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Project overview
Futurepreneurs and SMEs for a sustainable Central Europe | Certification Scheme
Futurepreneurs are professionals that are driven by purpose and impact. They take on societal challenges and climate change with an entrepreneurial mindset and want to improve our lives. The GREENPACT project set up partnerships between companies and futurepreneurs. The aim was to develop a certification scheme for a new generation of impact-driven top executives. To this end, the project developed joint action plans, pilot actions and a self-assessment tool.
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1,78m €
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Project Budget
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80%
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of the Budget is funded by ERDF
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5
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Countries
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6
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Regions
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9
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Partners
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1
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Pilots
Duration
Start date
End date
Project progress
Project partnership
Project partners
Lead partner
Stuttgart Media University
Startup Center
Project partner
Creative industries
Total partner budget
178,500 €
International Area
Total partner budget
265,175 €
Human Capital, Culture and EU Programming Area
Total partner budget
129,950 €
Total partner budget
233,780 €
Department of entrepreneurship
Total partner budget
152,320 €
Total partner budget
140,000 €
Department of Corporate Strategy
Total partner budget
161,000 €
Faculty of Business management
Total partner budget
207,200 €
Roadmap
1
THE CHALLENGE
Photo by Mohamed Hassan on Pixabay
The Culture and Creative Industries (CCI) and Tourism sector are often struggling with a lack of knowledge and resources about how to adopt greener, circular, and sustainable practices and how to be perceived as such. At the same time, it was obvious that established businesses can benefit from the passion and fresh ideas of younger generations. GREENPACT’s primary aim was to bridge this generational gap and to foster stronger connections between entrepreneurs and the younger generation, often called "Gen F".
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THE SPECIFIC PROBLEM
Photo by Clker-Free-Vector-Images on Pixabay
While international and European certification programs exist, they often fall short of addressing the unique needs and challenges of the CCI and Tourism sector, many times leaving businesses unsure how to truly embrace green, circular, and sustainable practices. GREENPACT recognized the need to dive deeper: understanding the knowledge gaps between young people and companies when it came to sustainable and circular economies. On top of that, it was clear that better communication and learning tools were essential to foster stronger collaboration among all partners involved.
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THE MAIN IDEA
Photo by One Click Group UK on flickr
What if representatives of a younger age are included to co-develop those certification schemes with players from the CCI and Tourism sector? What if
GREENPACT manages to integrate Gen F into the development of a solution across the different partner regions, to enable co-creation and close collaboration with SMEs? What if young people and business meet and work together, profiting from their different perspectives and ideas?
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THE SOLUTION
Photo by OpenClipart-Vectors on Pixabay
The creation of an EU certification scheme for the CCI and Tourism sector!
GREENPACT had the idea to come up with a platform for open exchange on the circular economy for the CCI & Tourism sector, tools for application and a self-assessment tool. Of course there was no point in “re-inventing the wheel” but rather make use of existing solutions and examples of other companies and stakeholders. The project consortium was asked to do some research in the respective countries and regions on which certificates, initiatives and projects already existed to get a picture of what is already out there and then develop a solution suitable for everybody.
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HOW IT WORKED – 1
Photo by Vector Gallery on Pixabay
After the initial research phase the first step was to identify SMEs from the CCI and Tourism sector in need of change and with concrete challenges, as well as Gen F representatives aka young people who wanted to collaborate and inspire those SMEs. GREENPACT supported the creation of ideas at regional Collaboration Labs where mixed teams worked together on challenges and potential solutions. The insights gathered here were included in the development of the training programs which followed.
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HOW IT WORKED – 2
Photo by Mohamed Hassan on Pixabay
The next step was to connect and train representatives of SMEs and Gen F in all partner regions through intensive boosting buddy training programs. These programs lasted over the course of several weeks, took place online and in person, and included external experts to give insights into various aspects of sustainability and circular economy, with a focus on the CCI and tourism industry. The participating SMEs came up with challenges on sustainability from their enterprises and daily routines in order for the young participants to discuss and develop solutions.
