The project identifies three main areas of skills to be improved:
- Entrepreneurial skills to seize opportunities in circular economy processes, with particular focus on the food sector;
- Managerial skills to ensure readiness in adapting to changes during the transition from a traditional economic model to an integrated green/circular/sustainable system;
- Basic skills such as the ability to learn and innovate.
The project aims precisely to address gaps in these areas, primarily by empowering trainers of future entrepreneurs, but also by filling knowledge gaps among policymakers by providing advisory materials to enhance their leadership skills, enabling them to establish the right incentives and create conditions for changing production, transport, and market paradigms.
The project reached several categories of participants, particularly professionals from incubators and accelerators of green startups, universities and research centers, VET and higher education providers, and development agencies, with an estimated total of 400 participants reached by the project.
Goals
- Promote the creation of new startups with a business model based on the circular economy.
- Strengthen and enhance the capacities of trainers by producing a collection of best practices and teaching materials to instruct business coaches on how to guide potential startups in the circular food economy.
- Improve the institutional ecosystem for startups focused on the circular economy by raising policymakers’ awareness to design better legislation.
- Gain a more comprehensive understanding of local trends in circular economy startup creation, with a particular focus on the food sector and in alignment with the Smart Specialisation Strategy (S3).
Results
- The design and development of a Smart Trend Map for circular economy startup creation in Europe, with a particular focus on the food sector.
- The design and development of a concept map of best practices and open-access materials on the circular economy.
- The development and creation of a training materials kit to assist startup trainers and entrepreneurial coaches in supporting new entrepreneurs in the circular economy, with particular focus on food business opportunities.
- Data collection and development of a Policy Library to gather policy advice from partners and stakeholders for the benefit of policymakers and stakeholders.
