GreenStep is a transformative project aimed to empower capacity in less developed regions by fostering collaboration, knowledge sharing, green and digital transitions, and alignment of S3 strategies leading to the enhance innovation and economic growth. GreenStep will lay the foundations for long-term collaboration among Q-helix stakeholders in Energy-intensive industries (EIIs) value chains bringing together 8 regions (3 less developed, 2 transition, 1 outermost, and 2 more developed regions) from 6 different countries.
The highly skilled and complementary consortium is formed by 5 clusters, 2 universities, 2 companies, and 1 government body, operating as a cross-sectoral, interdisciplinary, and interregional network whose expertise ensures GreenStep commitment to excellence.
The GreenStep project is structured into seven interconnected work packages (WPs), each designed to contribute to the project’s overall goal of fostering a green, digital, and sustainable transition in Energy-Intensive Industries (EIIs). These WPs follow a logical progression, ensuring a structured approach to capacity building, stakeholder engagement, investment facilitation, and long-term sustainability.
Ensures smooth coordination, financial oversight, and quality assurance.
The specific objectives of the GreenStep project are:
The GreenStep project involves 10 partners from the Czech Republic, Spain, Portugal, Poland, Latvia, and Germany. See the profiles of our partners for more details
Location: Pardubice, Czechia
Type of Organization: NGO, cluster organisation
Mission: NP activities focus on boosting innovation and competitiveness of its members and of the whole nanotechnology sector.
Expertise: NP holds extensive expertise in effectively managed and coordinated diverse array of European and national projects expressed in the Gold Label of the European Cluster Excellence.
Role in the Project: NP bears the overarching responsibility for achieving the project objectives as the project coordinator. NP is also leader of WP7, where NP ensures the support of interregional investment projects together with Archipélago Next and MCICT
Location: Greifswald, Germany
Type of Organization: registered association
Mission: Default partner for your R&D&I plasma needs.
BalticNet-PlasmaTec (BNPT) represents technology and market-oriented cooperation between science, research, and industry in the field of plasma technology. BNPT is the ideal contact for those looking to expand their technical and economic potential through the use of plasma technology.
Expertise: BalticNet-PlasmaTec (BNPT), an international plasma technology cluster in northeastern Germany, unites 79 members, ranging from start-ups to large companies, R&D facilities, universities, and technology centres. We achieve our goals through joint projects and offer support to our cluster members. We facilitate access to consulting, training, financing, and promotion services for the implementation of innovative technologies and products.
Role in the Project: BNPT will lead WP 5 CrossEcoNet, which focuses on fortifying regional ecosystems through capacity-building initiatives, fostering increased engagement in EU networks and platforms, facilitating cross-border visits, establishing connections through ecosystem twinning, and implementing strategies to attract and retain talent. We achieve our goals through joint projects and offer support to our cluster members, facilitating access to consulting, training, financing, and promotion services for the implementation of innovative technologies and products.
Location: Porto, Portugal
Type of Organization: SME
Mission: SPI is a consulting company, created in 1996, with a deep knowledge of the private and public sectors, as well as of the processes that allow its clients to foster innovation, be competitive and generate growth
Expertise: Combining in-depth knowledge of local contexts with a strong international vision of the real-world setting, SPI structures its activities in 4 areas of Innovation, Science and Technology, Territory and Tourism & Agriculture.
Role in the Project: : SPI’s role includes conducting contributing on diagnosis of the regional innovation ecosystem for Portugal, developing the GreenStep Platform, and carry on the sustainability and long-term impact of the project
Location: Kaunas, Lithuania
Type of Organization: University
Mission: To create and transfer interdisciplinary knowledge and innovative technologies that foster a sustainable society, while building trust, creativity, and leadership within the university community.
Expertise: KTU acts as an intermediary between science and business, ensuring effective collaboration, commercialization of university-developed innovations, intellectual property protection, fostering young business development. As well as technological analysis of energy intensive industries (EIIs) with the focus on chemical sector.
Role in the Project: The role in the project involves conducting a comparative analysis of regional innovation ecosystems within EIIs using tools like SWOT, case studies, and stakeholder mapping, as well as developing an interactive map of the European EII ecosystem to highlight key players, innovation trends, and cross-sectoral relationships.
