Projects

As cities continue to grow, so is the number of challenges they are facing. Environmental, economic or social emerging issues call for new and unproven urban solutions. The increasing need for urban innovation will result in the development of a significant number of smart cities initiatives, creating new business opportunities for Mediterranean SMEs. If we want our cities to be efficiently managed and more livable for communities, public authorities and SMEs have to work together to come up with the best technological solutions. SME4SMARTCITIES will make this collaboration possible by reinforcing the capacities of  Mediterranean cities and SMEs. On the one the hand, the project will help cities to be the front-runners of innovation, in particular through the use of Public Procurement of Innovative solutions. On the other hand, the project will support Mediterranean SMEs in order to guarantee that their products and services meet the expectations and needs of smart cities.

Most models of tourism in the Mediterranean area are based on mass tourism and follow a fragmented vision of the region as a sum of different markets. Med Pearls aims at internationally positioning the Mediterranean as a unique and integral destination to experience the Med lifestyle through SlowTourism (ST), inviting travellers to discover sustainably and responsibly new destinations while taking time to have direct contact with local communities. The project will deliver a set of 26 new ST products created by local Destination Management Companies (DMCs) and ICT enterprises thanks to financial and technical support called Product Development and Innovation Facilities. The idea is to create similar experiences based on the typology of products and themes agreed among partners, therefore, visitors will live similar experiences, of the same quality, in any of the 13 areas targeted by Med Pearls. The project will address both local and international markets, like the USA, Canada, Northern Europe, Russia or Asia, organising a comprehensive commercialisation and marketing strategy. 

The overall objective of MPA-ENGAGE is to promote the role of MPAs as nature-based solutions for the implementation ofEcAp to CC adaptation: The QUINTUPLE HELIX (MPAs, socio-eco actors, local/regional authorities, scientists and citizens)from 8 countries will cooperate towards adapting the management of 7 Med MPAs to CC impacts. The engagement, for thefirst time, of citizen scientists (recreational divers) and small-scale fishery actors will be essential.

As further step of the previous “Cosmetics4Wellbeing” (COSME-Cluster Go International strand 1), Global Cosmetics Cluster -Europe (GCC.eu) is a 24 months project that intends to confirm a leading role in the representation of the cosmetics sector at the European stage.   
The general objective of Global Cosmetics Cluster Europe is to implement and test a Joint Internationalization Strategy (JIS) for the European Strategic Cluster Partnership–Going International (ESCP-4i), maximizing the potential of its cross-sectoral nature, developing new value chains and exploiting international opportunities for European SMEs, specially in 5 promising countries : Mexico, South Korea, USA, India, United Arab Emirates. 
To fulfill this objective, a set of Specific Objectives has been agreed among Project Partners :
•To encourage business, international and R&D cooperation across sectorial boundaries
•To focus on supporting SMEs in international accessing markets, in particular through an Acceleration Programme tackling these 5 targeted countries   
•To foster cooperation among cluster organisations and its members in the ESCP-4i
•To support the establishment of value chains (in particular in health, digital, agroindustry, circular economy) along with the cosmetics cross-sectorial industry 
•To develop a governance system and a common branding for the ESCP-4i to ensure active and sustainable collaboration among the different stakeholders;
•To promote and increase the visibility of GCC.eu as a cluster representing the whole value chain on cosmetics:  Aiming at beneficiating, directly and indirectly more than 1.500 SMEs, the GCC.eu is made of 6 Cosmetics and wellbeing Clusters from 5 EU countries and Turkey.