Western Macedonia Cluster of Bioeconomy and Environment

The Cluster of Bioeconomy and Environment of Western Macedonia (CluBE) is a non-profit entity located in Western Macedonia, Greece. CluBE was established in 2014 and develops R&D and business activities in the fields of bioeconomy, bioenergy and environment. The mission of CluBE is to reinforce green, smart and circular actions in the region and neighbouring areas.  

These activities are supported by national and European funds. In fact, CluBE’s areas of expertise are stakeholder engagement (mainly local and regional but also national and European), local and regional replication, coordination of local demo sites, communication, dissemination, as well as knowledge transfer and mobilisation of entrepreneurship. 

Projects 

CluBE has been a partner in projects related to the following fields: 

• Circular Economy and Energy Savings (15 projects) 

• Bioeconomy and Social Innovation (7 projects) 

• Clean Technologies and H2 (6 projects) 

• Digitalisation and Climate Policies (8 projects) 

Further, these projects specifically address the following topics: 

• Energetic exploitation of biomass for household and industrial use, and especially for district heating; 

• Systems for small, medium or large cities; 

• Mobilisation of regional biomass supply chains; 

• Development of the green hydrogen economy; 

• Increase in the share of biofuels in the energy mix of transportation fuels; 

• Co-firing biomass with lignite in existing power stations and/or future heating plants; 

• Optimisation of heating systems; 

• Improvement of energy efficiency for households, public and private buildings; 

• Promotion of the concepts of smart cities and villages; 

• Promotion of the New European Bauhaus and its principles; 

• Support of entrepreneurship in the field of circular bioeconomy. 

Structure 

CluBE counts 20 organisations as members, representing various perspectives from the following sectors:  

• Public Sector; 

• Research & Development; 

• Entrepreneurship, including in:  

• Municipal district heating, 

• Cooperatives, 

• Wood companies, 

• Boiler manufacturers, 

• Water management, 

• Consulting companies. 

The members of CluBE, as well as its staff, have vast experience in the field of bioeconomy, biomass, bioenergy and green hydrogen. CluBE’s staff consists of over 40 experts, mainly engineers, with a third of the staff holding PhDs. Together, the staff manages and has successfully completed several European and transnational projects in the fields of research, innovation, and dissemination of knowledge. CluBE has also assisted the regional business sector by promoting and fostering entrepreneurship in Western Macedonia.