Micro-, Small and Medium-sized Enterprise Day: Driving sustainability and innovation with EU-funded projects

Celebrated on 27 June, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) Day aims to raise public awareness on the significant role of SMEs for sustainable development and the global economy, and the importance of strengthening their resilience during crises. By nurturing innovation, creativity and promoting good work opportunities, MSMEs play a crucial role in driving economic growth and sustainable development.

HaDEA manages EU-funded projects that support MSMEs. Discover them:

• SURE 5.0 seeks to support European SMEs working in specific industrial ecosystems, to advance in their digital transformation process while becoming more human-centric, sustainable, and resilient. The project targets SMEs working at the Civil transportation and Electronics ecosystems (Mobility, Transport & Automotive – Aerospace & Defence – Electronics) to integrate the industry 5.0 principles in their manufacturing processes.
• GreenSME aims to support SMEs in achieving green, digital and social sustainability. By enhancing their capacity to adopt advanced technologies and become competitive and climate-neutral, the project intends to establish a green SME hub. This hub serves as a knowledge-sharing community, providing activities to raise sustainability awareness, engage with industry, facilitate ecosystem networking and offers tailored advisory services to SMEs.
• STAGE facilitates the creation of an industrial ecosystem by transforming industrial enterprises into globally leading, agile, and green enterprises. The project brings together experts from a wide range of fields, including manufacturing, process engineering, business modelling, finance, and sustainability strategy. The project provides in-depth industrial training to build sustainability transition plans, offer financial incentives to access tailored advisory services and financial support, and facilitate investments to SMEs with the highest potential.
• PHOENIX is dedicated to facilitating the efficient transfer of nano-pharmaceuticals from laboratory research to clinical trials. The project stablishes PHOENIX Open Innovation Test Bed (OITB), which provides an accessible and cost-effective network of facilities, technologies, services, and expertise. PHOENIX-OITB supports various technology transfer processes and regulatory compliance. It aims to develop and upgrade facilities to assist SMEs, start-ups, and research laboratories in scaling up, producing, and testing nano-pharmaceuticals under good manufacturing practices (GMP) conditions.
• MULTI-FUN aims to drive market-creating innovation by developing advanced materials and equipment for additive manufacturing (AM) of multi-material parts using Wire+Arc Additive Manufacturing (WAAM). These new material combinations will enhance the performance and efficiency of AM products through integrated multi-functionalities – which include features like embedded electrical conductivity, fibre-optic sensing and innovative heat management using nanotechnologies. Such advancements can find broad application in aerospace, automotive and, more generally, in industry.
• Grade2XL applies WAAM technologies for the manufacturing of large-scale structures. By using WAAM’s high printing rate and control over material properties at the nanoscale, Grade2XL aims to develop multi-materials, high throughput WAAM systems, and produce robust engineering structures with superior quality and performance. The project anticipates significant lead time reductions and substantial cost savings in the maritime, energy, and industrial machinery sectors.

Background

Horizon 2020 was the EU’s multiannual funding programme between 2014 and 2020. H2020 provided Research and Innovation (R&I) funding for multi-national collaboration projects alongside individual researchers and SMEs via special funding instruments. Horizon 2020 was continued by the Horizon Europe Programme, which will run until 2027.