Good practice:

Ecodesign diagnosis, Saint-Denis, La Réunion

Ecodesign is a global approach to living and working that aims to shape society and man in harmony with nature. It seeks to understand the uses and the market, be creative and improve commercial offers with an ecological "prism" to reduce the footprint of human activities and help tomake the right choices.
Thanks to the ERDF, Nexa offers a short, easy-to-access and free of charge support. The beneficiaries are selected each year through an open call consisting in a simple online registration form. The selection process addresses different sectors and profiles in order to network the actors and wide the scope. Nexa chooses the ecodesign expert who supports the 5 chosen structures that then follow collective and individual events. Nexa coordinates the actions, co-animates and brings the necessary local expertise.
The expert trains the participants on the circular economy and carries out in parallel the diagnosis adapted to each structure with an:
1. analysis of the company's activity, of the environmental regulatory pressures it is subject to, to become aware of its impact,
2. assessment of the uses and aspirations of customers and partners, to understand the trends,
3. selection of a product or service to improve it through ecodesign: the life cycle is analyzed to know how to reduce its footprint.
The report and a circular action plan are delivered in 9 months after work carried out in face-to-face and remote sessions, monitoring (webinar, workshops) and workshops.

The support costs 6,600 € per structure, that is 33,000 € per year. This includes Nexa's expenses (48%) through a project manager (implementation, coordination, communication) and the expenses of the eco-design expert (51%, i.e. 17,000 € for 5 structures). The operation lasts in total 1 year.

The registrants have exceeded the places available. 10 entities have been supported in two years with a satisfaction rate of 100% and a recommendation rate of 90%. Different sectors have benefited: agribusiness, agriculture, transportation, tourism, construction-development and social. The initiative supported by the Region is continued in 2022. The action plans could improve: their supplies, packaging design, recycling potential, communication (charter, labels…) and environmental performance.

The operation can be easily replicated: the budget is limited and its implementation fast. Nexa chose to hire an external service provider for its specialized skills in ecodesign, but this can be done in-house.
Some key points:
- the selection of the service provider and its ability to adapt to small territories and fields of activity.
- the initiative's leader must work in collective intelligence and in participative workshops with the teams and the service provider.
- the selection of beneficiaries must measure upstream the capacity of internal mobilization of teams to maximize the understanding and implementation of recommendations. Management teams must be involved, as well as technical, R&D, marketing and communication and sales teams.
- the supply of co-constructed deliverables adapted to each company in terms of content and format according to their practices (excel file of the action plan or mindmap or report).
- collective dynamic and a network that lasts.