The demand for resources (water, food, energy, land and minerals) is continuously increasing, given the rising purchasing power of a growing populatiThe demand for resources (water, food, energy, land and minerals) is continuously increasing, given the rising purchasing power of a growing population. The global resource extraction is projected to reach an estimated value of 184 billion tonnes in 2050 and the supply could be further aggravated by climate change, making natural resources increasingly scarce and more expensive. Hence, industrial symbiosis is the tool to implement circular economy into the manufacturing sector: it’s the process by which waste or by-products of an industry or industrial process become the raw materials for another. Big data analysis is a promising approach to identify the potential industrial symbioses within the perimeter of a large industrialized city. However, industrial symbiosis hasn’t been widely implemented because resource input and waste output data aren’t disclosed or collected, making data-driven and optimisation solutions very difficult to implement. Simbiosy has developed Síner, an industrial symbiosis project management software that manages and estimates resources (raw materials, waste, water and energy) and waste (wastewater, residual heat) data of the industries within a given territory. Síner gathers data from different sources and processes it via Big Data tools and algorithms that are capable to estimate the unavailable data. The aim of the phase 1 project is to improve our understanding of the EU market for industrial symbiosis management tools, identify regional market variations in terms of purchase decision makers, appropriate business models, pricing structure and identify which are the most attractive markets for us to use as a beachhead. In the EU, circular activities generated almost € 147 billion in value added and account for €17.5 billion worth of investments. We plan to target 16,884 municipalities.

Catalonia offers huge potential to become a showcase for Bioeconomy innovation and deployment in Europe. The region is a hub of high-tech manufacturing, research, and industry (vehicles, chemical, health), has extensive forests (>60% coverage), agricultural production and fisheries, and it is backed by strong institutional support for the bioeconomy with The Catalan Bioeconomy Strategy launched in September 2021. However, circular bioeconomy projects involve a wide range of stakeholders, complex business models and demand strong technical and legal knowledge from developers, investors, regulators, and local planning authorities. For these reasons, many viable bioeconomy projects are overlooked and are unable to raise sufficient investment. BIOBOOST aims to accelerate the growth of the bioeconomy in Catalonia by delivering Project Development Assistance (PDA) services that address the specific and systematic barriers preventing bioeconomy projects from reaching the investment stage. PDA services will be delivered via a one-stop-shop office in Barcelona, the "Accelerator". The needs of bioeconomy projects will be assessed, Project Development Plans developed, and a package of PDA services offered. The office will also work together with the investment community and public institutions to prepare these stakeholders for investment and construction phases. PDA services will be delivered by a powerful consortium of sector specialist that bring together all the core components of successful project development: 1. Facilitation and Coordination (Symbiosis); 2. Technical Feasibility and Engineering (Aeris); 3. Legal and Public Administration (Roca Junyent); and 4. Business Develop and Financing (Inveniam). Overall, we forecast that over 30M€ of additional investment into circular bioeconomy projects will be achieved because of the BIOBOOST project, representing over a 18x multiplier on EU investment.

