Creating “Circular Business” by young ENGINEers at the cross-border area of Greece-Bulgaria

Acronym	ENGINE-HUBs
Project Number – MIS	5071317
Priority axis	1 - A Competitive and Innovative Cross-Border Area
Investment priorities	3a - Promoting entrepreneurship, in particular by facilitating the economic exploitation of new ideas and fostering the creation of new firms, including through business incubators
Intervention fields	066. Advanced support services for SMEs and groups of SMEs (including management, marketing and design services)
Call	6th CALL FOR PROJECT PROPOSALS
Lead Beneficiary	TECHNICAL CHAMBER OF GREECE/SECTION OF CENTRAL MACEDONIA
Beneficiaries	CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY GOTSE DELCHEV CHAMBER OF ENGINEERS IN INVESTMENT DESIGN FEDERATION OF INDUSTRIES OF NORTH GREECE
Start Date	Jan 01, 2021
End Date	Nov 07, 2023
Budget	682.291,00 €
ERDF Contribution	580.542,35 €
National Contribution	102.448,65 €
Website	https://www.engine-hubs.eu/

The main common problems and challenges that entrepreneurship faces in the CBC area and that will be tackled by the project are: Limited access of entrepreneurs and prospective entrepreneurs to business-related know-how, Inadequate human resources and skills, Difficulties in finance, Limited access to information and contacts, Lack of support services for developing competitive products/services, Lack of access/know-how regarding cost saving technologies.
On the other hand, both countries do have a wealth of human capital with a multitude of qualified engineers, scientists and R&D institutions increasing the potential for a well monitored transition to a circular economy. What is needed is to assist them by improving the entrepreneurship conditions and stimulate business creation and synergies within the CBC area.
The project aims to identify and apply synergies and complementariness in the production line of the 2 regions and to turn an economic activity’s waste into materials for others through the establishment of “circular enterprises” . ENGINE-HUBs will make it easier for both CB regions to start collaborating and developing jointly circular production lines.
The project’s approach and joint assets (workforce) is to identify business opportunities in the area of circular economy and to create a structure through which business ideas of young scientists will be transformed into businesses in the CBC area. The structure will deliver a new business approach to enhance youth entrepreneurship building on three pillars: knowledge, mentoring/coaching and networking. Project’s comparative advantage is the connection of the scientific workforce with the market through its partnership. It is worth noticing that the project focuses on the provision of assistance through 4 HUBs to the new entrepreneurs for the implementation of their business plans and not only the development of these plans so that the new enterprises can be operative before project’s ending or 2 years after at the latest.