Achievements

Participation at the 2004 Pollutec trade fair in Lyon

Cd2e participated at POLLUTEC for the third year running, representing a showcase for Nord-Pas de Calais' eco-businesses.
It presented all its creation and development support operations in the environmental sector.
It also promoted the region's R&D skills in matters of environment as well as the know-how of several eco-businesses created or supported by cd2e.

Publication of the new directory of Eco-Businesses

The Regional Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the cd2e worked in collaboration on the publication of the 4th edition of the directory of eco-businesses.

350 businesses and organisations responded to the survey, bearing witness to the significant know-how present in Nord-Pas de Calais in response to emerging requirements in matters of prevention and protection of environmental resources.

This "eco-directory" features "production operations for goods and services aiming to measure, prevent, minimise or correct environmental hazards to the environment with an impact on water, air or soil, and problems related to waste, noise and eco-systems" (OCDE definition of eco-businesses).

Participation with 5 regional Eco-businesses in the Shanghai Pollutec trade fair in November 2004

Coordinated by cd2e in collaboration with the Nord-Pas de Calais Regional Council's Regional Export Support Commission, a group of regional businesses specialised in the environment met with, last November, a number of Shanghai's economic managers, interested by the eco-construction techniques developed in the Nord-Pas de Calais region in the framework of the Pollutec environmental trade fair in China.
Business opportunities identified during this mission led regional experts in eco-construction to collaboratively broaden the scope of their actions to China.

First cross-border meeting on the theme of Eco-Construction

On October 26th, a meeting was held on the theme of eco-construction, bringing together French and British architects, engineering design consultancies and construction businesses.
The objectives for this meeting were to:
- analyse together the perspectives for the sustainable construction sector's development on both sides of the Channel
- create conditions favourable to the forming of partnerships and collaborations between the participants in question
- identify reciprocal needs in matters of eco-construction, in order to steer the INTERREG programme in a collective and collaborative manner.

Launch of a call for innovative projects

The three main objectives of the call for projects were to:
- put an identified innovative product or service on the market;
- to strengthen the competitiveness of the business' product range by developing an innovative process for its production;
- to integrate technologies contributing to the improvement of a product, a service, the manufacturing process and / or the business' information management system.

This call for projects was launched on December 22nd 2003 and involved the following areas: eco-materials; sites and soils, sludges and sediments; clean, safe and economical technologies; transversal tools; energy.

63 projects were submitted, 35 of which were selected. 6 projects have already received funding and 9 others are due to receive a funding agreement shortly, bringing the number of projects supported before the end of 2004 up to 15.

Official launch of the Intereg III A programme on sustainable development for Eco-Businesses

With the Nord-Pas de Calais on the French side, and Kent, Medway and Sussex on the British side, a two-year INTERREG programme, entitled "Sustainable Development for Eco-Businesses" was launched in the first quarter of 2004.
Our objectives through this programme were: to provide our regional operators with new markets, to favour partnerships for new solutions concerning environmental protection.

On the French side, the INTERREG programme was presented on October 7th last, in Loos-en-Gohelle (France), during an inauguration day which brought together almost 150 French and British people.
On the other side of the Channel, the official launch took place on November 2nd last, in East Malling in the presence of Regional personalities and eco-businesses, and their British counterparts.

This two-year INTERREG programme revolves around the implementation of group operations and services:
- to improve the quality of support provided to eco-structures,
- to support and develop the market,
- to promote the potential of cross-border eco-businesses,
- to favour the development of new environmental technologies, products, materials and services.

It will be focussing on three key sectors: renewable energies, HQE construction, Material Recycling. It will also contribute to a cross-cultural analysis of the potential of all the eco-businesses and environmental laboratories of each region.