Public Participation in Developing a Common Framework for the Assessment and Management of Sustainable Innovation

Related sector

• I - Accommodation and food service activities
• M - Professional, scientific and technical activities

SI Lead organisation

Ecoverified - Research and education actor ( Private research and innovation support organisations (RTOs) )

http://www.ecoverified.com/

SI Scope

SI Process

Start Date: August 2014 End Date: December 2014

Start Date: January 2015 End Date: June 2015

Start Date: June 2015 End Date: Ongoing

Start Date: August 2015 End Date: Ongoing

Link to H2020 SI Priorities

• Eco-innovation and green economy transition
• Resource efficient sustainable lifestyles
• Eco-solutions to reduce raw materials use
• Solutions to explore, extract, process and recycle
• Strategic intelligence and citizens’ participation

SI Type

• Marketing - Ecoverified® is a filed Certification Mark in the European Union and trademarked under classes 35 and 41.

• Service / Process - Ecoverified® provides high level consultation delivered by a skilled team of Doctoral Researchers, MBA graduates and Senior Engineers in the following sectors: • greenhouse emission point (ISO 14067) • human health & eco-toxicity (REACH and US EPA) • life cycle assessment (ISO 14040-44) • biodiversity and resource consumption • corporate social responsibility (Ethics, ILO, ISO 8000 & Devel Programs) • By-Product Synergy (BPS)
• Social (incl. behavioural) - Ecoverified is also in the process of being involved with social causes. Some of them are: • ’Adopt a tree in Greece’, in cooperation with a national TV channel • Help with gathering food for European refugees using a United Nations scheme • 3D print accessories for hotels and restaurants that will be biodegradable

SI Objectives

• Provide unique environmental and energy assessments
• Create an Ecolabel for the participating businesses
• Certify products and services for being eco-friendly in cooperation with Universities.
• Advertise hotels that have gained our Ecolabel in online booking agents such as familygoesout, booking.com etc

• Create an NGO that will have a social impact by participating in causes such as ’Adopt a tree in Greece’, food for the refugees, 3D printed accessories etc. Give the chance to holidaymakers to adopt sea turtles, see them and learn about them.
• Create and application that will map eco-friendly locations and businesses. Greece will be the starting point, hoping to expand that to other countries as well
• Find alternative solutions for regions where recycling is not applied i.e. small islands.
• Create a map with all the eco-related activities that are available.

SI Origin

Natasha is a Greek-UK-Dutch citizen. During her MBA in sustainability, she came up with the idea of creating an Ecolabel for hotels and restaurants. For her thesis she performed a research on more than 10000 holidaymakers and travel agencies, asking what their environmental requirements for hotels and restaurants are. Antonios is a scientist and a doctoral researcher on industrial biotechnology and green chemistry, residing in the UK. Vasilis is a chartered mechanical and environmental engineer working in a global energy company in Europe and South East Asia. Vasilis A. is a doctoral researcher in charge of publications.Along with John who has experience in business and start-up companies they decided to create Ecoverified. After extensive talks on how this company would be created, they decided to trademark the name and started contacting people in key positions for their input. They now have a good basis on how to proceed and thanks to their expertise they are ready to consult you.

SI Factors of success

• Economic - ECOverified aims to provide both ECOlogical and ECOnomical consultation to businesses and individuals aiming to inform the public and create business opportunities to companies willing to become ECOverified.
• Environmental - For ECOverified everything is judged according to it’s environmental influence, how it minimizes environmental impact and how it informs the public about emissions.

Sources

• Primary - The primary source of information lies within the answers that were provided by over 10000 holidaymakers and travel agents and in the survey that was conducted by Anastasia Hadjichristofi during her MBA in sustainability. The former have expressed their preference and their answers have been evaluated according to the ecological and economical impact in the hospitality industry.
• Secondary - The practices applied and provided in the form of consultation to hotels, restaurants and their vendors are evaluated by professionals in cooperation with Universities.
• Tertiary - ECOverified’s tertiaty sources are e-books and manuals which are provided following a businesses’ evaluation.