Forty representatives from twelve European regions gathered in Groningen for the third in-person consortium meeting of the European Circular Innovation Valley (ECIV), a five-year EU co-funded project mobilizing stakeholders across Europe to accelerate the shift to a circular economy.
The gathering marked a significant step in building real collaboration across regions, sectors, and perspectives. For many participating stakeholders — regional authorities, researchers, industry actors — the meeting was the first chance to experience ECIV’s objectives and possibilities first hand, creating a sense of shared ownership over its long-term direction.
A series of site visits immersed participants in the project’s priority challenge areas: from textiles and construction to packaging and by-product valorisation. Whether at Vepa Furniture Factory, a textiles sorting company Sympany, the Biosintrum - a knowledge centre made of over 80% biobased materials, or the Greenwise campus - the premier network for knowledge development, innovation and entrepreneurship, the visits highlighted how ecosystems can be engaged on the ground, and how circular innovation already takes shape when different actors and competencies come together.
The meeting centred on a data-driven experiment developed by professors Pierre-Alexandre Balland and Ron Boschma. Using data from patents, investments, and regional research outputs, their model provides each participating region with a detailed map of strengths and opportunities. It highlights ECIV challenges with growth potential and identifies European regions where complementary capabilities can be built. The goal is to guide smarter investments, strengthen innovation ecosystems, and enable more targeted cross-border action. The model will continue to improve through contributions from partner regions.
As ECIV partners look ahead, the Groningen meeting underlined the importance of anchoring challenges that are not only ambitious but also practical, grounded in regional contexts, and open to co-creation. By engaging stakeholders from across Europe and linking different sectors, the project is laying the foundations for inter-regional collaboration that can deliver long-term results.
About ECIV
The European Circular Innovation Valley (ECIV) is co-funded by the European Union. It brings together 18 partners from eight territories to create Europe’s largest interregional circular innovation ecosystem. ECIV connects regional strengths and engages stakeholders from industry, government, research, and civil society to co-develop circular solutions for Europe’s challenges.
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