{"id":13653,"date":"2023-03-07T13:21:14","date_gmt":"2023-03-07T13:21:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lever.gr\/engine-hubs-epicheirimatikotita-kykliki-oikonomia\/"},"modified":"2025-06-24T22:01:05","modified_gmt":"2025-06-24T22:01:05","slug":"engine-hubs-epicheirimatikotita-kykliki-oikonomia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lever.gr\/en\/engine-hubs-epicheirimatikotita-kykliki-oikonomia\/","title":{"rendered":"ENGINE-HUBs: Entrepreneurship and Circular Economy"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Entrepreneurship workshops in the field of<\/strong>
Circular Economy for engineers and scientists<\/strong>
in the framework of the \u201cENGINE-HUBs\u201d project<\/strong><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Greece recycles only 21% of municipal waste, while Europe recycles 49.6% with the corresponding target for 2030 being 65%. Furthermore, investments in sectors falling within the scope of the circular economy amount to 0.02% of GDP, when the EU average is 0.12% with Greece presenting the lowest rate of investment in this sector among EU countries. These data – which highlight the importance of adopting and developing relevant strategies – were presented at today’s press conference for the Entrepreneurship Workshops in the Circular Economy sector for engineers and scientists in the context of the \u201cENGINE-HUBs\u201d project, which took place in the heavy atmosphere of the Tempi tragedy.<\/p>

The TECHNICAL CHAMBER OF GREECE – CENTRAL MACEDONIA DEPARTMENT (TCM) participates as lead partner in the project \u201cCreating \u201cCircular\u201d Business by young ENGINEers at the cross-border area of \u200b\u200bGreece-Bulgaria\u201d with the acronym \u201cENGINE-HUBs\u201d, which is co-financed by the European Territorial Cooperation Programme Interreg VA \u201cGreece-Bulgaria 2014-2020\u201d.<\/p>

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The project has a budget for the total partnership of \u20ac682,991.00 and is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund and national resources of the participating countries. The duration of the project is 24 months (8\/11\/2021 \u2013 7\/11\/2023).<\/p>

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Within the framework of the project, together with the INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION OF GREECE (SBE), which is also a partner of the project, they are implementing entrepreneurship workshops in the field of Circular Economy. The workshops are aimed at engineers and scientists who reside and\/or are engaged in business in the Regional Units of Thessaloniki, Serres, Kavala, Drama.<\/p>

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Similar workshops will be held in the Blagoevgrad and Smolyan regions of Bulgaria, by the project partners UNION OF CIVIL ENGINEERS IN BULGARIA and CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY GOTSE DELCHEV.<\/p>

The President of the Technical Chamber of Greece \/ Department of Central Macedonia (TEE\/TKM), Mr. Georgios Tsakoumis, during the press conference, emphasized that the recession severely impacted the work of engineers regardless of their employment status, resulting in young engineers seeking their future abroad. However, the President noted, the brain drain was already a problem for Thessaloniki and Macedonia in general even before the crisis, due to the region’s deindustrialization and the absorption of every dynamic economic activity by the central region. Therefore, it is extremely important for the society and economy of our region to make the most effective use of cross-border cooperation programs.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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The President referred to TEE\/TKM’s efforts since 2013 to familiarize and guide young engineers towards entrepreneurship.<\/p>

Today, Mr. Tsakoumis continued, TEE\/TKM is once again collaborating with SEVE (Federation of Industries of Greece) on this program that focuses on entrepreneurship in its most modern, innovative, and outward-looking form\u2014namely, the Circular Economy\u2014under very favorable conditions:<\/p>

  • In the Region, centered around Thessaloniki, a significant and promising Innovation Ecosystem has already been developed. The initial core was a locally-based, highly active private sector\u2014mainly small and medium-sized enterprises\u2014that turned to innovation and new technologies,<\/li><\/ul>

    making use of the area’s scientific and research potential. This was followed by investment interest from globally recognized business groups (Pfizer, Deloitte, Deutsche Telekom, etc.).<\/p>

    • We are at the beginning of the new Programming Period, with significant funding targeting entrepreneurship, green technologies, innovation, and circular technology.<\/li><\/ul>

      Finally, he referred to the region’s inherent comparative advantages, stating that it is a broad area that hosts all of the country\u2019s human activities, as well as the largest university in Greece and important research and higher education institutions\u2014a “small Greece” as he characteristically put it.<\/p>

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      The President referred to TEE\/TKM’s efforts since 2013 to familiarize and guide young engineers towards entrepreneurship.<\/p>

      Today, Mr. Tsakoumis continued, TEE\/TKM is once again collaborating with SEVE (Federation of Industries of Greece) on this program that focuses on entrepreneurship in its most modern, innovative, and outward-looking form\u2014namely, the Circular Economy\u2014under very favorable conditions:<\/p>

      \u2022 In the Region, centered around Thessaloniki, a significant and promising Innovation Ecosystem has already been developed. The initial core was a locally-based, highly active private sector\u2014mainly small and medium-sized enterprises\u2014that turned to innovation and new technologies,
      making use of the area’s scientific and research potential. This was followed by investment interest from globally recognized business groups (Pfizer, Deloitte, Deutsche Telekom, etc.).
      \u2022 We are at the beginning of the new Programming Period, with significant funding targeting entrepreneurship, green technologies, innovation, and circular technology.
      Finally, he referred to the region’s inherent comparative advantages, stating that it is a broad area that hosts all of the country\u2019s human activities, as well as the largest university in Greece and important research and higher education institutions\u2014a “small Greece” as he characteristically put it.
      On his part, the Director of Documentation and Studies of the Federation of Industries of Greece (SBE), Mr. Christos Georgiou, emphasized, among other things:
      \u201cWe no longer need to say that the green transition and the adoption of circular economy business models can be a key developmental choice. It is a core strategy. From the Green Deal to the actions of the operational programs of the new programming period, we now see initiatives titled ‘Green Transition’ or ‘Circular Economy’ everywhere.\u201d<\/p>

      Especially for a country like Greece, this field offers significant potential for investment and the development of new business activities. This opportunity has arisen due to the country\u2019s lag in this area, as:<\/p>