The lineal economy model take-make-consume-dispose is a reflection of a time when resources and energy were believed to be unlimited and easy to obtain and there was no awareness of the serious environmental consequences. Currently, the Circular Economy (CE) is proposed as the logical and viable alternative, which corrects the main problems of this linear scheme. CE refers to a production and consumption system that creates as little economic loss as possible, and where the majority of the products and resources used in production processes can be reused and recycled. This changing products’ design and production processes could help to minimise waste and increase the potential of unused resources, and thereby, have a positive environmental impact.[1],[2].The EC stress that “transition to a more circular economy requires changes throughout value chains, from product design to new business and market models, from new ways of turning waste into resource to new models of consumer behaviour”. Industrial Symbiosis (IS) is a waste-as-resource business models aiming to use waste a resource promotes cross-sector and cross-cycle links by creating markets for secondary raw materials.[3] This system approach to a more sustainable and integrated industrial system could contribute to resolve the development and environmental challenges articulated in SDGs.Consequently, the main objective of the project is to develop a new professional profile, the INDUSTRIAL SYMBIOSIS FACILITATOR towards the design of a common curriculum and learning approach on. This IS facilitator would be responsible of different tasks: to conduct analysis in its area of influence, to define and promote synergies between companies from different sectors, to capitalise on the benefits of EC principles implementation, etc. The INSIGHT project will bring together an innovative Consortium made up of 6 partners from 5 European Countries (Belgium, Slovenia, Spain, Romania and Italy): VET providers, research centres, SMEs and non-governmental associations) with wide experience in IS and Education. To this end, the INSIGHT partnerships have defined the following specific and SMART objectives (SO):SO1. To design and develop a Joint Curriculum (JC) for developing and fostering new skills on VET students with the participation of stakeholders and education expertsSO2. To deliver the JC on e-learning platform and project it under open licensesSO3. To develop a blueprint strategy and governance guidelines to include ISSO4. To equip VET users and other target users with the right skills and knowledge about IS from today and tomorrow and to foster a sustainable and innovative developmentSO5. To create new job opportunities for people with the necessary skills (soft and technical ones)SO6. To boost new business related to IS fulfilling the principles of the Circular EconomyTo carry out these objectives, Consortium will carry out the following activities:- An training path definition which encompasses a key study based on current knowledge, skills and qualifications regarding IS and a Joint Curriculum to define the necessary learning outcomes, methodology which cover previous identified gaps.- The creation of learning and training materials together with methods, pedagogical approaches and tools.- The implementation of a training and collaborative e-learning platform to ensure that all materials developed are certainly deployed by creation an open online course.- The definition of a blueprint and the deployment of its action plan for the transformation of VET programs towards IS.The project will carry out its own assessment, and a wide D&E Plan to spread its results among as many interested parties as possible. INSIGHT will also address transversal skills such as entrepreneurship, innovation and digital competences.In terms of long-term benefits, INSIGHT project will increase the labour market relevance of VET position and will reduce skills mismatches and shortages among the identified target groups (VET students, industry experts, workers, trade associations, research centres, etc.)Results will strengthen the duration and training path or workers, equipping them with all necessary competences and skills to develop a high-quality job in the target sectors defined. Therefore, by supporting lifelong learning and fostering a new educational initiative that will offer learners the possibility of enhancing their skills and acquire new knowledge that will broaden the talent pool and allow them to be better equipped to fabricate future CE business strategies. Consortium believes in the INSIGHT direct impact in our economy, society and environment because they majority of the circular solutions are not in the origin sector.[1] COM (2015) 614 final[2] Johnsen, I. et al. The potential of IS as a key driver of green growth in Nordic regions. Nordregio[3] [3]EEA Report No. 2/2016

EU is currently responsible for 11.6% of the world's final energy consumption (9425 Mtoe in 2014) and for 10.8% of the world's final CO2 emissions (33.3 GtCO2 in 2014) with Industry accounting for 25.9% of the energy consumption and for 47.7% of the final CO2 emissions. Energy in industry is mostly used for process heating and cooling, which represents about 63% of the total industry final energy demand. A rather significant theoretical waste heat potential, accounting to 370.41 TWh (Waste heat) per year, has been estimated in the European industry. Energy Intensive Industries (EEIs) are unsurprisingly the top heat emitters. On the other hand, it is estimated that at least 50-70% of EU households could be served more cheaply by thermal infrastructure through district heating networks. District heating currently provides only 8% of the heating demand in Europe. There is therefore an opportunity for increasing energy efficiency growth rates and contributing significantly to the decarbonization targets of European Industry by using the large underutilized energy resources found throughout European EEIs to substitute conventional heat sources in the European industrial and urban sector. The overall objective of INCUBIS is: To help decarbonise European industry by 2050 by unlocking the market potential of ENERGY SYMBIOSIS through developing and deploying five (5) Energy Symbiosis Incubators across Europe, complemented by a digital Cloud Incubator, thus enabling the utilization of waste energy from EEIs. In doing so INCUBIS will achieve total energy savings of 200GWh/year, trigger €6 Million of investments in sustainable energy, generate benefits of €4 Million, achieve GHG reduction of 55k tCO2-eq/year, and convince 1450 business over 40 industrial parks to commit to energy cooperation. To achieve this INCUBIS has put together a prestigious consortium of 8 partners including 5 SMEs that span 6 European countries and will work for the duration of 36 months.