55 CLÚSTER DEL PACKAGING la cadena de valor del packaging. El proyecto está coordinado por Nanoprogress (República Checa) y cuenta con la participación del Packaging Cluster y Feeling Innovation by Stanpa (España), Cluster-ER Health y Clust-ER Meccatronica e Motoristica (Italia), INEGI (Portugal), BalticNet PlasmaTec (Alemania), DBH Innohub (Hungría), Bydgoszcz Industrial Cluster (Polonia) y Smart Food Cluster (Lituania). Esta diversidad garantiza una visión amplia y complementaria, clave para abordar los retos del sector desde una perspectiva verdaderamente europea. The European project EPIC (Enhancing Packaging Innovation Ecosystems for Interregional Collaboration) has emerged as a strategic initiative to accelerate the transition to more sustainable packaging models through interregional collaboration and the connection of the entire value chain. Funded by the Interregional Innovation Investments (I3) program, EPIC brings together partners from eight European countries representing all stages of the packaging value chain: material and machinery suppliers, manufacturers, technology centers, and end-use sectors such as food, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals. This composition allows for the identification of real market needs and their transformation into innovation opportunities with the potential for industrial implementation. A paradigm shift: connected innovation EPIC is driving a paradigm shift based on connected innovation. Increasing regulatory complexity demands solutions that integrate the entire packaging lifecycle, from design to end-of-life. In this context, cross-sector collaboration is key to sharing knowledge, adapting technologies, and accelerating the adoption of sustainable solutions. EPIC thus incorporates a crosssector approach that facilitates knowledge transfer between the food, cosmetic, and pharmaceutical sectors, generating synergies and more robust and scalable solutions. Within the framework of the project, a Trend Analysis and a map of challenges and competencies in the packaging sector has been carried out, identifying key trends, technological capabilities, and main industry challenges at the European level. This work has served as a basis for aligning market needs with innovation opportunities. Furthermore, EPIC has promoted online training consisting of 20 sessions, focused on innovation management, sustainability, and legislation, as well as trends, technologies, machinery, materials, and packaging applications in the three key sectors: food, cosmetic, and pharmaceutical. This program has contributed to strengthening the capabilities of the various stakeholders in the ecosystem. The project addresses challenges shared by the three sectors, such as incorporating recycled materials without compromising performance, improving recyclability through monomaterial structures, ensuring compatibility between packaging and product, and the need to scale innovative solutions in a demanding regulatory environment. These challenges are compounded by economic and technical factors. One of EPIC’s distinguishing features is its ability to transform these challenges into concrete business cases. Throughout the project, several workshops have been organized to present the innovation ecosystems of each participating region. This exchange has allowed for the analysis and comparison of different regional smart specialization strategies (RIS3). Based on this analysis, EPIC aims to enable less developed regions to replicate, at a political and strategic level, the best innovation practices of more advanced regions, thereby strengthening the cohesion and competitiveness of the European packaging ecosystem. EPIC promotes the development of innovation ecosystems based on the quadruple helix model, integrating industry, knowledge, public administration, and society. This approach not only generates solutions but also creates the necessary conditions for their implementation, including access to funding and alignment with public innovation policies. A European project with global impact The EPIC consortium comprises 10 entities from 8 European countries, representing diverse regional ecosystems and industrial capabilities across the entire packaging value chain. The project is coordinated by Nanoprogress (Czech Republic) and includes the participation of the Packaging Cluster and Feeling Innovation by Stanpa (Spain), Cluster-ER Health and Cluster-ER Meccatronica e Motoristica (Italy), INEGI (Portugal), BalticNet PlasmaTec (Germany), DBH Innohub (Hungary), the Bydgoszcz Industrial Cluster (Poland), and the Smart Food Cluster (Lithuania). This diversity ensures a broad and complementary perspective, key to addressing the sector’s challenges from a truly European standpoint.
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