Innovative Sustainable Economy Community Hub
What is the ISEC Hub?
Imagine a vibrant community of individuals and organizations from across the Mediterranean region, all united by a shared goal: to drive a fair transition to a sustainable economy through transformative innovation.
The Innovative Sustainable Economy Community (ISEC) Hub of the Mediterranean brings together diverse knowledge, skills, and expertise, creating a collaborative space for stakeholders to work together towards a common vision.
The ISEC Hub is a dynamic platform for the Quadruple Helix—uniting representatives from the public and private sectors, academia, and civil society—from North, South, East, and West Mediterranean countries. It is designed to be a collaborative centre of promoting innovation, aligned with the goals of the Interreg Euro-MED Mission, which promotes a sustainable and innovative economy in the region.
This Hub is both a physical and virtual space, where Mediterranean stakeholders can connect, learn, share, and collaborate, creating lasting impact. Whether you are interested in the green or blue circular economy sectors, the ISEC Hub is your gateway to a thriving community committed to driving meaningful change.
Explore the sections below to join the ISEC Hub or check out our questions below to learn more
Who can join the ISEC Hub?
The ISEC Hub is open to all Mediterranean stakeholders involved in or interested in Innovative Sustainable Economy initiatives, particularly in the Green and Blue sectors. Participation in an Interreg Euro-MED Thematic Project is not required! Here are just a few examples of who can join:
- Local, regional, and national public authorities
- Development agencies
- Universities and research organisations
- CSOs, NGOs, and public interest groups
- Private sector (both SMEs and large corporations)
What can you do in the ISEC Hub?
We have developed the ISEC Hub around four key pillars to help you make the most out of this community:
- Connect: Engage with a critical mass of like-minded people from across the Mediterranean who are working towards the same sustainability goals;
- Learn: Access to innovative tools, solutions, and policy approaches that can drive positive change in your local context;
- Share: Stay informed about the latest institutional developments, events, and discussions related to the Innovative Sustainable Economy;
- Collaborate: Encourage and facilitate the development of joint policy documents, enabling collective contributions to the development of coherent and impactful policy messages.
Why should you join? What’s in it for your organisation?
Joining the ISEC Hub is free and offers a wealth of benefits to help you and your organization to thrive in the sustainability space. As a member, you will gain access to:
- Networking opportunities with like-minded stakeholders from across the Mediterranean, including a shared ISE Stakeholders Directory and a member-only LinkedIn Group.
- Learning and training opportunities on topics related to the green and blue circular economy sectors.
- Shared repositories and platforms for accessing and exchanging valuable resources.
- Collaboration on developing policy documents enabling your organisation to contribute to EU-level consultation processes.
- Priority invitations to events organised under the ISE Mission.
Become a Hub Member
Your participation is key to building a robust and effective Innovative Sustainable Economy Community Hub. By becoming a member, you’ll help shape the future of the Mediterranean’s transition to a sustainable economy. Let’s come together to connect, learn, share, and collaborate for a greener, more innovative future.
Fill out the form below to receive updates, including a link to our official launch, and other updates on the next steps of the ISEC Hub.
Connect
The ISEC Hub is dedicated to creating and connecting a community of actors driving the transition towards an Innovative Sustainable Economy in the Mediterranean region. At the heart, the ISEC Hub’s mission is bringing together like-minded organizations and individuals who share the Mission’s goals. The connection effort is two-folded: to connect a critical mass (the Mission’s key stakeholders) with the governance projects but, most importantly, to connect the members of this critical mass among them so to encourage their dialogue and collaboration.
Online Networking Directory
KUMU Platform: a quick-access, user-friendly virtual space highlighting each members’ areas of interest, possible expertise, collaborative potential and first-level contact details. Use it for consultation and partners’ search.
Find a tutorial on how to use it here.
Online Interactive Space
LinkedIn Group: a vibrant online interaction forum for partners to communicate, ask, propose and disseminate about their own innovation work in the Mediterranean region. Use it for interaction and dissemination.
Learn
A space for a diverse Mediterranean community of stakeholders to access and share knowledge, driving innovation across the region. Through webinars, training modules, capacity building programmes and other educational resources, the ISEC Hub encourages the exchange of good practices to cultivate a culture of collaboration and continuous improvement.
Capacity Building and Strengthening Programmes
Gain access to a variety of selected webinars, training modules, and other educational resources that address specific challenges of the Mediterranean and that could inspire more actions to tackle them.
