Driving green innovation: scaling impact together

This event marks the final conference of the EU-funded DRIVE project, dedicated to accelerating sustainable innovation and entrepreneurship in rural areas across Europe. The event showcases the main results and lessons learned from the project and explores how nature-positive solutions, circular bioeconomy initiatives and rural startups can scale their impact to support the green transition.

The conference focuses on how innovation ecosystems, policymakers and regional stakeholders can work together to strengthen sustainable rural development, promote the circular bioeconomy and support green entrepreneurship. Particular attention is given to the role of startup villages, regional innovation ecosystems and collaborative networks in enabling rural communities to participate in Europe’s green transformation.

The event highlights the activities carried out within the DRIVE project, including roadshows, hackathons and mentoring programmes that supported rural innovators in developing and scaling their solutions. Participants have the opportunity to learn from concrete examples and discuss how successful approaches can be replicated across European regions.

The event aims to:

• present the main results and achievements of the DRIVE project;
• showcase innovative nature-positive and circular bioeconomy solutions developed by rural innovators;
• foster dialogue on how to scale sustainable innovation in rural areas; and
• encourage collaboration between policymakers, regional authorities, startups, research organisations and innovation ecosystems.

The conference brings together EU institutions, regional and local authorities, innovation agencies, startups, clusters, research organisations, rural stakeholders and representatives of European initiatives supporting sustainable development.

The format includes presentations, panel discussions and networking opportunities, allowing participants to exchange experiences, discuss challenges and explore future collaborations. Speakers include representatives from the European Commission, regional authorities, project partners and rural innovators involved in the DRIVE initiative.

By bringing together key actors from across Europe, the event contributes to ongoing discussions on how rural areas can become active drivers of Europe’s green transition and sustainable innovation.