Partnerships for circular value chains between mainstream businesses and SMEs in social economy

Expected Outcome:

Qualitative and quantitative indicators:

• Number of SMEs supported;
• Geographical coverage of SMEs supported;
• Diversity of stakeholders involved in the project;
• Diversity of partners working in different ecosystems/sectors of activity.

Scope:

This call for proposals aims to deliver on the circular objectives of the Social Economy Action Plan and the transition pathway for the proximity and social economy ecosystem by allowing the a consortia established at EU level to:

• Develop sector specific guidance in the form of a toolkit on how to initiate circular economy value chains and strengthen partnerships between social economy entities, mainstream businesses, business support organisations and other relevant actors in specific ecosystems;
• Conduct sectoral research identifying potential for business cooperation at product, service or value chain level;
• Offer matchmaking services for social economy SMEs in the circular economy fostering enhanced B2B cooperation on circularity (local, regional and transnational);
• Support product and service research in social enterprises active in the circular economy;
• Design solutions to address potential barriers, opportunities and good practices for multi-stakeholder partnerships in view of establishing and developing buy social markets, circular hubs;
• Organisation of networking, match-making and capacity building, events in the framework of relevant EU networks (e.g. the Enterprise Europe Network, and the European circular economy stakeholder platform) to ensure cross-fertilisation and support social economy SMEs to meet potential partners;
• Support for the creation of local circularity hubs or clusters promoting circular conduct/practicespractices, and research and innovation in social economy;
• Support the uptake of technologies accelerating circularity at all stages of products life cycle. Projects supported would ensure the sharing and replication of good practices across borders, and sectors when relevant.