TRAININGS/WEBINARS
Sufficiency at the heart of local and regional policies
DESCRIPTION: Claire Roumet | Strategic partnerships, EU Policy & Overall Coordinator at Energy Cities
LINK: https://youtu.be/XMKqff1y9rY
THEME: Cross-cutting Priorities
SUB-THEME: Spatial Planning, Territorial Development & Circular Regions
TIME: 30 min
LANGUAGE: English
Results amplification typologies and examples
DESCRIPTION: Zuzana Bohacova (ACR+) | Alessandro Daraio (ERR) | Mercè Boy (UVIC-UCC) | Noé Viedma (MedCities) | Serena Lisai (ACR+) | Yorgos Stephanedes (UPATRAS) | A. Tiziana De Nitrris (ERR)
LINK: https://youtu.be/XMKqff1y9rY
THEME: Cross-cutting priorities
SUB-THEME: Mediterranean Governance
TIME: 80 min
LANGUAGE: English
E-COURSES
Med4ZeroWaste
DESCRIPTION: This course provides essential knowledge and practical skills in zero waste strategies and circular economy, specifically designed to help individuals, especially municipality staff and waste management professionals in the Mediterranean region, make a significant impact in municipal waste management.
LINK: https://www.enicbcmed.eu/deliverable/med4zerowaste-circular-economy-online-course
THEME: Green Economy; Cross-Cutting Priorities
SUB-THEME: Waste Management and Resource Valorisation; Skills Employment, and Behavioural Change
TIME: 10 hours
LANGUAGE: English, Arabic
Marine litter monitoring
DESCRIPTION: The e-course targets Mediterranean marine litter practitioners and aims to enhance their capacities in designing and implementing a comprehensive marine litter monitoring strategy and in operationalizing tailor-made measures to address marine litter in the Mediterranean.
LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_sIskd4mTM | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUc7p3niyPA
THEME: Blue Economy; Cross-Cutting Priorities
SUB-THEME: Coastal and Maritime Tourism; Skills, Employment, and Behavioural Change
TIME: 8 hours
LANGUAGE: English
D-NOSES MOOC on Odour Pollution
DESCRIPTION: The MOOC aspires to stimulate public participation in odour monitoring and empower citizens to become a driving force for change.
LINK: https://dnoses.envirolearning.net/catalog/index
THEME: Green Economy; Cross-Cutting Priorities
SUB-THEME: Competitive and Clean Industry; Research, Innovation, and Digitalisation; Skills, Employment, and Behavioural Change
TIME: 6 hours
LANGUAGE: English, Portuguese, Spanish, Greek
Sustainability and Ecological Footprint: From Theory to Practice
DESCRIPTION: The MOOC allows you to acquire knowledge on the concept of sustainability and the Ecological Footprint, by using examples and contexts from real life. It also helps you to understand what approaches can you make to address the global sustainability issue.
LINK: https://aulaberta.uab.pt/blocks/catalog/detail.php?id=59
THEME: Green Economy
SUB-THEME: Waste Management and Resource Valorisation
TIME: 50 hours
LANGUAGE: English
Nature-based Solutions for Soil Management
DESCRIPTION: Are you currently working in soil advice? Or do you want to become a soil advisor? Add nature-based solutions to your toolbox for improving soil health through this e-course.
LINK: https://vdt-en.thinkific.com/courses/intro-nature-based-solutions-soil-health
THEME: Green Economy; Cross-Cutting Priorities
SUB-THEME: Food Systems; Waste Management and Resource Valorisation; Skills, Employment, and Behavioural Change
TIME: 6 hours
LANGUAGE: English
Sustainable Food Systems: A Mediterranean Perspective
DESCRIPTION: This course discusses the challenges and opportunities of the agricultural sector in the Mediterranean basin. It summarizes global-to-local challenges related to achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG); outlines the history and culture of agriculture and its main characteristics with a focus on the “Mediterranean diet”; explains agricultural data with a focus on rural development models and value creation; explores EU policy frameworks and international agreements related to food and agriculture in the Mediterranean; and highlights emerging opportunities linked to innovation and sustainability in the sector.
LINK: https://www.edx.org/learn/agriculture/sdg-academy-sustainable-food-systems-a-mediterranean-perspective
THEME: Green Economy; Cross-Cutting Priorities
SUB-THEME: Food Systems; Waste Management and Resource Valorisation; Research, Innovation, and Digitalisation; Spatial Planning and Circular Regions
TIME: 40 hours
LANGUAGE: English
Circular Economy: An Interdisciplinary Approach
DESCRIPTION: Join the transition towards a circular economy considering economic, supply chain, social, technical, managerial and environmental aspects.
