Call of PIMAP4Sustainability for Training and Services

A training support scheme that will help the skilling of the workforce in two critical areas for SMEs sustainability, the Green transition, and the Internationalisation of their activities, and an Innovation support scheme that will fund collaborative projects, together with an International mission support scheme that will help SMEs in attending the PIMAP4Sustainability Japan mission that will take place in June 2024.

These training, innovation and internationalisation support schemes gather 1 050 000 euros that will be redistributed by PIMAP4Sustanability toward innovative SMEs all along the photonics, advanced materials, and advanced manufacturing value chain.

PIMAP4Sustainability is an EU-funded Euroclusters project that aims to help SMEs all along the photonics advanced materials and advanced manufacturing value chain to be more resilient by doing their twin transition, green and digital, and by the internationalisation of their activities.

What do they offer?

• Through this funding scheme, PIMAP4 Sustainability will support the skilling and upskilling of SMEs of the Photonics, Advanced materials and advanced manufacturing value chain in two themes, the Green Transition and Internationalisation.
• This support scheme, therefore, offers three different supports:
  • The first one dedicated to Skilling and upskilling on green transition that will support SMEs up to €5000
  • The second one dedicated to internationalisation of SMEs activities that will support SMEs up to €10000 for internationalisation services and training.
  • The third one dedicated to supporting SMEs in attending the PIMAP4Sustainability international mission in Japan.  This support will be 2000 euros per SME. (This amount might change depending on the evolution of the Call).

Type of training and services that can be funded

• Under the above two first support schemes a various range of training and services can be funded such as:
  • Any training/support services increasing the resilience and boosting the green transition:
    • Eco-innovation consultancy
    • Feasibility studies
    • Design draft of equipment
    • ICT consultancy
    • APP’s development
    • Technical, economic, and environmental assessments
    • Evaluation of the environmental benefits.
    • Development of green business models.
    • Software development
  • Training / Support/consultancy services for increasing the resilience and boosting internationalisation:
    • Recruitment strategy.
    • Defining the go-to-market strategy
    • Business and management.
    • Pitching session
    • Market analysis etc
    • Training
• All the above-listed activities might be eligible to receive a grant provided that they are following the two themes of this Open Call: Green Transition and Internationalisation. In addition to this grant, PIMAP4Sustainability will set up a portfolio of training services from trusted and confirmed training organisations. This portfolio of activities is indicative, and SMEs can select by themselves another training or services from another training organisation.
• Support to attend a PIMAP4Sustainability international mission:
  • Within the framework of the organisation of its international mission in Japan PIMAP4Sustainability will support SMEs willing to attend the mission by supporting them up to 2000€.
  • Only accommodation and travel costs associated with the International Mission organised by PIMAP4Sustainability are eligible.
  • The mission will take place in Japan in 2024 from the 17 June to 21 June and build up around the Manufacturing World Tokyo Event 2024, the leading trade show on smart manufacturing in Japan. The aim of the mission will be to help SMEs to explore the Japanese market and opportunities through the Manufacturing World Japan Event. The PIMAP4Sustainability will also organise next to the event additional activities such as meet up with Japanese companies, clusters or structures that can help European SMEs willing to develop their activities on the Japanese soil.
• Note: the total money received from PIMAP4Sustainability by a single SME cannot exceed 60K, including funds from the innovation and training support schemes.

Expected Impacts

• To reach its objectives of making SMEs more sustainable, PIMAP4Sustainability have some expectations that will be considered during the proposals assessment phase. Your proposal will have to comply with at least one of these two expected impacts to get a grant:
  • The services/training will lead to a better ecological sustainability or resilience of the SMEs.
    • Green Transition raised in past years as a major political and economic objective for all industry stakeholders. The success of European climatic goals needs the involvement of all stakeholders, especially in industrial areas. Therefore, training and services obtained by a green transition grant must lead to a better ecological sustainability of the SMEs and help them to achieve their green transition.
    • This includes direct activities about green transition such as decarbonation, but also indirect activities such as technical training on a particular technology which could lead to a better energy or resource efficiency.
  • The services/training will lead to better economic sustainability by international development
    • The COVID-19 crisis has shown the agility of SMEs to develop solutions for new particular needs but at the same time, it has shown the dependency of the
    • European economy towards international markets that are offering a large range of opportunities for SMEs development. Training and services under this scheme will have to support SMEs to internationalise their activities and therefore be more sustainable economically.

Eligibility Criteria

• To apply to this Open Call and be considered as beneficiary you must be:
  • An SME as understood by the EU regulation
  • Being located in the European Union or in an associated country to the SMP-COSME programme
  • Being in the thematic scope of PIMAP4Sustainability (Photonics, Advanced Materials, Advanced Manufacturing, Aerospace, Metalworking, Industrial Production meaning activities covered by the NACE code C classification)
  • The training or service you want to pursue must end before 30 June 2024
• You (SME) can apply several times to this training/service support, until you are not exceeding the maximum amount for each support scheme (Green Transition 5K, Internationalisation 10K, mission support 2K). This means that an SME can, for example, submit four applications under the internationalisation support programme for four different services amounting to EUR 2,500, and obtain another grant of EUR 5,000 for the ecological transition, bearing in mind that you shall not exceed the maximum amount of funding received of 60K from all the support schemes of the project.

For more information, visit ECCP.