Periodic Reporting for period 2 - ICCEE (Improving Cold Chain Energy Efficiency) Periodo di rendicontazione: 2021-03-01 al 2022-08-31 Sintesi del contesto e degli obiettivi generali del progetto The ICCEE project aim was to facilitate Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the cold chains of the food and beverage sector to undertake energy efficiency measures (EEMs) after carrying out supply chain energy audits. The focus on the cold chains of the sector is due to the significant energy requirements (refrigerated transport, processing, and storage) with large potential for savings. The implementation of the holistic approach, shifting from the single company perspective to the chain assessment, lead to increased opportunities for EEMs. To achieve that, ICCEE implemented capacity-building programs to increase the know-how and the awareness of staff at different levels of the organizations, and steer SMEs decisions for energy-saving investments with supporting tools. Lavoro eseguito dall’inizio del progetto fino alla fine del periodo coperto dalla relazione e principali risultati finora ottenuti A toolbox with six standardized analytical tools with tailor-made analyses applicable to different subsectors within the food and beverage sector and a guidance tool with an indication of the main financial schemes for the addressed member state (MS) have been released and validated and they are available to download on the project website, moreover tutorial is available on the YouTube channel of the project.The first part of the training through 18 national workshops reached around 1500 participants thanks to the collaboration of associations in the consortium.While in the 6 EU workshops organized 121 professionals were trained to use and apply the tools developed. Moreover, ICCEE launched an e-learning course (with more than 212 trained people), which will be available also beyond the project. Moreover, during the second reporting period all partners organized in different formats (in presence, online and hybrid) several webinars/workshops to present the project outcomes evolution and main results generated according to the type of event and audience reached: 38 dissemination events were organized (17 online, 11 in presence and 12 in hybrid manner) for a total number of 1.645 participants.Communication, dissemination, and exploitation activities, have been tailored to address ICCEE target groups in all EU MS. The aim has been to exploit in the best way the outcomes of the other WPs by disseminating the results through the available state-of-the-art media channels and to create effective communication with both internal and the relevant external stakeholders. The project communication package was the first step, with a logo, identity guidelines, templates for Excel, PowerPoint and Word, brochures in 8 languages, and a poster for the project. A project website was developed and launched and is since then fed on a regular basis with news, events, and latest papers and deliverables. It also includes links to access the main project tools (training material, IIN, etc.). A Twitter account was created, reaching at the project end 311 followers and 345 project tweets. Partners have also referred to the project as their own tools (social media as well as newsletters, websites, and articles). Scientific papers were written by partners, newsletters were sent, as well as additional mailings for events.A group of sister projects was joined by ICCEE, allowing the project to increase outreach and gain knowledge from projects working on similar topics / towards similar goals: the projects shared social media posts, included news of the others in their newsletters, and held regular calls to plan joint activities: a collaborative event was organized at EUSEW 2021, and the final event of ICCEE also included the sister projects’ results. This final event was successful and gathered a lot of interest in the last months of the project. Material from the event (presentations and recordings) was shared on the project website and has been added to the last newsletter. An event briefing, gathering key insights from each speaker was also produced, and a final briefing has been prepared with key policy recommendations. Moreover, under the project, an online networking platform has been created to facilitate and boost the dialogue among stakeholders of the agri-food cold chain, with an exchange of best practices and requests for contributions/advice: i.e. the Industrial Informative Network (IIN). Partners identified possible users from companies, warehouses, cold storage, and logistic operators and spread IIN procedures with all of them. Moreover, IIN was also promoted through official newsletters of partners, from landing pages ad-hoc created on partners' websites, ICCEE official social media, and those of partners; promotion of IIN aimed to bring attention to the real benefits of such interactive and international space for cold chain operators, especially concerning the real possibility of sharing good practices and increasing the implementation of sustainable approaches. In fact, members and contributors can also interact with each other within the reserved area of the platform. According to the results obtained, stakeholders were more willing to share good practices than sharing questions, as we reached more than 65 contributions. The content of IIN was also “re-bounced” on LinkedIn project account So as to exploit the project results and the toolbox to additional supply chains in the Food & Beverage, partners of the ICCEE project identified a group of stakeholders potentially interested in belonging to its network of the national association, considering the sectors and supply chains already included in the tool, in which to present the tool, show the benefits of using the tool and ask for feedback, especially regarding any improvements that can be made to facilitate its use in their sectors of belonging.To carry out the activity, in the best possible way, the ICCEE partners contacted and organized visits to the selected companies during which the toolbox was illustrated showing the benefits obtained in the pilot cases following the use of the tool.Based on the data collected in all the interviews the public deliverable “Report on the exploitation of the tool to additional supply chains” have been released. Progressi oltre lo stato dell’arte e potenziale impatto previsto (incluso l’impatto socioeconomico e le implicazioni sociali più ampie del progetto fino ad ora) To facilitate Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the cold chains of the food and beverage sector to undertake energy efficiency measures (EEMs), ICCEE has a) implemented and applied an analytical energy efficiency toolbox to support and facilitate decision-making at different company organizational levels and b) launched a capacity-building program towards staff and relevant stakeholders and a community dedicated to supporting a change in energy culture of the sector. The feasibility of EEMs has been evaluated by considering economic, environmental and social impacts encompassing their entire life cycle and the entire supply chain. Non-energy benefits and behavioral aspects have been also addressed and recommendations on financing schemes for SMEs have been assessed. The estimated impact of ICCEE in primary energy savings is close to 30 GWh/year, with an increased invested capital in sustainable energy of around 43 million €, and reduced GHG emissions of more than 4.5 ktonCO2/year.Capacity building activities allow to increase stakeholders’ knowledge and enhance their energy culture, during the project close to 2000 people have been trained to achieve increased skills/capability/competencies/culture on energy issues.Outcomes from ICCEE will hopefully support policymakers in defining tailored policies for the sector. ICCEE logo