LINK: https://www.wur.nl/en/show/circular-economy-an-interdisciplinary-approach.htm
THEME: Green Economy; Cross-Cutting Priorities
SUB-THEME: Waste Management and Resource Valorisation; Efficient Energy Transition; Skills, Employment, and Behavioural Change; Spatial Planning and Circular Regions
TIME: 120 hours
LANGUAGE: English
LEARNING PLATFORMS
ELLEN MACCARTHUR FOUNDATION
DESCRIPTION: to deepen your knowledge of the circular economy, learn how to stay ahead of the game and be a part of the change.
LINK: https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/resources/education-and-learning/circular-economy-courses
THEME: Green Economy; Cross-Cutting Priorities
SUB-THEME: Waste Management and Resource Valorisation
LANGUAGE: English, Spanish, Portuguese
EIT FOOD
DESCRIPTION: discover the EIT Food course catalogue with accredited training programmes and start developing and nurturing the right skills and competencies in your workforce.
LINK: https://learning.eitfood.eu/courses
THEME: Green Economy
SUB-THEME: Food Systems; Research, Innovation, and Digitalisation; Skills, Employment, and Behavioural Change
LANGUAGE: English
SMARTMED
DESCRIPTION: an important tool for networking and dissemination of knowledge, best practices and experiences from the implementation of the SMART Model in the Mediterranean.
LINK: https://smartmed.mintour.gov.gr/
THEME: Cross-Cutting Priorities
SUB-THEME: Sustainable Finance and Investment; Research, Innovation, and Digitalisation
LANGUAGE: English, Spanish, Greek, Italian, Portuguese, Croatian
UN CLIMATE CHANGE LEARN
DESCRIPTION: a joint initiative of more than 30 multilateral organizations helping countries to achieve climate change action both through general climate literacy and applied skills development.
LINK: https://unccelearn.org/
THEME: Green Economy; Cross-Cutting Priorities
SUB-THEME: Food Systems; Research, Innovation, and Digitalisation; Skills, Employment, and Behavioural Change; Waste Management and Resource Valorisation; Efficient Energy Transition; Skills, Employment, and Behavioural Change
LANGUAGE: English, Arabic, French
UN SYSTEM STAFF COLLEGE
DESCRIPTION: an open, dynamic and engaged community committed to innovative learning and training programmes focused on public policy
LINK: https://www.unssc.org/courses
THEME: Green Economy; Cross-Cutting Priorities
SUB-THEME: Research, Innovation, and Digitalisation; Skills, Employment, and Behavioural Change; Efficient Energy Transition
LANGUAGE: English, Arabic, French
INTPA ACADEMY
DESCRIPTION: the EU International Partnerships Academy provides free access to a wide range of e-Learning courses on environment, biodiversity and green economy
LINK: https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/intpa-academy/course/index.php?categoryid=22
THEME: Blue Economy; Green Economy; Cross-Cutting Priorities
SUB-THEME: Waste Management and Resource Valorisation; Freshwater Management; Spatial Planning and Circular Regions
LANGUAGE: English, French, Portuguese, Spanish
Climate-KIC
DESCRIPTION: EIT Climate-KIC offers a wide range of e-learning courses and educational programs focusing on sustainability, innovation, and the transition to a circular economy
LINK: https://www.climate-kic.org/programmes/learning-by-doing/climate-leadership-academy/
THEME: Green Economy; Cross-Cutting Priorities
SUB-THEME: Efficient Energy Transition; Research, Innovation, and Digitalisation; Skills, Employment, and Behavioural Change
LANGUAGE: English
SDG ACADEMY
DESCRIPTION: the premier source of high-quality resources and guidance on education for the SDGs, with the mandate to enrich the field of sustainable development and advance Agenda 2030
LINK: https://sdgacademy.org/
THEME: Blue Economy; Green Economy; Cross-Cutting Priorities
SUB-THEME: All
LANGUAGE: English, French, Portuguese, Spanish
MULTIMEDIA
Hydria Virtual Museum
DESCRIPTION: an online multi-resource aiming to unfold and present a small part of the diverse Mediterranean Water Cultural Heritage based on representative cases of water management works, concepts and techniques of the past.
