Connecting Mediterranean Sustainability Challenges with UK Innovation

How CO2 PACMAN and konfer brought Mediterranean islands together with UK universities, researchers and businesses to tackle real-world climate challenges   

Mediterranean islands are on the front line of climate change. From water shortages and energy resilience to sustainable mobility and waste management, communities across the region are facing increasingly complex environmental challenges.  

As part of the Interreg Euro-MED project CO2 PACMAN, partners on the islands of Brač, Crete and Elba identified nine real-world sustainability challenges and invited innovators from across Europe to help find practical solutions.  

The aim was simple: connect the people facing these challenges every day with organisations that could bring fresh ideas, technologies and expertise.  

To broaden the search beyond existing networks, CEEI Valencia, which coordinated the open innovation process, worked with konfer alongside a number of international scouting channels. Through konfer, the challenges were promoted across the UK research and innovation ecosystem, helping universities, researchers and innovative businesses discover opportunities they might otherwise never have seen.  

The result was a highly engaged UK response that demonstrated both the depth of UK expertise and the value of connecting local challenges with international innovation communities.  

Strong engagement from across the UK   

The UK response was both broad and highly competitive. Of the 55 proposals submitted across the nine challenges, 18 came from UK organisations, representing almost a third of the total response.  

UK organisations submitted solutions to all nine challenges, covering topics such as water-loss monitoring, electric vehicle fire safety, sustainable mobility, alternatives to peat, vineyard resilience, green hydrogen and lower-carbon events. Eight UK proposals progressed to the finalist stage, with five organisations securing finalist places across seven of the nine challenges:

• University of Lancashire

• Durham University

• SilviBio

• Raiven

• RTN Zero Consulting

Under the attribution approach agreed with CEEI Valencia, 17 of the 18 UK submissions came from organisations identified through konfer. These organisations accounted for all five UK finalist organisations and all eight UK finalist proposals.

Almost half of the konfer-attributed submissions reached the final stage, highlighting not only the level of engagement but also the quality and relevance of the expertise UK organisations brought to the challenges.

"One of the most valuable aspects of working with konfer was its ability to help us reach organisations from the UK that we would probably not have connected with through our usual networks. The response we received demonstrated both the strength of UK research and innovation expertise and the value of opening local sustainability challenges to international audiences. Several organisations went beyond simply submitting proposals and became actively involved in project activities and direct exchanges with challenge owners. For us, that is a clear indication of the added value that konfer brought to the CO2 PACMAN open innovation process." Carmen Renovell Giner, Projects Team, CEEI Valencia 

From online discovery to real-world collaboration 

The process did not end with proposal submission. Following evaluation by local challenge committees, finalists were invited to present their solutions at the CO2 PACMAN Business Forum in Valencia in June 2025. The event brought together innovators, challenge owners, project partners and members of the wider European innovation community.  

Alongside solution pitches, participants took part in workshops, networking activities and technical discussions designed to move conversations beyond the initial application stage.

For some organisations, those conversations continued after the event.  

A representative from the University of Lancashire later travelled to Brač to continue discussions linked to the FireSafeEV challenge, while SilviBio subsequently contributed to project activities in Crete through a video intervention.  

While these activities remain at an early stage, they illustrate how open innovation programmes can create genuine opportunities for collaboration around specific local needs.  

Why the approach worked 

The success of the initiative came from combining three key ingredients:

• Challenges defined by local stakeholders with first-hand knowledge of the issues they were trying to solve.

• Access to expertise from beyond existing regional and national networks.

• A structured process that helped participants move from opportunity discovery to meaningful engagement.

For the islands, this meant access to a much wider pool of ideas and technical capabilities. For UK organisations, it provided opportunities to apply research and innovation expertise to real-world sustainability challenges in a European context.  

The project also demonstrated the value of platforms like konfer in helping challenge owners connect with organisations they might never otherwise encounter.  

Creating value on both sides 

The programme has already delivered significant value, generating new connections, insights and opportunities for future collaboration.

For UK organisations 

The programme provided:

• Access to nine real-world sustainability challenges defined by Mediterranean island stakeholders.

• Opportunities to showcase expertise to European public authorities, innovators and challenge owners.

• Valuable feedback and exposure in real-world settings.

• New routes towards future partnerships and international collaboration.

• Long-term visibility through the CO2 PACMAN solution catalogue and related project communications.

  
  

For the Mediterranean islands 

The programme provided:

• Access to UK university research, specialist SMEs and innovation-led businesses.

• A broader range of technical approaches and potential solutions.

• Connections with expertise beyond existing regional networks.

• A structured route from challenge definition through to solution scouting, presentation and further dialogue.

For konfer 

The initiative provides a tangible example of how a UK innovation platform can connect researchers, universities and businesses with place-based challenges beyond the UK. By helping challenge owners reach organisations they may not otherwise have engaged, konfer expanded the pool of potential solutions available to the islands while creating new opportunities for UK organisations to apply their expertise internationally.  

Looking ahead 

CO2 PACMAN demonstrates the value of opening local sustainability challenges to international expertise. The project generated strong UK engagement, high-quality solutions and meaningful interactions between innovators and challenge owners. While implementation and commercial outcomes often take time to emerge, the foundations for future collaboration have been established.  

By helping connect Mediterranean sustainability challenges with the UK research and innovation ecosystem, konfer is creating new opportunities for cross-border collaboration and helping turn local challenges into opportunities for innovation, learning and long-term impact.

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