In the framework of the Interreg Euro-MED GREENSMARTMED project, project partners team played a key role at the 3rd Community of Practice (CoP) gathering of the Innovative Sustainable Economy 
(ISE) Mission, held in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, from the 2nd to the 4th of April 2025. The event was hosted by CENER21 in collaboration with BETA Technological Centre (UVIC-UCC), under the collaboration between the Innovative and Sustainable Economy Mission Governance Projects (TCP and IDP) and brought together ISE Mission projects partners, governance actors, and external stakeholders to share knowledge, amplify results, and foster cross-border cooperation around circular and sustainable innovation.
GREENSMARTMED project partners from University of Bergamo (Fabiana Pirola – Project Coordinator), CUEIM (Valentina Oliviero – Communication Manager and Results Amplification Strategy Support), AFIL (Eda Ipek and Carlo Modani (Responsible for the Methodology Development and Quality Management) and CERTH (Chrysovalantis Ketikidis – Responsible for Pilot Testing and Methodology Integration) represented the GREENSMARTMED consortium throughout the three days of the event, held at the Hotel Hills Sarajevo Congress & Thermal Spa Resort.
The three days event focused on the following aspects:
1st Day – Pitching GREENSMARTMED’s Circular Solutions
On the first day, all the ISE Mission 14 Thematic Projects were presented in the Marketplace of Circular & Innovative Solutions session around different clusters focusing on their main goals: New Business Models, Support Decision Making, Transformative Methodologies and Behavioural Change.
GREENSMARTMED, featured under the Transformative Methodologies cluster, was presented by the Project Cordinator, Fabiana Pirola, who, in a dynamic pitch session, explained the project’s strategy for boosting green and smart practices across the Mediterranean manufacturing sector. The presentation highlighted scalable tools to support sustainability transitions, sparking interest during the Q&A session and networking quiz.
These pitching sessions allowed community members to gain a clear, first-hand understanding of each project’s work, fostering connections and identifying opportunities for future collaboration, which were further explored during networking breaks. Find here GREENSMARTMED’s Pitch Presentation.
After that, the project team continued building connections during the thematic posters’ exhibition where it had the opportunity to find more about the other Thematic Project of the ISE Mission (New Business Models: 2B-BLUE, CARBON FARMING MED, OliveOilMedNet, and CircleMED; Decision-making Support Tools: SPOWIND, Clepsydra, and eWAsTER; Transformative Methodologies: BLUE ECOSYSTEM, AZA4ICE, and REVIVE; Behavioural Change: ProcuraMED, REPper, and VERDEinMED) and the evening networking dinner kindly offered by the hosting partners in the city center.
2nd Day – Co-creating Knowledge and Shaping Impact
The second day of the event was dedicated to collaborative working sessions.
The GREENSMARTMED team actively contributed to the Thematic Working Groups, focusing on specific regional challenges, good practices, and evidence-based solutions in the context of hands-on discussions on the industrial transition focus areas main challenges.
The interactive session marked the first step in drafting the ISE Mission’s upcoming White Papers, aiming to frame collective strategies for future actions. In this first co-creation activity GREENSMARTMED’ representatives were invited to explore the key challenges they aim to address, successful practices in the area, proposed solutions, and stakeholder engagement strategies for the project’ focus area.
In the afternoon, the team joined a training session on citizen behaviour change, delivered by ACR+, Rosa Strube (CSCP, Head of Sustainable Lifestyles), and Michele Giavni, Bioeco Expert.The session focused on practical strategies to influence citizen behaviour, introduced the COM-B model and offered real-life examples to support the development of effective outreach strategies.
GREENSMARTMED team then were invited to apply these insights to the project context, identifying tailored behaviour change approaches for their target, and had the opportunity to find out how these skills are directly applicable to GREENSMARTMED’s mission of encouraging more sustainable production and consumption habits across the Mediiterranean Region.
A key highlight of the event was the launch of the ISE Mentoring & Twinning Programme,
designed to support the uptake and transfer of TP results across the Mediterranean. The initiative was launched at the meeting in Sarajevo with the opportunity to meet and hear live from the first four external stakeholders (takers) who have joined the programme. The takers joining for this first phase of the programme are Olga Batran, Director at B-Hub, Birzeit University (Palestine); Georges Youssef, Mayor of the Municipality of Menjez (Lebanon); Konstantinos Papadakis, Co-founder & Chairman at AgroID S.C.E. (Greece); and Tomaso Fortibuoni, Researcher at the ISPRA (Italy).
Takers and Givers are now entering a pilot phase where they will test and refine the methodology with the support of our partner MIO-ECSDE, to the aim to develop the skills and knowledge needed to successfully replicate innovative solutions in their local contexts. GREENSMARTMED began engaging with potential “takers” from Lebanon, Palestina, Greece and beyond, to explore how its tools and methodologies could be adapted to new local contexts, strengthening the project’s long-term impact.
3rd Day – Strengthening Synergies and Future Cooperation
The final day focused on regional dialogue, collaborative conversations, and B2B matchmaking. 
GREENSMARTMED representatives engaged in discussions with both Interreg partners and external stakeholders, contributing to workshops on strategic communication, the PRIMA initiative, and the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network Mediterranean (SDSN). These moments were valuable for identifying synergies and reinforcing the project’s position within the wider Euro-MED innovation ecosystem.
Moreover, the ISE mission partners also had the opportunity to share some insights and ask for input from the CoP members for joint communication and advocacy activities, led by project partners REVOLVE, Regione Emilia-Romagna and MedWaves.
GREENSMARTMED’s presence at the Sarajevo CoP meeting reaffirmed its role as a strategic actor in the Interreg Euro-MED landscape. Through targeted communication efforts, active involvement in co-creation, and a strong presence in both technical and networking sessions, the project continues to drive progress toward a smarter, greener, and more circular Mediterranean economy.
For more information about the event, find here the Agenda and here the follow up article from the ISE Mission website.
