“Green” employment in the management of biowastes

Acronym	GREEN CREW
Project Number – MIS	5010843
Priority axis	4 - A Socially Inclusive Cross-Border Area
Investment priorities	9c - Providing support for social enterprises
Intervention fields	113. Promoting social entrepreneurship and vocational integration in social enterprises and the social and solidarity economy in order to facilitate access to employment
Call	2nd Call for proposals under priority axes 2 & 4
Lead Beneficiary	Municipality of Serres
Beneficiaries	Municipality of Nestos Municipality of Blagoevgrad Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Department of Chemistry
Start Date	Oct 06, 2017
End Date	Oct 05, 2020
Budget	542.466,70 €
ERDF Contribution	461.096,70 €
National Contribution	81.370,01 €
Website	https://www.serres.gr/greencrew/

In the course of action of the present project, the main priority will be the support and development of social and cooperative entrepreneurship in the wider region of both Bulgaria and Greece, by creating the prerequisites for promoting and enforcing alternative types of entrepreneurship, along with local growth. An example of applying this cooperative entrepreneurship is the development of Social Cooperative Businesses. As an added value the “eco-innovation” can be a motive for the further development of this social entrepreneurship. Therefore, the “eco-innovation” leads to cost reduction, contributes to utilizing of new opportunities for growth, and focuses on quality so that it is promoted as the most suitable choice for customers. Thus, this program will be an original example of “eco-innovation” (collection and composting of organic waste).

The project is a crucial link between social entrepreneurship and “eco-innovation”. The contribution of the program is estimated that it will be the foundation for the development of social corporations. The notion of circle economy is highlighted by the above “eco-innovative” action. Under the three-fold moto: “produce-utilize-reuse”, the creation of an incubator highlights the social dimension of the program, emphasising “eco-innovation”. This way the social character of the project will be highlighted which is a crucial with the social enrolment of in the base economy to be a basic aspect of the strategic plan of both countries.

The main outputs of the study will be:
• Social enterprising business incubator centre (BIC)
• Strategic guidelines for the future creation of a successful BIC with social and "green" contribution
• Education skills to beneficiaries through smart education practices

The beneficiaries of the above outputs are the local communities, the participants which skills will be improved and the policy makers which will have the opportunity to commune the social enterprising business model to a broader public.