Location: Canary Islands, Spain
Type of Organization: Venture Capital Fund
Mission: Archipélago Next specializes in early-stage digital startups across Europe, fostering the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Spain by providing strategic guidance, access to networks, and financial support.
Expertise: Identifying and analyzing investment opportunities, monitoring startups, and offering strategic support to drive exponential growth with a global vision.
Role in the Project: Identifying and evaluating investment opportunities within the interregional investment strategy, ensuring alignment with regional needs and challenges. Providing strategic support to pilot funding initiatives, optimizing their impact through analysis and risk mitigation.
Location: Warsaw, Poland
Type of Organization: Cluster
Mission: Mazovia Cluster ICT, Key National Cluster is an accelerator of innovative projects and a connector between science, industry, administration, and society.
Expertise: MCICT facilitates access to consulting, training, financing and promotion services for the implementation of innovative technologies and products. Cluster uses and optimizes the innovation potential of the region and the country, promotes it on the international arena.
Role in the Project: MCICT is responsible for benchmarking the performance of Local Innovation Actors in less developed regions and creating legal, financial, and economic basis to enhance interregional EIIs projects identified in the scope of GreenStep.
Location: Gijón, Spain
Type of Organization: SME
Mission: To promote the transformation of the Asturian metal industry, through collaborative work with the sectorial ecosystem, in the face of the challenges of globalization, digitalization and decarbonization, representing a modern industry with innovative products, competitive, internationalized and sustainable.
Expertise: Metal Industry, Green Transition, Digital Transformation, Research & Development & Innovation
Role in the Project: FEMETALiNDUSTRY’s role includes to conduct the creation of the framework to strengthen the cooperation among regions and their stakeholders within the quadruple helix and contribute to mapping supply-side competencies of the regional innovation ecosystem for the Less Developed Regions.
Location: Zaragoza, Spain
Type of Organization: Non-profit association
Mission: Zinnae, a non-profit cluster founded in 2010 in Aragon, focuses on offering solutions for water security challenges to promote a sustainable and resilient future aligned with circular economy and smart society principles.
Expertise: Zinnae accelerates water security solutions, with expertise in digital technology (AI, big data, IoT), resilient infrastructures (energy efficiency, pollutants of emerging concern, innovative and smart solutions for water treatment), and adaptive governance (reutilisation, water stress, smart investment). ZINNAE promotes innovation, talent development, and cross-sectoral and holistic approach in water management.
Role in the Project: ZINNAE is the WP2 leader and supports BNPT in WP5. ZINNAE provides solid experience in promoting networking and connecting cross-sectoral stakeholders linked to the water sector and also active participation in EU networks and platforms as leading partner in other EU projects (Water4All EU Partnership, Water Smart Territories S3P, CircInWater Eurocluster).
Location: Liberec, Czech Republic
Type of Organization: University
Mission: TUL has 7 faculties and the Instititute for Nanomaterials, Advanced Technologies and Innovation (CXI) which is internationally respected multidisciplinary centre for science and research. Its mission is to transfer innovations into real life on the basis of high-quality research and development together with industrial partners.
Expertise: TUL represents a connection between the university research and industrial and commercial organisations. It has a long-term cooperation with industry and large enterprises (Volkswagen Group, Bosch, Mitsui, Siemens, Prusa Research etc.) as well as with SMEs and regional bodies.
Role in the Project: TUL‘s role includes hosting workshops that will help to share best practices, innovative technologies and sector-specific expertise to optimise processes within EIIs, other role is to strengthen industry-driven initiatives to support value chains in EIIs requires a comprehensive approach and collaboration between governments and other stakeholders.
Location: Liberec, Czechia
Type of Organization: Regional development agency
Mission: ARR is the main regional agency of the Liberec Region. It fulfils the role of a service organization of the Liberec region. All its activities focus on the benefit of the region, its inhabitants, economic entities and institutions.
Expertise: ARR has strong ties with regional stakeholders, chamber of commerce, business associations, educational facilities and other regional entities. It runs the Liberec Business Incubator Lipo.ink and operates the Smart Accelerator of the Liberec Region supporting the environment of R&D organizations and SMEs.
Role in the Project: ARR’s role includes analyzing chosen smart specialization strategies of certain partner regions and defining a roadmap for implementing the proposed measures. ARR will also identify tools for attracting and retaining talents to participating regions nad create a pilot for Talent Attraction in Liberec.
