Introduction
The Research Centre will aim to analyze the innovative solutions of Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP), particularly addressed to the clusters of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and the local authorities. The Centre will provide an effective support to enterprises oriented to the transfer and the development of innovative renewable energy technologies, a technical and scientific support for the eco-design and the technological innovation of low impact products and services; a support to the local authorities in the definition of sustainable planning tool in urban context. The Centre will represent an interface among the Mediterranean area, the Italian and Maltese Environmental Ministry and the Joint Research Center of the European Commission.
Project Objectives
The general objective of the project is to create a research Centre for environmental sustainability and renewable sources in the Mediterranean area. Specific objectives:
- Creating a stakeholders network for innovation and cooperation between research and industry world;
- Developing, implementing and disseminating tools orientated towards the product and encouraging the dialogue between consumers, industry and supplier in order to enhance the diffusion and the awareness concerning the existence of eco-innovative products;
- Promoting and assessing technology, high efficiency low-carbon products and services;
- Assessing productions dematerialization processes by studying design, plant and technologic solutions aimed at : reducing the use of raw materials by output unit, reducing the consumption of non-renewable resources while increasing those renewable; activating industrial symbiosis mechanisms;
- Supporting the clusters of SMEs for the execution of directives related to eco-design, design of products characterized by better environmental performances, implementation of energy and environmental management systems;
- Providing scientific support for the realization of educational and informative campaigns on sustainable production and consumption;
- Carrying out the role as advisor for public administrations for the definition of Green Public Procurement optimal strategies as well as urban tools orientated towards sustainability and the execution of the Covenant of Majors.
Project Sustainability
The research Centre for environmental sustainability and renewable sources for the Mediterranean area, generated from CRIM-SAFRI project will carry on providing its services to SMEs, to clusters and networks of SMEs, to local authorities of Sicilian and Malta’s territories for not less than 5 year, after the end of the project. The project partners will be involved in the future activities of the Centre through the arrangement of a cooperation network. In order to keep on operating at the end of the project, the Centre will follow three different paths:
- Services path
- Institutional path
- Territorial embedding path
The first path (service) is based on the capacity of the Centre to generate a financial return by means of:
- its own capacity to generate and coordinate projects in the area, firstly the Maltese and Sicilian ones, but in other Mediterranean basin territories, as well (in particular the North African countries and Middle West Countries) and at world-wide scale;
- capacity to intercept European and national funding in the framework of research and eco-innovation, of RES development and of settlement of Territorial Cohesion policies , by participating in Programmes as FP7, IEE, EMPI, MED etc. and in particular in Programmes Jessica and Jeremie that can offer an appropriate development framework both for public sector and private sector.
The second path (institutional) will be based on the investments which the Institutions will be able to ensure after the project closure (e.g. Regions and municipalities), taking into account that the Project set context within the framework of regional and municipal politics priorities. Furthermore, taking into consideration the relation between sustainable politic activities in the national Italian and Maltese framework with the issues addressed and the projects developed by the Centre, it will be possible to involve the national institutions as Centres future sponsors and set the Centre itself in the framework of the institutional governance equilibria. The third path (territorial embedding) is related to the Centre capacity to entrench itself in the territory and to sell its services both to local enterprises and Institutions. The Centre will have the possibility, at the end of the Project, to keep on providing services to territory upon payment. This third form of sustainability will progressively increase its efficacy, as the Center will be able to act at wider range territorial scale, offering its services also at regional, national and international level.
Partnership:
The CRIM-SAFRI is made of the following partners:
- (Coordinator) Regionale Sicilia ‐ Assessorato Regionale Territorio e ambiente ‐ dipartimento urbanistica
- Universita degli studi di Palermo ‐ Dipartimento dell’Energia
- Istituto di biomedicina ed immunologia molecolare
- Regione Sicilia ‐ Assesorato Regionale Dei Beni Culturali e dellÍdentita’Siciliana
- Camera di commercio di Agrigento
- Med O.R.O
- MIEMA
- MCAST
