ResilieNtWEB coming to a close after three years of successful collaboration with SMEs

Published on 11/06/2015

The ResilieNtWEB project, in which the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST) is a partner, is coming to a close after three years of successful collaboration. With the aim of supporting companies in increasing their resilience by anticipating and adapting to market change, the project worked out a set of practical and interactive tools for SMEs. Funded by the EU programme Interreg IVB NWE, the project brought together partners from national, regional and local organisations across the United Kingdom, France, Belgium and Luxembourg.

Targeting the three sectors of construction, tourism and food, ResilieNtWEB worked with 66 businesses across the four partner regions, supporting them in developing measures to become more resilient. Companies were supported in understanding their role in the circular economy and shown the value of using resilience as a business strategy, such as by developing products and services that require a minimal amount of natural resources. This resulted in a number of reproducible eco-innovations, such as a solution to recycle organic waste for the production of renewable energy and a network of food aid associations to manage unsold food products to prevent wastage.

A 6-step methodology to become more resilient

The ResilieNtWEB programme takes companies through several stages to develop their business model and activities. It begins with identifying the innovation opportunities that are beneficial for all stakeholders and the environment through an online quickscan and follow-up. Then a 6-step methodology guides companies through the innovation process, including access to a planning tool, business model canvas and up to six months of business support. A focus on biomimicry principles, where solutions are inspired by nature, provides the inspiration for companies to develop innovative new services. Finally, the results are evaluated and companies are invited to provide feedback on the approach.

A selection of Luxembourgish case studies

The ResilieNtWEB approach was carried out with 66 SMEs, including several in Luxembourg, leading to a wide range of new solutions. Discover all of them by downloading the final project brochure.

  • Construction Sector
  • Neobuild – Innovation in Sustainable Construction

    The Neobuild Cluster for Technological Innovation in Sustainable Construction, which built and manages the Neobuild Building as a living laboratory for technological innovation, was interested in reinforcing their business strategy. As a result of collaboration with ResilieNtWEB, they found two areas to focus on: using a public-conference-based approach, with networking and collaboration on workshops; and fostering collaboration with companies from the same business site on shared issues.

  • Food Sector
  • Oikopolis – Green Team Award 2014 Winner

    The OIKOPOLIS group, which manages the agricultural cooperative BIOG, the organic wholesale retailer Biogros and the organic supermarket chain NATURATA, wanted to develop a tool to implement sustainability actions across its holdings. Working with ResilieNtWEB led to the creation of a sustainability group, which won the Green Team Award 2014, as well as a strategy for long term employee engagement and a roadmap for reducing the cummuting-based carbon footprint of the group.

  • Hotel Sector
  • Hôtel de la Sûre – Towards a Strategy for Resilient Business

    The Hôtel de la Sûre is a family business in the North of Luxembourg and a holder of the Gold Ecolabel for environmentally-friendly tourism establishments. To further improve, the hotel joined the ResilieNtWEB project to identify its next projects: development of a menu based on seasonal, regional products, and development of strategies to empower their employees’ responsibility.

Interactive events to showcase tools and results

Wrapping up its activities, the ResilieNtWEB project recently held two events to showcase its tools and results:

  • On June 2, 2015, around 20 professionals took part in a workshop entitled “A resilient strategy for business innovation - inspired by nature: Biomimicry in practice”, held at the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology. The highly interactive event allowed participants to discover the Resilience Design Toolkit, which consists of 30 richly illustrated cards presenting innovation principles taken from nature to inspire business innovation.
  • On Friday, June 5, 2015, the project closing event was held in London, England to provide an overview of the project results and client feedback, and to give companies and consultants a chance to discover the fun and practical innovation tools developed within the project.

By improving the resilience of companies across North-West Europe, ResilieNtWEB will help to create and secure jobs in SMEs, and by showcasing companies that have successfully demonstrated sustainable innovation, will inspire others to also focus on sustainable value creation in their business planning.

>>Download the final ResilieNtWEB project brochure to learn about the case studies and final results
>>Take the online QuickScan
>>For more information visit www.resilientweb.eu

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