The MANTRA project is committed to broadening its impact by establishing links with EU initiatives working on related topics, through joint actions, knowledge sharing, and strategic partnerships. We are fostering synergies by creating an alliance of projects and actors dedicated to driving the green, digital, and socially sustainable transformation of SMEs, accelerating innovation and impactful change across the manufacturing ecosystem. Would you like to join our network for collaborative Dissemination & Communication activities?
In a context where energy costs are rising in the European Union, manufacturing SMEs face major difficulties to stay competitive. Meanwhile, the ambitious green objectives of the European Commission must be matched and require the investment of all stakeholders, including manufacturing SMEs. The Green Manufacturing and Advanced Net-zero Technology Innovations project (GreenMantis) aims to help the manufacturing value chain transition to green practices through the adoption and scaling up of new net-zero technologies. GreenMantis gathers six leading European clusters to cover the whole manufacturing/energy value chain and ensure the connection between all relevant stakeholders throughout the value chain. GreenMantis develops a comprehensive innovation support scheme to help both manufacturing and energy companies develop and adopt new net-zero technologies, such as electricity grid improvements, energy system-related energy efficiency, and transformative industrial technologies for decarbonization. To address the difficulties faced by these companies, GreenMantis offers financial support for projects leading to the development and adoption of new net-zero technologies in the manufacturing field, resulting in better industrial green processes and scalable solutions replicable in other contexts. Additionally, GreenMantis addresses other limitations of SMEs by offering free training and internationalization services, allowing for the upskilling of their workforce and better capabilities to address new markets, making them more sustainable.
The FFIGIA (Fédération Française des Indications Géographiques Industrielles et Artisanales) is a French non-profit federation that represents, protects, and promotes certified geographical indications for traditional, non-food industrial and craft products. Founded in 2015, the organization brings together manufacturing collectives to safeguard unique regional heritage, combat counterfeiting, and defend authentic, local expertise.
ComoNExT – Innovation hub is a Science & Technology Park and a Certified Startup Incubator based in Lombardy (Italy). Its innovation ecosystem brings together around 150 companies and 900 professionals, including startups, SMEs, corporates, universities and other innovation actors. Its core mission is to foster innovation transfer to the territory by supporting startups and companies in their innovation and growth processes, and by strengthening cooperation within and across innovation ecosystems. With its community and strong network of innovation actors, ComoNExT facilitates collaboration between enterprises, research organisations, and public authorities and intermediary stakeholders, enabling the co-development and testing of innovative solutions in real-world environments.
Remanufacturing using AI and Advanced Robotics – RENÉE Concept Mounting environmental concerns have highlighted the crisis in traditional manufacturing, leading to increased product waste and resource depletion. The EU-funded RENÉE project aims to address this by shifting towards circular value chains, emphasizing remanufacturing in the household appliances, robotics, and mobility sectors. Utilizing advanced AI and robotics, RENÉE seeks to rejuvenate used products, fostering a sustainable revolution in the EU industry. By implementing digital remanufacturing management tools and flexible production robotics, the project aspires to transform EU industry into a beacon of sustainable and efficient remanufacturing. This effort marks a significant contribution towards the EU’s goals for a greener, digitally integrated future.
SECPhO is a cluster based on Spain that brings together more than 180 organisations that promote technological innovation through deep tech in all sectors of our economy. They contribute to the assessment and advisory services for SME’s, including due diligence assessments, matchmaking non-tech SMEs with tech SMEs, co-creation labs, and tailored, value-added advisory services.
Rina-C is a global network specializing in energy transition, ESG, and digitalisation, based in Italy. They are responsible for providing assessment and advisory services to the selected SMEs undergoing digital and technological transformation. This includes due diligence assessments, matchmaking tech-savvy and traditional SMEs, share best practices in co-creation labs, and offering tailored solutions and recommendations for practical implementation as part of the advisory services.
Babele is a social enterprise based in Romania, that acts as a catalyst for systemic innovation, uniting a global network of universities, corporations, NGOs, and social entrepreneurs to co-create impactful solutions to address global issues such as climate change and poverty, while fostering resilience in the face of its effects. They are responsible for developing, building, and managing the digital platform for SME recruitment, overseeing the capacity-building and support program, and connecting innovation communities, EU networks, and SME support initiatives. The platform will function as a hub for knowledge exchange and a community of practice.
Greenovate! Europe is a not-for-profit network of organisations dedicated to sustainable innovation. It develops sustainability projects and provides innovation support to researchers, companies and policymakers. The project partner based in Belgium, is responsible for the communication and dissemination activities of the MANTRA project. Their goal is to maximize the project’s impact by raising awareness, building a stakeholder community, and sharing open project results in a way that ensures they are actionable and exploitable by stakeholders.
INES TEC is a research & development institute located on the campus of the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto, located in Portugal. They oversee the role of identifying the needs and barriers of SMEs to create the most favorable capacity-building support services. They will connect European specialised business support structures, networks, and organizations to build-up an innovative value-added support ecosystem for SMEs.
EIT Manufacturing is a public-private partnership located in Italy, co-funded by the European Union and established in 2019 that connects manufacturing players by promoting talent and entrepreneurship to accelerate sustainable innovation in Europe. They provide coaching programs and capacity-building support to enhance the competitiveness and innovation of SMEs. Building on the SME Alliance projects and EITM initiatives, they oversee the SME ecosystem, facilitating the exchange of best practices, and enable that traditional SMEs gain from dedicated peer-learning activities, learning directly from leaders in their sector.
EIT Manufacturing is a public-private partnership located in Italy, co-funded by the European Union and established in 2019 that connects manufacturing players by promoting talent and entrepreneurship to accelerate sustainable innovation in Europe.
They provide coaching programs and capacity-building support to enhance the competitiveness and innovation of SMEs. Building on the SME Alliance projects and EITM initiatives, they oversee the SME ecosystem, facilitating the exchange of best practices, and enable that traditional SMEs gain from dedicated peer-learning activities, learning directly from leaders in their sector.
Cetim is a technological accelerator dedicated to industrial transformation. It brings the best of research to French industries and offers a comprehensive solution combining consulting and engineering services. They contribute to the assessment and advisory services for SME’s, including due diligence assessments, matchmaking non-tech SMEs with tech SMEs, co-creation labs, and tailored, value-added advisory services.
Zabala Innovation is an international consultancy firm specialising in consultancy services for both R&D and Innovation management, based in Spain. As project coordinators for MANTRA, Zabala ensures smooth project management and defines the criteria to select and prioritise the manufacturing SME projects that will be funded through the project to unlock their digital and technological potential and build sustainable business models.
