INNOMED-UP promotes the circular economy for cultural and creative industries (CCIs) to address the problem of waste and wasted resources in Mediterranean cities (we had talked about it here).
The project ran between September 2019 and August 2023 involving five different countries-Greece, Italy, Tunisia, Jordan, and Palestine-and thanks to funding from the European Union’s ENI CBC Med program led, among other outputs, to the publication of two manuals: A Guide for Circularity Strategies for Cultural Creative Industries & Small and Medium-sized Enterprises in the Mediterranean (Guide for Circularity Strategies for Cultural Creative Industries & Small and Medium-sized Enterprises in the Mediterranean) and a Guide for Access to Financial Tools dedicated to SMEs in the creative and cultural sector who want to innovate within the EC (Guide for Access to Financial Tools for CCI SMEs who want to Innovate in the EC).
The Guide to Circularity Strategies provides an overview of the state of the art of upcycling practices (i.e., reusing waste materials to create something new and more valuable) that can be implemented at the urban level, with a particular focus on actions taken by the Cultural and Creative Industries. At the same time, this handbook stands as a tool to stimulate strategic planning at the urban level and inspire new models of production and sustainability. The handbook is divided into three chapters: the first is devoted to circular economy practices, with a focus on reuse, recycling, and upcycling; the second focuses on CCIs, management policies, and their limitations and potential, providing insight into the environmental, social, and cultural benefits that the circular economy can bring; the third chapter proposes a model for planning and managing upcycling among CCIs at the urban level, a valuable tool for policy makers to map the urban metabolism of different localities and identify the needs of CCIs so as to structure a system a targeted system of waste collection and reuse. There is also an appendix at the end of the guide, in which pilot projects implemented by INNOMED-UP are explained.
The Guide to Financial Tools aims to offer support both to small and medium-sized enterprises in the creative and cultural sector that wish to trigger virtuous processes in the field of sustainability and innovation, and to organizations or chambers of commerce that wish to set up mentoring programs on funding opportunities dedicated to SMEs in the Mediterranean basin.
Both guides build on the information gathered and good practices adopted as part of the INNOMED-UP project and are aimed primarily at businesses, public administrations, professional organizations, trade associations, and any public or private entity wishing to promote the principles of the circular economy in their cities.