LINK: https://www.hydriaproject.info/en
THEME: Green Economy; Cross-Cutting Priorities
SUB-THEME: Food Systems; Waste Management and Resource Valorisation; Research, Innovation, and Digitalisation; Spatial Planning and Circular Regions
TIME: NA
LANGUAGE: English, Greek, Arabic
The Circular Economy: a simple explanation
DESCRIPTION: What is a “Circular Economy”? Why should we care? What does it mean for us? In this talk, Cillian Lohan, CEO of an Irish NGO, the Green Economy Foundation, will explain the basic principles behind the economic concept of a circular economy and how it can really change the world for the better
LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbm1MCTobVc&ab_channel=TEDxTalks
THEME: Green Economy; Blue Economy; Cross-Cutting Priorities
SUB-THEME: NA
TIME: 13 min
LANGUAGE: English
Circular Economy and Retail
DESCRIPTION: If you are into circular economy, non-digital products, e-commerce, or retail, or if you simply want to go from thinking about it to actually starting your own business, you don’t want to miss this podcast
LINK: https://podcast.ausha.co/mission-first/30-circular-economy-retail-from-wannapreneur-to-successful-founder-erasing-single-use-paper-roel-schatorje-moyu
THEME: Green Economy; Blue Economy; Cross-Cutting Priorities
SUB-THEME: NA
TIME: 49 min
LANGUAGE: English
Step-Zero Library for Social Media Creators
DESCRIPTION: Step Zero is a content library that helps social media creators authentically champion sustainable living, and grow their influence and business in the process
LINK: https://stepzero.earth/
THEME: Green Economy
SUB-THEME: Efficient Energy Transition
TIME: NA
LANGUAGE: English
En-Roads Climate Solutions Simulator
DESCRIPTION: En-ROADS is an online simulator that provides policymakers, educators, businesses, the media, and the public with the ability to test and explore cross-sector climate solutions
LINK: https://www.climateinteractive.org/en-roads/
THEME: Green Economy; Blue Economy; Cross-Cutting Priorities
SUB-THEME: NA
TIME: NA
LANGUAGE: English
UNESCO Biodiversity Portal
DESCRIPTION: UNESCO has developed a biodiversity portal that consolidates vital information, facilitating real-time monitoring and protection of Biosphere Reserves (BRs), World Heritage Sites and Geoparks
LINK: https://www.unesco.org/biodiversity/portal/en
THEME: Green Economy; Blue Economy
SUB-THEME: NA
TIME: NA
LANGUAGE: English, French
Climate Solutions 101
DESCRIPTION: your climate solutions journey begins now. Filled with the latest need-to-know science and fascinating insights from global leaders in climate policy, research, investment, and beyond, this video series is a brain-shift toward a brighter climate reality
LINK: https://drawdown.org/climate-solutions-101
THEME: Green Economy; Blue Economy; Cross-Cutting Priorities
SUB-THEME: NA
TIME: 2 hours
LANGUAGE: English
Competing in clean tech towards an EU Clean Industrial Deal
DESCRIPTION: this session discusses the impact of European industrial policy initiatives (e.g. Net-Zero Industry Act) on clean technologies manufacturing and deployment, and the need for further effort to make Europe competitive on a global stage, through a new EU Clean Industrial Deal
LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0IUoYKW6m0&ab_channel=euenergyweek
THEME: Green Economy
SUB-THEME: Competitive and Clean Industry
TIME: 1.5 hours
LANGUAGE: English
Tailored-made Mentoring Programmes
Benefit from tailor-made mentoring programmes to capitalize on or replicate successful practices across the Mediterranean. Use the below online form to help us identify stakeholders interested in participating.
Share
After connecting the critical mass, the next natural step is to facilitate the dialogue and the exchange. Being one of the most transversal pillars, SHARE facilitates the exchange of information and opportunities to further collaborate.
Knowledge Sharing Space
MIRO board: an open-access, user-friendly sharing space to facilitate the exchange of information and opportunities to further collaborate.
A tutorial on using MIRO is available here.
Rolling Calendar of Events and Synergistic Opportunities
Calendar: centralised sharing space of Euro-MED events and synergistic opportunities regarding the Mission scope. New non-existent service.
Find a tutorial on how to use it here.
Collaborate
Encourage and facilitate the development of joint policy documents, enabling collective contributions to the development of coherent and impactful policy messages.
Scan4Hubs
Monitoring Hubs and identifying relevant collaboration opportunities. Types of collaboration opportunities:
- Exchange information
- Organising events together
- Sharing members
- Jointly drafting papers
Scan4Messages
The ISEC Hub members will be invited to participate through:
- ACT: ad hoc contributions (data sharing, gather evidence through surveys, polls, etc.); validation and peer review of policy papers; supporting the dissemination of key policy messages
- REACT: monitor the delivery of policy messages by other organisations / stakeholders to offer our contribution; act as a reference point for ISEC Hub members to propose collaboration opportunities; disseminate opportunities for presenting joint policy messages, such as the EC Have your say
