Researchers help facilitate green entrepreneurship

Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU) researchers are creating a digital training kit to encourage future entrepreneurs to contribute to a circular economy.

A circular economy aims to keep resources in use as long as possible, extracting maximum value, before renewing them at the end of their service life.

The €300,000 two-year project, funded by the European Commission’s Erasmus+ programme, will involve the development of a range of online tools aimed at promoting innovation in the efficient use of resources in manufacturing and wider society.

Partners from across Europe will work with GCU to develop the online resources, which will ultimately be used by trainers at vocational and higher education level to encourage innovative practices in the workplace that extend product lifecycle, reduce resource consumption and help reduce the environmental impact of products and services.

Professor Jim Baird, who is leading the project on behalf of GCU, said: “The average EU citizen consumes five tonnes of resources per year, and the European Commission is bringing forward a legislative package to drive a more resource-efficient economy.”

In addition to GCU, the partnership, named Eng@ge, consists of the Chamber of Commerce Bistrita Nasaud, Romania; Prof Dr Asen Zlatarov University, Bulgaria; Macdac Engineering Consultancy Bureau Ltd – MECB, Malta; Polytechnic University of Bucharest, Romania; Lawton School S.L, Spain; and Drosostalida Social Enterprise, Greece.

GCU is the most successful University in the UK for leading international projects under the Erasmus+ programme. In October last year, GCU was awarded nearly €2m from the programme to coordinate two international capacity-building projects.