Up2Circ

Up2Circ will demonstrate a replicable pathway to motivate and effectively support SMEs to innovate and transform towards sustainable growth and adresses the need of EU innovation support ecosystems to better join forces and make best use of synergies in order to enable a quick and comprehensive transition of Europe's SMEs towards a circular economy on a large scale. With the Up2Circ-Accelerator the project accompanies SMEs from exploration of opportunities to concrete implementation projects concerning the uptake of circular business model, product and process innovation, focussing on achievable innovation measures with clear mid-term benefits for the SMEs. Up2Circ is dismantling barriers with a customized, client-centric advisory approach and gives access to specific expertise and skills that SMEs need to develop a concrete action plan on how to transition. Learning modules of Up2Circ-Academy will connect sustainable innovation, the uptake of advanced technologies and social innovation aspects under the holistic concept of a circular economy and will be compiled based on existing results and in close cooperation with EU networks and initiatives such as ATI, EDIH, ECCP, EIT and OITB. Up2Circ methodology and materials will be made available to SME innovation advisors and trainings will be offered targeting e.g. EEN sustainability advisors to upscale project results. Further, to increase efficiency of EU innovation support ecosystems, four leveraging effects will be demonstrated and exploited: Make use of existing results, reach out more efficiently to SMEs, make use of complementary strengths, establish closer connections.