Development and results of a cross border network project, aimed at the engineering of eco-compatible products

Sustainability is nowadays a milestone in government, administrative, business, manufacturing and educational policies. In the current difficult economic context, small and medium enterprises represent the most disadvantaged realities concerning environmental innovation, basically because they cannot invest in and consequently benefit from Research and Development units. This paper deals with the objectives, methods and collective short and medium-term results of a cross border network project, aimed at the engineering of eco-compatible products, led in cooperation with universities, public authorities and research centres. This applied research aims at disseminating the possible results obtained by a technology transfer to a selection of Italian and French case studies that, at the end of the biennial tutoring path, will represent some possible best practices able to integrate the theories of ecodesign into practical reality. The paper will illustrate the accompanying pathway undertaken by the Politecnico di Torino, with an overview of five Italian case studies, and a deeper focus on the most significant one in terms of qualitative and quantitative results achieved with this project. The effectiveness of this international research will be discussed, by highlighting the potential of creating an international comparison on the topic of how to implement eco-innovative strategies for small and medium enterprises. Finally, in conclusion some considerations on short, medium and long-term benefits will be presented, pointing out the added value of cross-border collaborations that may be shifted to other productive and geographical realities. Results focus on an Italian context even if the theme is also relevant outside of Italy: considerations could be made about how this method could be applied to other contexts and countries, where this kind of research and approach could be adopted.