As we reach the end of the project, we have asked the project partners to summarise their main learnings and results from the project and how they have benefited from being part of an Interreg Europe project.
What are the main learnings and results from the project for you and your region?
The main result here in Östergötland is that thanks to the learnings and good practices from SUPER, we have developed two new regional projects. Through the self-assessment of our support system we learned that we in general have a good support system for SMEs. However we identified that we lack support activities tailored in content for SMEs who want to be more circular and eco-innovative. Hence our main action in our regional action plan was to develop a project where we focused on helping SMEs to develop circular business models. The project, called Dynamic Environmentally Driven Business Development, started in December 2018 and ended a year later. One of the conclusions from the project was that the business advisers themselves don’t always have enough knowledge on circular business models to coach the SMEs. That is something that we will address and continue to work on in a continuation project that will start in January 2021.
In conclusion, SUPER has led to new knowledge about our own regional business support system and identified areas for improvement that we will continue to work on.
What benefits have Interreg Europe project brought to you and your region?
It has been very beneficial for us to be able to work with regions all around Europe and not just with our neighbouring countries. It is always useful to get perspective on your own system and to reflect on it and compare it with other regions that face the same challenges. The concept within Interreg Europe to create action plans for phase 2 was very useful to make sure that the results from the projects are implemented in each region and isn’t lost after the project’s end.
The County Administrative Board are currently a project/lead partner in several Interreg Europe projects.
