MOVECO - Innovation Award 2019 - We are looking for the best circular economy solutions
28-01-2019
In spring 2019, the EU Interreg project MOVECO will award products and services from the circular economy with the MOVECO Innovation Award. The award gives creative, future-oriented enterprises and business models from the partner countries in Austria, Germany, Slovenia, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Bulgaria, Serbia and Romania the opportunity to present their products and services to a broad public.
Who can submit?
If you are an enterprise from one of the above-mentioned countries, you can submit your entry for the MOVECO Innovation Award. The submitted product or service should be produced and/or designed according to the circular economy concept. The product or service should be already available on the market (no renderings). Participation is free of charge.
Please choose between the following categories of the MOVECO Innovation Award:
// Product of the year 2019 – Micro enterprises (< 9 employees)
// Product of the year 2019 – Small enterprises (< 49 employees)
// Product of the year 2019 – Medium enterprises (< 249 employees)
There are also two special categories
// Circular design of the year 2019
// Circular innovation of the year 2019
Information on submission
Submission is only possible online at:
www.cleantech-cluster.at/moveco
The guidelines are available here.
You can submit your application online and free of charge until March 22nd, 2019. The award ceremony will take place during the MOVECO final conference on May 15th, 2019 in Linz, Austria.
Why apply for the MOVECO Innovation Award?
The winners of the MOVECO Innovation Award can expect media presence in the Danube region countries. The award pushes products and services designed in the spirit of the circular economy and sustainable design that focuses on the future. The winning enterprises and business models will become better known by a wider audience in the heart of Europe. The winners also benefit from the extensive network of the MOVECO project partners, including research institutes, clusters and business networks are ideal multipliers for the idea of the circular economy.
About the project
Funded in the framework of the European Union's Interreg Danube Transnational Programme, MOVECO is a project that raises awareness of the circular economy among companies, research institutions, public authorities, economic development institutions and citizens. Since December 2016, twelve project partners and four strategic partners from ten countries in the Danube region have been working together to promote knowledge about the circular economy and to improve the framework conditions for circular products and business models in the Danube region. The project is coordinated by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia.
About the circular economy
The circular economy aims to use and recycle raw materials efficiently. However, this is not only about topics such as recycling or the disposal of residues and pollutants. The focus is on the sustainable use of resources in the cycle. A central aspect here is the extension of the life cycles of products and components so that the final recycling process can take place as late as possible and nevertheless effectively. Innovation and research are aimed at consistent process optimisation in order to reduce the use of raw materials and waste to a minimum. The MOVECO Innovation Award is open to applicants from all industries and economic sectors and is intended to raise public awareness of this promising economic sector.
Online platform and circular toolbox
The MOVECO project recently published a platform (www.danube-goes-circular.eu) for exchanging resources and products. This platform includes a virtual marketplace: companies and research institutions from the countries of the Danube region are able to exchange products, materials and resources for reuse on that online platform, and to build cooperation networks to promote the circular economy. The MOVECO project has also developed a circular innovation toolbox. It offers an overview of circular economy principles along with various training materials, including information on cooperation opportunities as well as assessment and financing instruments for circular projects.
If you have any questions with regards to the Innovation Award or if you are interested in receiving the MOVECO newsletter twice a year, please let us know and send an email to moveco@bayfor.org.
Picture credits: MOVECO project. Design by IDEEN DIE FRUCHTEN.
