The LIFE Cyclamen Team, together with the Cyprus Employers & Industrialists Federation (OEB), organised an online two-day Info Event titled “LIFE and SMEs” on May 13th and 26th, 2021.
The purpose of this Info Event was to inform SMEs in Cyprus about the LIFE Programme and how they can benefit from it, thus encouraging them to participate during the 2021 Call for Proposals. During this Info Event, we had with us six guest speakers from Greece, who shared their experience with the LIFE Programme and the various gains achieved through this funding instrument.
During the two-day Info Event, participants also had the opportunity to learn in brief about the basic characteristics of the LIFE Programme in relation to SMEs. For example, the focus on concrete implementation actions, rather than research and the emphasis LIFE puts on the sustainability of projects and their results. The LIFE Programme helps companies bring their green products, technologies, services and processes to the market; therefore, special reference was made to Close-to-Market (C2M) projects and their key characteristics. Moreover, the 4 sub-programmes in the new LIFE programme 2021 – 2027 were shortly presented, along with the draft timeline for this year’s Call for proposals.
Projects Presented
LIFE GAIA Sense (view the related video recording)
Mr. Vasilis Pyrgiotis, Senior Project Manager at NEUROPUBLIC AE PLIROFORIKIS & EPIKOINONION, the Coordinating Beneficiary for the LIFE GAIA Sense project, presented gaiasense, an innovative “Smart Farming” (SF) solution that aims at reducing the consumption of natural resources, as a way to protect the environment and support Circular Economy (CE) models. Mr. Pyrgiotis described the project’s rationale and basic objectives, and briefly explained smart farming and the environmental and socio-economic benefits it entails. In addition, he shared the progress made so far in the project and highlighted the major achievements and positive impacts already seen for their company i.e. creation of new employment opportunities and financial and other resource’s savings.
Mr. Vasilis Protonotarios, Outreach and Networking Manager at NEUROPUBLIC, shared the company’s perspective on their participation in the project, explaining why they urge other companies to do the same. Through their involvement in LIFE Gaiasense, NEUROPUBLIC received the financial support to develop the very promising gaiasense tool and has the opportunity to collaborate with renowned research and academic institutions in other projects, thus offering more ground for implementation and adoption of their solutions. In addition, their involvement in the project brings significant environmental benefits to the company, as they are developing a tool fully aligned with the existing EU policy framework, including the new Green Deal, the Farm to Fork Strategy and Circular Economy Action Plan. Their participation in the project also provides opportunities for more partnerships, both in Greece as well as internationally, and access to new markets for their solution e.g. Cyprus.
LIFE VISIONS (view the related video recording)
Dr. Thomas Maggos, Senior Researcher, Head of Atmospheric, Chemistry and Innovative Technologies Lab at the National Center for Scientific Research (NCSR) DEMOKRITOS, presented the LIFE VISIONS project. The project aims to develop an innovative photocatalytic paint, to achieve healthy indoor environments, and to induce energy savings in the building sector. Dr. Maggos presented the general scope and project objectives, and highlighted the expected positive impacts stemming from the project. The project will provide a cost-efficient technological solution with great environmental and socio-economic benefits, since the solutions created are innovative and could be patented. In addition, Dr. Maggos stressed the importance of safeguarding the project continuity after its completion and explained that an academic spin off company will be established to support the “next day” of the project outcomes.
Mr. Konstantinos Theodorou, R&D Manager at VITEX A.E., one of the associated beneficiaries in LIFE VISIONS, gave us the company’s viewpoint from their participation in this project. Mr. Theodorou briefly presented the business’s perspective, highlighting their dedication to environmental sustainability and the company’s industrial excellence. The company puts great emphasis on producing innovative products of high environmental performance and sustainability, which contributed to their decision to get involved in the project. It was highlighted that the company enjoys several benefits from their participation, including new employees and new laboratory equipment financed through the project. Their involvement is also benefiting the development of their business through a new innovative product series. This will lead to increased market share, strengthen the corporate profile, create new job positions and bring more financial profits in the future. In addition, their cooperation with research institutes, universities and other companies will also lead to the strengthening of their corporate profile, new technology knowledge and new future collaborations.
LIFE FOODPRINT (view the related video recording)
Mrs. Katerina Pissaridi, Research Programmes Manager at Jotis SA Food Industry, shared their experience as coordinating beneficiary in LIFE FOODPRINT. The project aimed to identify, quantify and implement measures to reduce the carbon footprint (CF) of the pastry and flour-food industry sector along the supply chain, while increasing competitiveness through the development of an innovative software tool. Mrs. Pissaridi briefly explained the key aim of the project and how it addressed the problem in a holistic way i.e. from the field to the supermarket shelf. The project is actually a forerunner, a visionary if you like of the Farm to Fork strategy to which it fully aligns. The company learned a lot and gained even more from their participation in the project. One motivation for their involvement in the LIFE project was the opportunity to collaborate with research and academic institutions in Greece and internationally. Through this project, the company managed to identify several opportunities and managed to act upon them. For example, the company developed products with reduced Carbon Footprint and was able to label them as such. Perhaps this was the utmost benefit for the company in the LIFE FOODPRINT project, considering the significant marketing benefits, i.e. the improved corporate social and environmental profile for Jotis S.A.
LIFE GreenYourRoute (view the related video recording)
Dr. Georgios K.D. Saharidis, Assistant Professor at the Department of Mechanical Engineering at University of Thessaly, Greece, introduced us to the project LIFE GreenYourRoute and demonstrated the solution developed i.e. the GYR platform. This is a close to market project aiming to bring a useful and marketable product, a European innovative logistic platform for last mile delivery of goods in urban environments.
Mr. Philippos Karamanlis from Militos Consulting S.A., associated beneficiary of the LIFE GYR project, shared the lessons learnt and gains from their participation in this project. He explained how the project deals with a very hot topic that opens up many job prospects in modern cutting-edge sectors like logistics. The project captures the pulse of the time by touching both the economic gains and the environmental benefits for a company; hence, it was motivating for their SME to get involved. He also pointed out that through the implementation of the project, their company has the opportunity to network with remarkable institutions, organizations and people in Greece and abroad. This plays an integral role in the transfer and exploitation of knowledge for any company.
Who participated
Participants to this event came from SMEs and Large Enterprises in the following sectors: food and beverages, construction, consultants, Renewable Energy Sources (RES), paints, water management services, auditing/banking, media and communication.
Presentations
You can view all presentations below:
- LIFE Programme and SMEs, 2.LIFE GAIA Sense project, 3. LIFE GAIA Sense – The Neuropublic experience, 4. LIFE VISIONS Project, 5. LIFE VISIONS – The VITEX experience, 6. LIFE FOODPRINT – The Yiotis experience, 7 LIFE GreenYourRoute, 8. LIFE GreenYourRoute – The Militos experience
Our team is fully equipped to help you learn more about the LIFE Programme and how you can participate, offer consultation and pre-screening services to help improve the quality of your proposal and help you find partners for your project. We are available for future meetings and we will gladly offer our consulting services whenever requested.