ISE Community of Practice
The Innovative Sustainable Economy Community of Practice (ISE CoP) comprises the Thematic Projects (TPs) and Governance Projects of the ISE Mission by offering a space of collective knowing and learning to improve the projects’ impact. We are currently 155 connected partners from 18 countries with a well representation of the 4-ple helix to strengthening Innovative Sustainable Economy in the Mediterranean. The ISE CoP comprises 53 public authorities, 40 academia and research organisations, 32 private sector stakeholders, and 30 partners representing civil society and NGOs. It is formed by 4 focus areas that cluster its current 14 TPs around Marine Resources, Agri-food Systems, Industrial Transition, and Resource Valorisation topics by testing and amplifying innovative and circular solutions. Discover more about the ISE CoP below!
Marine Resources
Marine resources thematic aims to encompass economic activities related to oceans, seas, and coasts. In other words, this thematic refers to specific blue economy sectors such as aquaculture, fisheries, blue biotechnologies, marine renewable energy, among others.
The Mediterranean Sea hosts a diverse array biological, mineral and energy resources. These resources range from animal, plant, coral, metals, fuels, sand and gravel, natural gas, and potential renewable energy resources such as wind, tidal, wave, and biomass.
Nevertheless, despite the abundance of marine resources, the Mediterranean Sea is highly impacted by overfishing, ocean acidification, lack of marine spatial planning cooperation and coordination to further implement different economic activities such as offshore wind farms, all related to intense anthropogenic activities and unsustainable management of these resources.
Therefore, sustainable innovative solutions testing new collaborative and spatial planning approaches to implement different sustainable business models are key to overcome Mediterranean challenges within the blue economy sectors
Support stakeholders active in the field of marine energy in the decision-making of suitable maritime locations, offshore wind technologies, and energy transfer solutions.
Establish strategic alliances and improve regional policies on blue biotechnologies, promoting new forms of collaborative experimentation.
Implement innovative ecosystem spatial planning approach embedded with circular practices-production systems in close-to-coast and inland waters.
Design, test and validate different methodologies for the mutual learning about Transformative innovation for sustainable Blue Economy sectors.
Agri-food Systems
Agri-food systems refer to those activities and operations covering the journey of food from farm to table, including the whole food value chain, from when it grown, harvested, processed, packaged, transported, distributed, traded, bought, prepared, eaten and disposed of, including the biological cycle of the circular economy approach.
Mediterranean agri-food systems are rich and are characterised by permanent crops such as olives, grapes, citrus and nuts. In addition, there are a strong presence of leguminous, fresh vegetables, cereals and it is often complemented with an extensive presence of livestock.
Agri-food systems in the Mediterranean are highly impacted by more frequent and intense extreme climatic events (i.e., droughts and floods), jointly with land degradation and salinization of coastal soils and waters.
Therefore, sustainable innovative solutions working in adapting current farming practices into more resilient and regenerative ones, applying more sustainable methods, favouring the conservation of water resources, and enhancing diversification of income are key to overcome Mediterranean agri-food systems challenges.
Support farmers to implement carbon farming as a new green business model to obtain additional revenues optimizing regenerative agricultural and agroforestry practices.
Develop and test a smart system for monitoring and interpreting hydrogeological data on the behaviour of aquifers to ensure groundwater quality in agriculture systems.
Improve the olive oil sector by introducing innovative and effective ways to quantify sustainability and authenticity through testing and validating relevant novel and ecofriendly concepts.
Industrial Transition
Industrial transition thematic aims to embrace the EU goal to become climate neutral and move towards a more digital era. Therefore, industrial transition is closely linked to innovation and the ability of economies to respond to new market pressures by creating new business opportunities supporting the development of digital and green capacities, bringing together funding to finance research and innovation on low-carbon technology and processes. Within this framework, supporting the competitiveness of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are at the core of this group.
Industrial transition in the Mediterranean promotes sustainable consumption and production patterns as well as the integration of sustainability principles into decision-making on public and private investments.
However, regions undergoing industrial transition are facing challenges such as socio-economic inequalities, high resource-consumption patterns, environmentally harmful and inefficient production facilities, wrong fiscal incentives, not enough trade markets and cooperation, high dependence on natural resources, among others.
Therefore, sustainable innovative solutions testing innovative circular assessment tools, green methodologies, and procurement, and facilitating capacity building at local level are key to transfer challenges into opportunities, ensuring a fair industrial transition in the Mediterranean.
Redesign, repair, reuse and recycle as driving scheme leading citizens, institutions, and companies’ choices to a resource-efficient and competitive economy.
Implementation and establish sustainable business development opportunities in different manufacturing sectors (i.e., machinery, textile, plastics, agri-food, mobility & batteries) enhancing transregional cooperation.
Developing interconnected products and services for the supply chains of existing economic sectors (i.e., Community Cooperatives) to encourage people to live and invest in depopulation areas.
Boost the process of green innovative technology application in public service by creating a Euro-Med coalition between public procurers and private enterprises.
Resource Valorisation
Resource valorisation thematic refers to the process of converting waste products or residues from economic activities into economically useful materials through the circular economy hierarchy of the 10 Rs model.
Short loops are where a product remains close to its most valuable state and function, hence, the most value is retained in the materials, components, and products (i.e., Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Repair); medium-loops are where material, components, and product value are captured through the re-involvement of producers, and subsequently, less value is lost (i.e., Refurbish, Remanufacture, Repurpose); and long-loops are where components and products lose their original function, and hence lose value, though the material value is captured (i.e., Recycle, energy Recovery, Re-mine).
This implies trying to avoid talking about ‘waste’ but still framing it under the technical cycle of the circular economy approach.
Resource valorisation in the Mediterranean is a key priority, emphasizing a wide range of different projects and initiatives enhancing this opportunity.
Support and encourage the repair economy from different perspectives (i.e., SMEs and consumers awareness raising).
Promote local and regional policies for better e-waste management to reduce environmental damage in the selected areas.
Analytical framework to study the successful implementation of closing the textiles loop, identifying the needs in terms of business model, technological and social innovation, and the enabling conditions of policy and behavioural change.
Learn more about the Thematic Projects
