Greenovate! Europe (G!E)
Greenovate! Europe is a European expert group dedicated to the development of sustainable businesses. Its members are experienced professionals who facilitate and communicate innovation processes for environmental technologies along the entire innovation value chain. G!E provides innovation support services at European level to EU projects, research laboratories, technology developers, companies willing to acquire new technologies, and investors.
The challenge
The commercialisation of public research results remains a bottleneck in the innovation process in Europe. G!E provides services that focus on overcoming this struggle to transform technical concepts into business opportunities, thus also providing Support to business. The following activities are deemed crucial in the successful commercialisation and exploitation of research results:
Knowledge identification and acquisition;Collaborative innovation;Commercialisation of knowledge;Cross-cutting services;Development of decision-support tools.G!E only focuses on research results and business activities with a green edge. For example, environmental impact reduction, waste management, renewable energy, and energy efficiency.
The network
G!E is a not-for-profit membership group with its secretariat based in Belgium, overseen by a supervisory board, which is elected by its members. Its member organisations have extended networks into eco-innovation related communities (SMEs, industry, market players, technical centres & experts, universities, investors, and clusters).[1] Because of its comprehensive eco-innovative approach, G!E covers all parts of the innovation value chain. Members are entities that directly or indirectly support the innovation cycle, from research to market.[2] In order to maximise impact and opportunities for its members, G!E has joined forces in strategic partnerships with a number of European networks, professional associations, and intermediaries.[3] With its member-expert pool of over 2500 experts, G!E acts as a virtual consultancy.
The benefits
Being a member of the G!E means being part of an extended network of innovation professionals, providing support for the development of sustainable businesses. G!E is promoting sustainable practices with a particular focus on key areas with high eco-innovation potential such as energy efficiency in buildings, energy efficiency in industry, resource efficiency, and sustainable manufacturing. G!E supports a variety of specific services, including research exploitation, green innovation vouchers, collaborative innovation and policy design.[4] The G!E homepage gives access to features, in-depth coverage of policy-issues, projects and reports to a broad, established audience.[5] With its pooled experience of innovation advisors and technical experts from across Europe, G!E is providing consultancy and facilitates knowledge sharing and networking.[6] New members sharing G!E’s vision are welcome to apply for membership.
Further deployment
Commercialisation of research results and services such as cross-sectorial collaboration will be increasingly important for the development, deployment, and procurement of eco-innovation. G!E allows stakeholders in the field to co-operate, and to support technologies and services that have a positive life-cycle impact on the environment.[7] The network has high potential for further deployment in new thematic areas such as sustainable approaches for industrial value chains, qualifying it for an estimated level 9 on the generic maturity scale, GML.[8] By offering the collective expertise needed for technology and service developers to bring their results to market, and by supporting policy makers to create an environment in which green businesses can thrive, G!E is contributing to the large scale deployment of eco-innovation in Europe.[9]
