BLUE GROWTH PIRAEUS
About this good practice
BLUE GROWTH PIRAEUS CONTEST INNOVATION
Blue Growth Piraeus (BGP) is an initiative to support start-ups and sustainable entrepreneurship in the maritime economy.
BGP aims to inspire and help young entrepreneurs realise innovative concepts and develop jobs and services related to marine resources through a call for proposals. Blue Growth Piraeus includes five stages, from proposal submission and evaluation to an award ceremony and an incubation programme.
BGP enables the city socially and economically and helps to encourage entrepreneurship, offering:
• Innovation and business strategies regarding BE.
• Facilitation and accelerated knowledge transfer to companies and start-ups,
• A continuous innovation mechanism in the blue and green economy.
• Strengthening cooperation in the fields of research, education and practice.
• Creating channels for exchanging knowledge and creating synergies in standard fields.
• Improvement of skills and knowledge of young people in BE.
Many stakeholders participate in all stages of BGP planning and implementation. It started as a partnership between the public and private sectors.
At the same time, currently, it is run by the Municipality in collaboration with the University of Piraeus, the University of West Attica, the Blue Lab, and soon cooperation with the Business Support Center of the Municipality.
Expert opinion
Resources needed
The financial resources are provided by the Municipality of Piraeus
Evidence of success
Since implementation in 2014:
Creation of 40 enterprises
Implementation of 5 networking events per year
Performance of 4 cycles of the incubation program, attended by at least 100 people/year
Establishment of more than 15 start-ups
Acceleration of seven start-ups in 2020.
Creation of approximately 60 jobs
Implementation of more than 50 community networking events
One start-up has been funded by HORIZON 2020
Two start-ups incubated by Blue Growth Initiative went to Port XL Rotterdam
Potential for learning or transfer
Piraeus is experienced with transferring practices to other regions and countries.
The five stages approach of the BGP Competition is easy to contextualize and, therefore, is the concept highly transferable.
Further information
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Good practice owner
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