Driving regional innovation for a sustainable future

Since 2021, ID2Green, led by EU|BIC CAP Innove, has built a dynamic support ecosystem for SMEs aiming to transition toward sustainable business models. Through a mix of collective services like themed events, workshops, MBA participation, and gamified learning tools, alongside personalised coaching and strategic diagnostics, the initiative has helped over 100 SMEs and facilitated 10 industrial symbiosis projects. Its services address key barriers such as limited knowledge, infrastructure, and funding, offering free, EU-funded low-carbon and ESG assessments, as well as follow-up action plans to guide SMEs from intention to implementation.

ID2Green’s impact is amplified through strong public-private partnerships and tailored guidance that helps businesses turn sustainability into a growth opportunity.

Europe faces a critical challenge: driving the transition to green, inclusive, and sustainable economies amid fragmented ecosystems, uneven innovation capacity, and regulatory complexity. While the continent produces 36% of the world’s startups, it accounts for just 14% of unicorns – impressive as they are, none of them directly contributes to Europe’s green transition.

These numbers also highlight persistent deep territorial disparities in innovation success. The gap is even wider in emerging and moderate innovator regions, where limited capital, fragmented support, and talent shortages constrain growth.

EU|BIC Impact in 2024

EBN and the EU|BIC community tackle these structural challenges by building integrated, place-based innovation ecosystems. Through quality-certified entrepreneurship support, regionally tailored services, and strong partnerships with universities, science parks, corporations, and local governments, we embed innovation in local economies. Together, we help regions revitalise and green industry, boost resilience, and create quality jobs—turning EU ambitions into local impact.

The Ruse Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI) is leading its region’s green transition through the “Green Change Agents” project, supported by the Norwegian Financial Mechanism.

Aimed at addressing the lack of green skills among SMEs, the project trains professionals to implement sustainable practices and foster innovation, helping businesses meet growing environmental demands while remaining competitive. This is critical for the Ruse region, which is shifting from a traditional industrial base to a greener, circular economy model.

The initiative includes peer-learning visits to Norway, expert-led trainings on sustainability strategy, product life cycles, and business operations, and skills transfer to both SME staff and RCCI’s own team. So far, over 20 enterprises have benefited, and RCCI has enhanced its capacity to provide green support services. This knowledge multiplier effect is expected to drive a bottom-up transformation in the region, empowering SMEs to reduce their environmental footprint while improving resource efficiency and market positioning.

Circular Makerspaces for Sustainable Business Support is an innovative programme advancing circular economy practices for SMEs, start-ups, and creators across the Baltic Sea. Led by EU|BIC Associate Valmiera Development Agency, the initiative transforms traditional makerspaces into hubs for sustainable innovation by offering circular economy training, access to specialised equipment, expert mentoring, and a digital collaboration platform. Since 2023, over 300 participants have joined, fostering a vibrant community dedicated to eco-design, reuse, and sustainable manufacturing.

The programme tackles common barriers such as limited knowledge, infrastructure, and funding by providing practical tools like the makertech.com platform—used by 133 users across multiple countries—which features matchmaking, a circular marketplace, and a maturity self-assessment test. A step-by-step guide also supports the transformation of makerspaces into circularity-driven centres. Real-life success stories, like that of HiveDesign’s Karīna Vītiņa, show how access to shared equipment and expertise can lead to new sustainable products and partnerships, unlocking creative, circular business models.