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HOW IT WORKED – 3
Photo by GraphicMama-team on Pixabay
The third and final step for the project consortium was to collaboratively develop a self-assessment tool that supports SMEs getting certified as green actors. A “sustainability toolbox” for SMEs from the CCI and Tourism sector was set up to assist in the certification and the long-term realisation of the determined factors. GREENPACT wanted to ensure that the key solutions will be applied by the SMEs also after the project lifetime.
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PROOF / CREDIBILITY
Photo by Stefan Schweihofer on Pixabay
During the project’s lifetime, the Europe-wide certification scheme and self-assessment tool were already helping many SMEs from the five partner countries to become and act more green, circular and sustainable during the project and ideally even more afterwards.
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LONG-LASTING VISION / IMPACT
Photo by Clark Tibbs on Unsplash
The long-term mission of this project was and still is to make the EU economy more sustainable and independent and to empower citizens and enterprises with essential skills to improve the quality of life in Europe. The certification scheme and toolbox were developed with the thought in mind that everything should be easy to understand and applied, and also easily transferable to other industries than the CCI and Tourism, being used as a blueprint.
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BRAND
Photo by GREENPACT
GREENPACT and “GREENPACT YOUR IMPACT” have established the certification scheme and toolbox as a brand which stands for a sustainable and conscious European economic environment. All achievements, tools, results and outcomes have been collected and published in our final project booklet.
News
Events
Pilot actions
Outputs
Photo: GREENPACT
The GREENPACT Map
A regional analysis looks at what is already offered and what is needed in the areas of Circular Economy and Impact Entrepreneurship. Based on this, a map of important local actors and key influencers was created and was used to design a joint international survey.
The goal of the survey was to identify the main building blocks of the GREENPACT strategy. The focus has been on making the project sustainable in the long term, using the results effectively, and turning action plans into real steps.
Type of output: Strategies and action plans
Photo: Making action plan by Marco Verch under Creative Commons 2.0
GREENPACT Transnational Action Plan
This Output, the "GREENPACT Transnational Action Plan", was developed to help target economic operators and capacity-building agents make better use of all project results and to identify synergies with RIS3 strategies. Therefore this Output contributes to a lasting impact of the project.
Type of output: Strategies and action plans
Photo: GREENPACT
Transnationally co-created GREENPACT collaboration labs and buddy boosting training programs
This output shows the development of a framework for the two main project tools: the GREENPACT Collaboration Lab, a practical framework for designing and implementing two-day regional and transnational co-creation events, and the GREENPACT Boosting Buddy Training Program, a three-month capacity-building and peer-learning process, turning ideas into actionable and potentially scalable solutions.
Together, these tools form a comprehensive innovation pathway that starts with problem discovery and ideation, continues with structured entrepreneurial skill-building and solution development, and ends in knowledge exchange and scaling opportunities during the International Collaboration Lab.
Type of output: Solutions
Photo taken by Aney, 2006-03-11, GFDL. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
Handy GREENPACT: Impactful and green toolbox for SMEs from CCI and tourism
The main solution contributing to this Output is the „GREENPACT business and industry competence pack and implementation toolbox". It was tested and finalized during pilot actions Collaboration Labs and Training Programs. It serves as a solution for SMEs and futurepreneurs towards sustainable, green and impactful leadership. In addition, this Output also includes the self-assessment certification scheme and the Influencer Toolkit.
Type of output: Solutions
Certificate by Nick Youngson CC BY-SA 3.0 Pix4free.org
GREENPACT certification scheme
The main solution of this output is the transnational development of a digital self-assessment tool, designed for a certification scheme. This tool was tested during the pilot activities, then evaluated and later shared with a wider audience.
The tool not only supports the dissemination of GREENPACT but also helps improve employee qualifications and make key skills more accessible.
Type of output: Solutions
Project documents
Final Booklet
GREENPACT
Priority 1: Cooperating for a smarter central Europe
SO 1.2: Strengthening skills for smart specialisation, industrial transition and entrepreneurship in central Europe
The project lead partner is solely responsible for all content published on this project website, including, where applicable, content created with the support of AI tools and the appropriate labelling of such content. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the Interreg CENTRAL EUROPE Programme, its programme bodies or the European Union.
Project on social media
Project contact
Margit Wolf / Stuttgart Region Economic Development Corporation