Project Rationale

Industrial SMEs recognise the potential of the circular economy, but solutions often remain at the idea stage. Companies typically lack the time, expertise and testing environments needed to experiment with and validate new solutions. The Circular Economy Accelerator has been established to address precisely this gap – the development work that lies between an initial idea and practical implementation.

Project Objectives

For SMEs: To support the development and testing of circular economy–based products, services and business models. To provide a clearly structured three-month development period during which ideas are advanced in collaboration with experts.

For the regions (Uusimaa and Päijät-Häme): To increase competitive and resource-efficient industrial business activity.

For higher education institutions: To develop and publish an open operating model to support SMEs in circular economy development.

Project Activities

Selecting industrial SMEs to participate in three-month development cycles.
Testing materials and solutions in the laboratories of LAB University of Applied Sciences.
Developing product-service solutions through service design methods.
Sparring and refining business models together with circular economy experts.
Providing coaching and hands-on support throughout the development process.