Innovation competition: “GreenEconomy.IN.NRW”
A total funding volume of around 100 million euros from EU and state funds has been earmarked for the competition. Through the competition, the state supports innovative ideas and entrepreneurial solutions in the fields of environmental management, circular economy and climate adaptation.
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can often only develop new, innovative, sustainable and marketable products, services and processes in cooperation with other companies, universities and research institutions. The innovation competitions of the ERDF/JTF program NRW 2021-2027 are therefore primarily aimed at joint projects by SMEs whose content is aimed at one of the six innovation fields of the regional innovation strategy of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia.
The innovation field “Environmental Economy and Circular Economy” focuses on those starting points that, on the one hand, contribute to the development of environmentally friendly, environmentally friendly and resource-efficient and resource-saving products and services and, on the other hand, contribute to sustainability and resource conservation through the circular economy.
The GreenEconomy.IN.NRW innovation competition therefore supports small and medium-sized companies in sustainably using the ecological innovation potential of North Rhine-Westphalia as a business location. This is based on a broad understanding of innovation that aims to make both technical and non-technical potential visible and usable in the long term through cooperation between business and science.
The innovation competition is structured in two stages and consists of a sketch and an application phase. In the first stage, the project outlines received will be examined and evaluated based on the specified selection criteria (see call text) in terms of funding law, economics and technology as well as with regard to their social relevance.
Research, innovation and development projects in the pre-competitive area are funded with a focus on the following key topics:
- The focus on “environmental economy” focuses on innovations that contribute to the development of environmentally friendly, climate-protecting, resource-saving products, processes and services.
- In the “Circular Economy” theme, innovations are sought with the aim of saving resources and expanding circular products, business models and collaborations.
- In the focus area “Climate Adaptation”, innovations to increase climate resilience are promoted.
Source: PtJ
