Zentrum Digitalisierung Region Stuttgart (ZD.BB) is consortium leader of the Danube region project with 16 international partners
On Wednesday, 10 April, the kick-off event for the European project DECIDE (“Digital Services for the Circular Economy”) took place at the Zentrum für Digitalisierung Region Stuttgart (ZD.BB). The Danube region project with 16 international partners from ten countries along the Danube aims to make the European economy greener and more digital by mid-2026. To this end, DECIDE aims to provide small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), start-ups and business developers in the Danube region with methods and tools for developing successful business models for the circular economy. These models are crucial for achieving the goals of the European Green Deal by making sustainable products the norm, finding ways to transform resource-intensive sectors and making the circular economy usable in practice.
“Our goal with the DECIDE project is to unite the two seemingly opposing poles of ecology and economy in promising business models,” said ZD.BB Managing Director Dr. Claus Hoffmann, explaining his team’s motivation during the welcome speech.
Johannes Jung, Head of Strategy, Business Law, Foreign Trade and Europe at the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Economic Affairs, Labour and Tourism, was delighted that four partners from Baden-Württemberg are participating in the EU project: in addition to ZD.BB and Reutlingen University with the Herman Hollerith Center, the district of Böblingen and the Baden-Württemberg Foundation are also represented in the DECIDE project.
“It is important that Baden-Württemberg participates in such programs, as they help to promote cross-border cooperation, drive innovation and strengthen the business location internationally,” emphasized Jung.
Prof. Dr. Dieter Hertweck, Herman Hollerith Center at Reutlingen University, then explained how to successfully develop business models for the circular economy in the Danube region.
Finally, the project partners discussed best practice examples of the circular economy in the Danube region in a panel discussion.
Afterwords project partners had a tour around the facilities and laborattories of the Zentrum für Digitalisierung Region Stuttgart (ZD.BB).
