Innovation

Oxford Learner's Dictionaries: Innovation/ˌɪnəˈveɪʃn/ [uncountable]

- The introduction of new things, ideas or ways of doing something.

Innovation is no longer restricted to the confines of one particular company. Open innovation, lean innovation processes, creating and leveraging innovation ecosystems: they require collaboration and deep engagement from those involved. Furthermore, many sectors will have to go through major transitions in the years to come: decarbonising the value chains, reconfiguring industrial processes based on alternative primary materials, logistical chains that need to be rethought...

ESSET ENGAGE offers a range of services to tackle innovation challenges, such as:

• Developing business models, value propositions for specific cases

• Engaging sector actors in reflections on alternative value chains, value constellations, value blueprints, in order to achieve the sector transition to a more circular economy.

References that can be disclosed:

  • ESF 566; Theme 'Grote Evoluties in de Industrie', sub-theme 'Soft Skills Digitalization' (2023).

  • Smart Digital Farming, a digital innovation hub in agriculture and food (2016 - 2020).

  • ESSET ENGAGE consultants have been (lead) facilitators in a European project, RESYNTEX (www.resyntex.eu), aimed at exploring and testing ways to enhance circularity in the textile industry. Our contributions focused on designing and facilitating stakeholder workshops aimed at mapping and reconfiguring value constellations for the textile value chain, exploring how entirely different, circular, value chains might look like, how the roles of actors would change etc.

  • In 2010, ESSET ENGAGE consultants were responsible for the stakeholder engagement processes leading to the approval of MYRRHA, the construction of a highly innovative nuclear research infrastructure (budget: 1.5 billion €) in Mol, Belgium. This required stakeholder engagement processes in Belgian federal governmental circles, at European Commission level, but equally, a hands-on approach in local municipalities, involving local politicians and citizens.

  • ESSET ENGAGE has coached and continues to coach starting companies such as high-tech spin-offs, but also new companies in the non-wood forestry product sector and in the energy technology sector.