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I3 Instrument Support Facility

CESAM

Cohesion Classification
More developed regions
Transition regions
Less developed regions

Abstract

CESAM (Circular Economy and Sustainable solutions for Agrifood in the Mediterranean, 2023–2026) invests in the scale up of innovative solutions in the agrifood value chain focusing on circular economy and sustainability. The partnership between Catalonia, the Balearic Islands, and Occitania brings together 9 partners and 1 associate partner from the European Regions of Occitania, Catalonia and Balearic Islands around shared goals for the agrifood sector: promote Circular Economy and Sustainability. Among these partners, 4 are institutional partners from the Regional Innovation Ecosystems (Regional Innovation Agencies and Clusters) and the other 5 are SMEs with specific needs in investment to scale-up their innovative solutions. With a budget of EUR 3 million (EUR 2.1 million EU contribution), the project scales up SME-led innovations in four priority areas: industrial water treatment and recycling, eco-conceived packaging, process optimisation for waste reduction, and the valorisation of co- and by-products. By leveraging infrastructures and expertise from More Developed Regions (Catalonia, Occitania) and directing pilot investments and capacity building toward Transition Regions (Balearic Islands), CESAM fosters territorial cohesion, strengthens agrifood value chains, and creates replication potential across Europe.

1
More Developed Regions
Cataluña (ES51)
3
Transition Regions
Languedoc-Roussillon (FRJ1)
Midi-Pyrénées (FRJ2)
Illes Balears (ES53)

This project is interregional as it is formed by actors from 3 EU regions: Occitanie (FR), Catalonia (SP) and Balearic Islands. Euroregion Pyrenees Mediterranean is a European Grouping for Territorial Cooperation, a public body dedicated to cooperation between these 3 territories. The consortium is formed by a public body (Euroregio as coordinator) and regional development agencies and clusters that represent the main networks of the innovation ecosystem in the agrifood sector. As the project is strongly embedded in its regionals ecosystems, it is fully aligned with the 3 regional S3 strategies, hence the participation of regional development agencies (ACCIO, FUNDACIOBIT and AD'OCC as associated partner). 5 SMEs are also part of the consortium, each developing specific sustainable solutions for the agrifood sector (Light signaling treatment for plants, sustainable bulk containers and automatic distributors, and sustainable treatment of wastewater for reUse in agriculture).

Occitania Region and Balearic Islands are benefiting a lot from CESAM's project and Catalonia's innovation force and systems. Institutional partners work together and exchange good practices. In the frame of CESAM, new interregional collaborations between SMEs have been created, both in the consortium and through cascade funding scheme.

Euroregio as a long history of cooperation with the interregional ecosystem in various other programs : INTERREG (SUDOE, EUROPE and POCTEFA), as well as LIFE program.

 

6
SMEs and Large Enterprises
1
Research and Education Organisations
1
Intermediary Organisations
2
Public authorities

CESAM promotes innovative sustainable and circular solutions for the agrifood sector. 4 main priorities are focussed within the agrifood sector:

  • Industrial water treatment and recycling
  • Packaging eco-conception
  • Optimisation of processes: waste reduction
  • Valorisation of co-products and by-products

We expect that our 4 solutions projects will reach TRL 8 or 9 by the end of the project. The project CESAM and the solutions developed are fully aligned with the Green Deal and green transition objectives, providing sustainable and circular solutions for the farm2fork strategy.

Pilots/demo cases

The project include 4 investment and demonstration cases for the agrifood sector :

  1.  Asclepios Tech has developed Boxilumix, an innovative farm 2 fork sustainable light signaling treatments solution for fruits and vegetables. Based on this technology, a prototype of Boxistick, a mobile lamp has been designed. Terracor sustainably produces fruits and vegetables in the Balearic Islands and has an ideal profile for testing Asclepios Tech’s technology.
  2. Derypol will deploy a project with the objective of demonstrating that sludge from wastewater treatment plants can be re-used in Agriculture in a safer way, improving its reusability and promote the nutrient recovery.
  3. NewTimes objective for this project is to adapt its existing machine for distributing loose beauty products to liquid food products use.
  4. GoZeroWaste has developed “Paasiot”, a reusable packaging service solution based on a smart dispenser. It offers consumers the possibility to benefit from clean and adapted reusable containers for different uses (bulk delivery, canteens, take-away food). The IoT solution gives the possibility of real-time monitoring for assignment, control, cleaning and delivery of the reusable containers
Pilots/demo cases

 

Budget for our FSTP is 900.000€

22 SMEs have been supported.

Our FSTP call was divided into two options :

1) Open call for scaling up solutions within our 4 main priorities for agrifood sector (TRL6-9)

2) Identified challenges : aimed at finding SMEs that would contribute / help the 5 SMEs of our consortium to scale-up or surpass bottlenecks in the development of their solution (eg. real environment testing and validations).

After a process evaluation coordinated jointly and with an evaluation panel composed of experts from the 3 regions, 20 projects have been selected for funding representing 30 SMEs. Most of those projects are collaborative with 2 or more SMEs, and most are interregional as well.

Project coordinator
As a public body dedicated to interregional cooperation, the Euroregio, we believe that the development of the CESAM project has been so far a great success, both terms of connecting the regional innovation ecosystems as well as helping directly SMEs to scale up innovative solutions. Our 4 main cases of investments are reaching their goals and will soon hit the market, probably before or at the end on the project. The FSTP scheme, has also been a huge success, co-developed by the three region members and evaluated by an interregional panel of experts, it has receveid 105 applications, of which 20 projects have been selected. Most of those projects are collaborative with 2 or more SMEs, and most are interregional as well. In that sense we believe it has created new interregional and cross border collaborations within the agrifood value chains.
Project participant
Our bulk liquid vending machine project is very important to our company. It’s building the future of our company while working to reduce plastic packaging and waste. Europe's aid allows us to accelerate this project by supplementing the planned self-financing. Our participation in a consortium I3 opens new doors for us and allows us to share our experiences. Finally, the support of regional agencies such as Euroregion and Addoc has been a crucial support for the management of the European project and for connecting with the various stakeholders.
Newtimes (SME partner)
Project participant
Participation in the I3-funded CESAM project has significantly strengthened collaboration between innovation actors across regions such as Catalonia, Occitania, and the Balearic Islands. It has allowed Go Zero Waste to closely co-develop with both public and private partners in preparation for upcoming pilot deployments. Through this collaboration, we've made major improvements to our Paasiot system. It now features an enhanced UX/UI, new functionalities like ecoTokens to incentivize sustainable behavior, and an eco-designed device ready for industrial scale-up. Although the pilots (made possible through FSTP) in a restaurant and a supermarket are yet to begin, the project has already enabled us to align our solution with real-world needs and build a strong foundation for successful testing. CESAM has truly helped us accelerate technological readiness while strengthening interregional cooperation in the circular economy space.
GoZeroWaste (SME partner)