Switchers Support National Partnerships

The Switchers Support National Partnerships have been promoted by locally committed organizations supported by MedWaves, the United Nations Environment Programme Mediterranean Action Plan (UNEP/MAP) regional activity centre for Sustainable Consumption and Production (formerly known as SCP/RAC) with the objective of triggering a conducive national support ecosystem for green and circular economy entrepreneurs.

Our definition of the Switchers Support National Partnership is:
“A non-institutionalised voluntary association of public and private actors that cooperate on green business development services to achieve a mutually agreed-upon objective which can potentially benefit all the involved parties making available resources, skills and knowledge.”

MedWaves supports the development of national partnerships offering technical and financial support:

1. An intensive knowledge transfer activity has been envisaged to replicate tools and good practices developed within the first phase of SwitchMed (2013-2018). Training workshops are regularly held, coupled with the development of a dedicated web-platform, to transfer and fine-tune green business development tools and services.

2. Financial contributions are made available to selected national organizations to ensure the technical coordination of partnerships, facilitate communications and implement activities benefitting local green and circular economy entrepreneurs.

3. Cross-border networking and knowledge exchange is enabled by gathering best practices, organizing regional events and connecting business support organizations to advance the green and circular economy agenda.

Members of the National Partnerships commit themselves to develop a common plan of action to integrate their service offer by:

· Delivering green business model development trainings at local level;

· Coaching and assisting selected green and circular economy entrepreneurs through tailored incubation services;

· Offering specialized external technical assistance;

· Supporting entrepreneurs to identify potential investors and become investor-ready as well as promoting financial deals to secure entrepreneurs’ growth and stability;

· Ensuring impact monitoring, results dissemination and partnership sustainability;

· Facilitating exchanges among Switchers, scouting opportunities and enhancing existing local green entrepreneurs’ networks.