Green Economy Network North Rhine-Westfalia (KNUW)
KNUW is a partner and network manager for the exchange between companies, research, associations, universities, regional agencies and economic development at the regional and local level.
Since June 2020, the INZIN Institute, in cooperation with the VDI Technology Center and Prognos AG, has been working for KNUW on behalf of the Ministry of the Environment, Nature Conservation and Transport of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW). The project is financed from state budget funds.
KNUW is a partner and network manager for the exchange between companies, research, associations, universities, regional agencies and economic development at the regional and local level. The central aim is to strengthen the Green Economy in NRW by identifying and making better use of national and international market opportunities.
Objectives:
The competence network Umweltwirtschaft.NRW pursues the central goal of making the potentials and strengths of the Green Economy in NRW visible and creating platforms for exchange for their improved utilization at the regional level and in the submarkets.
To this end, the market development of the Green Economy is to be supported by providing know-how on innovation and market potentials in the regions and submarkets.
Tasks:
KNUW uses regular technology screenings to identify technical and organizational innovations in the submarkets of the Green Economy. The results of the technology screenings and the information from the exchange with the network partners are used to disseminate specific topics between the network partners and initiate new innovations.
In this way, cooperation between companies, universities, associations and administration is to be initiated in order to jointly develop economic potential and identified market opportunities in the Green Economy. Together with strategic partners from the state and the focus states, KNUW supports the international communication and marketing of innovative core competencies of North Rhine-Westphalia’s Green Economy. Parts of the network management are to be transferred into structures independently supported by the Green Economy, which enable the articulation and representation of its interests as an economic driver and bring companies into the public eye that are increasingly focusing on climate and environmental protection with their business models.
At local and regional level, the work of established players such as regional development agencies, EFA regional offices, climate protection networks, business development agencies and specialist projects will be promoted with suitable offers, thus consolidating their integration into the environmental economic strategy of the state of NRW.
Information events in North Rhine-Westphalia, business trips and trade fairs provide small and medium-sized companies with targeted support on their way into international business. Precise matchmaking of companies – in NRW and our focus countries – as well as customized information dissemination are at the forefront of the International Markets division. With the “Green Economy – Vorsprung für NRW” brand, KNUW strengthens the state’s positioning as a leading, sustainable and future-oriented business location and as a provider of innovative environmental technologies at national and international level.
KNUW is available as a network manager to bundle the interests of the Green Economy companies, research institutions, associations and economic development agencies.
Further information on the Green Economy Network North Rhine-Westphalia can be found here.