the group at a number of significant events each year.
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POLICY
We monitor EU policy developments and respond to consultations on behalf of our members. During our General Assembly in June a number of EU officials updated us on developments in G!E strategic areas.
We are a founding member of the Innovation for Sustainable Development Network (inno4sd.net), a global network for considering how innovation can encourage sustainable development, and how policy-makers can support the transition. In November, the fourth inno4sd symposium was held. A new initiative was launched to create an international alliance of parties interested in the promotion and use of knowledge, science, technology and innovation to support the sustainable development goals (SDGs).
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We also use our knowledge to advise policy makers. In 2018, we were contracted by the Interreg Europe programme to act as Thematic Experts for their Policy Learning Platform on Low Carbon Economy. Together with our member GreenMatters we produce policy briefs, analyse and validate best practices, and provide advice to public authorities across Europe. We also facilitated the first ever Policy Learning Platform peer review: a new service that allows managing authorities of structural funds programmes and public bodies in charge of local or regional development policies to receive hands-on feedback and advice on a certain policy topic. The peer review was requested by the region of Hautsde-France, and focused on how to improve the absorption of structural funds for energy efficiency in social housing and public buildings.
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PROJECTS
In 2018 Greenovate! Europe members and secretariat worked together on twelve Horizon 2020 projects.
Buildings and Smart Cities
Resource efficient manufacturing
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Electricity
Bioeconomy and Rural Development
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PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS Buildings and Smart Cities
In March we coordinated a stand at Ecobuild trade fair, the UK’s largest event for sustainable building products. Hundreds of construction professionals were introduced to ISOBIO’s innovative bio-based solutions: new scalable natural products with improved resistance to fire and decay.
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Together with members CluBE and Michael Heidenreich we organised the first of a series of 16 capacity building workshops in Cluj-Napoca in October. These workshops are key milestones in the replication activities of the STARDUST project, and are entirely focused on accompanying the so-called Follower cities through the process of developing Replication Plans by the end of the project.
We organised the final conference of the EU-GUGLE project in Madrid in December. Participants discussed the solutions related to sustainable building refurbishment and resilient urban planning across Europe, while showcasing best practices from the EUGUGLE pilot cities, where over 180,000 square metres of living space was renovated across Europe.
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PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS Resource efficient manufacturing
The MEMAN project ended in June. The project successfully developed a toolbox and methodology for increasing resource efficiency in metal mechanic value chains. We had a busy few months working on exploitation and dissemination of the project results, including through a final publication, a series of videos, and a conference in Brussels.
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Electricity
Best Paths was the largest energy project funded in FP7 and developed solutions for efficient and powerful electricity transmission. During the final year of the project we helped organise stakeholder workshops at each of the five demonstration sites. In September we hosted a policy conference, where 120 experts came together to learn about the project achievements and discuss how to upgrade the European electricity grid. Best Paths partners also produced recommendations to policy makers on how the project technologies can be replicated and to how to overcome the barriers for their wide deployment.
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PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS Bioeconomy and Rural Development
The ButaNexT – next generation biobutanol – project ended with a bang in April. We led dissemination for the project and organised a policy conference in Brussels on advanced biofuels. We also arranged for Euronews to produce a video about the project, bringing the results into Europe’s living rooms.
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Our new RUBIZMO project launched in May. This is a project we are especially proud of – we led the proposal writing and many of our members are involved. The project will work to identify the vital ingredients for developing rural entrepreneurship and successful business models in high potential sectors such as food and agriculture, bio-based value chains and services.
SCALIBUR – Scalable technologies for bio-urban waste recovery – held its kick off meeting in November, at the premises of the coordinator ITENE. The €10 million project will demonstrate value chains for new high-added-value products from biowaste. Three Greenovate! Europe members are involved in the project together with the Secretariat.
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OUR TEAM
VICKY MOSTEYRIN PERDIGUERO MANAGING DIRECTOR Vicky joined Greenovate! Europe in June 2018 as Managing Director and has responsibility for the day-to-day management of the organisation, acquisition of new business, as well as networking and representation.
GUILLAUME CORRADINO DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS Guillaume is responsible for supervision and control of EU contracts implementation and coordinates the acquisition of new contracts. He has additional responsibilities in project management and recruitment of new members. Projects: EU-GUGLE, Sinfonia, ButaNexT, Stardust
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SIMON HUNKIN POLICY & KNOWLEDGE MANAGER Simon is responsible for policy monitoring, developing position papers and managing policy-focused projects. Projects: Interreg Europe Policy Learning Platform, ADVANCEFUEL, inno4sd.net
VALERIA MAZZAGATTI EVENTS & COMMUNICATION MANAGER Valeria leads and contributes to communication and dissemination activities in several projects in the field of energy, environment and sustainability. Projects: Best Paths, MEMAN
BÉNÉDICTE JULLIARD PROJECT MANAGER Bénédicte is a project manager, who is often working on proposal writing. She also assists the management with financial administration. Projects: BIOrescue, RUBIZMO
JAMES LING PROJECT MANAGER James is a project manager who is also responsible for producing the G!E newsletter and organising member events. Projects: Bio4Products, ISOBIO, SCALIBUR
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Stay in touch
We’re always interested to talk about new projects. +32 2400 10 09
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