Periodic Reporting for period 2 - MICIE (Mediterranean Island Cleantech Innovation Ecosystem)
Reporting period: 2023-04-01 to 2023-12-31
To meet the EU’s energy and climate targets for 2030, EU countries established a 10-year National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP) for the period from 2021 to 2030. Cyprus and Malta, as Member State, submitted their NECPs, setting out a strategy and supporting targets for tackling climate change at a national level. However, based on the Commission’s assessment and recommendations, (REFs) there was a need of an update of the Research and Innovation (R&I) aspect of the NECP. In particular, the comments of the Commission of the R&I aspect of the NECP was that it “lacked clear, concrete and measurable objectives and funding targets to be achieved by 2030” in the case of Malta, and that “the objectives are not always clear and do not seem to add up to a consistent research and innovation strategy that would support the implementation of the Cypriot draft NECP”, in the case of Cyprus. Furthermore, the European Commission will table a “Fit for 55 package” to achieve a climate-neutral Europe by 2050, and research and innovation will play an integral role in achieving these targets.
Through the Mediterranean Island Cleantech Innovation Ecosystem (MICIE) project, the partners will:
• Identify and analyze existing similar innovation ecosystems worldwide
• Apply the Systems Innovation Approach for a holistic approach towards the co-creation, co-planning and co-investments for the creation of innovation cleantech ecosystems,
• Identify, analyze, classify and cluster all relevant local and national actors and engage them through a series of workshops,
• Write up an action plan for the setting up of joint programmes, that can be used specifically in the case of Cyprus and Malta to stimulate innovation procurement to help the market uptake of innovative solutions
The overall aim of this project is to set-up a cleantech innovation ecosystem, that will enable indirectly the governments of Cyprus and Malta to achieve their energy and climate targets
Through the Mediterranean Island Cleantech Innovation Ecosystem (MICIE) project, the partners will:
• Identify and analyze existing similar innovation ecosystems worldwide
• Apply the Systems Innovation Approach for a holistic approach towards the co-creation, co-planning and co-investments for the creation of innovation cleantech ecosystems,
• Identify, analyze, classify and cluster all relevant local and national actors and engage them through a series of workshops,
• Write up an action plan for the setting up of joint programmes, that can be used specifically in the case of Cyprus and Malta to stimulate innovation procurement to help the market uptake of innovative solutions
The overall aim of this project is to set-up a cleantech innovation ecosystem, that will enable indirectly the governments of Cyprus and Malta to achieve their energy and climate targets
During this project duration, the following activities were undertaken:
WP1: Four in-person meetings and a plethora of ad-hoc online meetings were held, while all deliverables were completed in time, or with minor delays. No management or financial issues rose, and the overall project’s objectives and impact were met.
WP2: Similar/ mature ecosystems in Cyprus and Malta were analysed, the national stakeholders and actors (Cyprus and Malta) within the quadruple helix were mapped and a Governance Assessment Tool (GAT) has used to analyse the state of current governance of Cyprus and Malta.
WP3: The stakeholders identified in WP2, were invited to take part in the workshops. A total of 9 workshops were held, 5 in Cyprus and 4 in Malta. The first workshops identified the R&I priority areas that stakeholders consider important, and which can support achievement of the NECP targets. The remaining workshops identified the barriers and resources needed to provide R&I support. The workshop results fed into the development of the R&I Action Plans.
WP4: An action plan template, as well as guiding principles, for islands, regions, or locations based on an in-depth review of the outputs of WP2 and WP3 was created. The action plan template was divided into the following sections: a multiannual work program, baseline data, identified targets/objectives, activities, resource mobilization, indicative budgets (including potential source of funding), stakeholder interaction and monitoring of progress. The Actions Plans for both Malta and Cyprus were prepared based on the template.
WP5: The Quality Assurance Plan, that included very detailed quality assurance protocol for the design and reporting of the different scientific and administrative activities of the project, was drafted and implemented throughout the project. It was deemed that the project’s’ actions resulted to the desired outcomes.
WP6: As part of the communication and dissemination activities MICIE raised the profile of the project by participating in 3rd party external events, organising national events and 1 European level event. It also created further visual promotional material (video, infographic) and was active on social media.
The progress results are aligned with the overall scope of the project, and all objectives have been met.
WP1: Four in-person meetings and a plethora of ad-hoc online meetings were held, while all deliverables were completed in time, or with minor delays. No management or financial issues rose, and the overall project’s objectives and impact were met.
WP2: Similar/ mature ecosystems in Cyprus and Malta were analysed, the national stakeholders and actors (Cyprus and Malta) within the quadruple helix were mapped and a Governance Assessment Tool (GAT) has used to analyse the state of current governance of Cyprus and Malta.
WP3: The stakeholders identified in WP2, were invited to take part in the workshops. A total of 9 workshops were held, 5 in Cyprus and 4 in Malta. The first workshops identified the R&I priority areas that stakeholders consider important, and which can support achievement of the NECP targets. The remaining workshops identified the barriers and resources needed to provide R&I support. The workshop results fed into the development of the R&I Action Plans.
WP4: An action plan template, as well as guiding principles, for islands, regions, or locations based on an in-depth review of the outputs of WP2 and WP3 was created. The action plan template was divided into the following sections: a multiannual work program, baseline data, identified targets/objectives, activities, resource mobilization, indicative budgets (including potential source of funding), stakeholder interaction and monitoring of progress. The Actions Plans for both Malta and Cyprus were prepared based on the template.
WP5: The Quality Assurance Plan, that included very detailed quality assurance protocol for the design and reporting of the different scientific and administrative activities of the project, was drafted and implemented throughout the project. It was deemed that the project’s’ actions resulted to the desired outcomes.
WP6: As part of the communication and dissemination activities MICIE raised the profile of the project by participating in 3rd party external events, organising national events and 1 European level event. It also created further visual promotional material (video, infographic) and was active on social media.
The progress results are aligned with the overall scope of the project, and all objectives have been met.
The results so far have the potential to significantly advance the state of the art in the field of cleantech innovation ecosystems. By identifying and analyzing existing pathways worldwide, stakeholder mapping and analysis, and governance analysis, the project provided a comprehensive understanding of the current state of cleantech innovation ecosystems and highlighted best practices that can be applied to Cyprus and Malta. Furthermore, through the interviews and the workshops conducted, insights on the challenges faced by the government when adapting new regulations were gained and the R&I priority areas and the associated barriers and resources needed were identified. This work has the potential to significantly advance the state of the art in the field of cleantech innovation ecosystems, and two open-access journal publications are currently under preparation. Also, a book has been prepared to both communicate the methodology behind the Action Plan preparation and the Action Plan Template (available for free download from the EIT Climate-KIC website), thus achieving global outreach.