Interview on Circular Value Chains
December 12, 2025At the end of 2025, the Convert2Green consortium had the opportunity to take part in an in‑depth interview conducted for the European Commission’s DG RTD, focusing on how economic value chains can become more circular and resilient across Europe.
As an Open Innovation Test Bed, Convert2Green supports SMEs in accelerating the market uptake of circular, climate‑neutral materials, enabling faster and more affordable innovation in key value chains such as clean energy, smart health, and low‑carbon industry.
During the interview, Magda Krokida, Antonis Peppas, Nasos Grigoropoulos, and Martina Chopart shared key insights based on the project’s experience, highlighting that diverse, trust‑based partnerships are essential drivers of innovation. They also underlined the importance of harmonised digital tools and systems to maximise the Europe‑wide impact of research and innovation activities and to enable effective sharing of results. Open collaboration and shared learning were identified as key enablers for accelerating cross‑border scale‑up.
The discussion also included recommendations for future EU research and innovation programmes, emphasising the need for more flexible funding schemes, streamlined access for all innovation actors, and stronger support for cross‑sector collaboration.
We warmly thank Tim Niklaus for the dedicated exchange and look forward to continuing the discussion at the joint workshop planned for January.
