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The European Network of Ecodesign Centres, driven by Ihobe, finalises its implementation - 24 July, 2012.

On 16 July, Ecodesign Centre Wales, Pole de Eco-Conception, Ovam and Ihobe, as the secretary of the Basque Ecodesign Center, met at the offices of the Basque Delegation to Brussels to finalise the details of the deployment of the European Network of Ecodesign Centres. This Network aims to provide the structure to exchange the best regional practices to drive the widespread use of ecodesign in SMEs.

The meeting convened by Ihobe to prepare the launch of the European Network of Ecodesign Centres, made progress on developing the objectives and lines of action of this international network.  It also considered actions for knowledge transfer, to activate the demand for ecodesign by SMEs and to encourage eco-innovation partnership projects.

Michael Bennett, the European Commission Ecodesign representative and who took part at the meeting, stressed that this Network “is an initiative that will show us how to speed up the incorporation of Ecodesign in European SMEs with the maximum return on the private-public partnership”.

The Director Ecodesign Centre Wales, Frank O´Connor, considered that “the European Network of Ecodesign Centres is an initiative based on mutual confidence that will enable the policies of our respective governments to promote ecodesign to be deployed more efficiently and with fewer resources", while Samuel Mayer, Director of Pole Eco-Conception declared that “In the more than six months that we have been working together since the Bilbao Ecodesign Meeting 2011, we have already seen mutual benefits. We are now beginning to deploy the ambitious Grenelle Act in France and it is time to show that working together is the way to better promote ecodesign in the SMEs”.

Miranda Geusens, a director of the Flemish Environmental Agency Ovam, stressed that this network would open up the way to expand the ecodesign awareness-raising, information and advisory services for SMEs and to develop new know-how in conjunction with other European Ecodesign Centres.

 

Source: www.ihobe.net

24 July, 2012.