INTERREG EUROPE project "SinCE-AFC"
The 4th Meeting of the Local Support Group (LSG) of the project "SinCE-AFC (Enhancing the Entrepreneurship of SMEs in Circular Economy of the Agri-Food Chain)" which is co-financed by the INTERREG EUROPE Program, took place online on Monday 28th June 2021.
The meeting was organized by the Regional Development Fund of Central Macedonia, on behalf of the Region of Central Macedonia, in collaboration with ANATOLIKI SA.
The 4th LSG meeting started with a review of the actions taken so far, during the implementation of the 1st phase of the SinCE-AFC project.
Then the draft Action Plan of the Region of Central Macedonia was analyzed. Its main sections were briefly presented, focusing in the proposed action about the creation of a mechanism for the support of entrepreneurship in circular economy. Reference was also made to the good practices from other regions participating in the project, which were a source of inspiration for the drafting of the Regional Action Plan, specifically that of the ICESP platform from Italy.
After the presentation of the draft Regional Action Plan, there was a reference to the implementation progress of the project and the conclusions that have emerged so far, followed by a presentation of the consultation questionnaire regarding the formulation of the Regional Action Plan.
The next section of the meeting included the presentation of three (3) new selected circular economy good practices. The first concerned AGROFOOD BIC from Italy, the second MEADE Farm Group from Ireland and the third Alfoldi Tej KFT from Hungary. This presentation raised concerns about whether these practices could be applied to smaller Greek production units.
The last section of the meeting included a summary of all the good practices identified so far in the Region of Central Macedonia, some of which have already been submitted to the SinCE-AFC Good Practices platform. The second part of this section presented new good circular economy practices that were identified, but have not been submitted yet to the project platform.
The meeting ended with the discussion between the participants regarding the prospects of the SMEs for further utilization of the good practices identified by the other regions participating in the project. The possibility of influencing the Regional Operational Program 2021-2027 from the SinCE-AFC project was also discussed, and in particular the formulation of invitations for the financing of entrepreneurship in the Agri-food sector, in relation to the application of circular economy principles.
