EmBRACE – Enhancing MSEs Sustainable Growth and Competitiveness, a Small Project Fund financed under the Interreg VI-A IPA Croatia – Bosnia and Herzegovina – Montenegro Programme 2021–2027, has been featured in the new publication “Small Projects Big Journeys – Exploring Europe through Interreg Small Projects”, prepared by Interact.
The publication is designed as a guide to Small Project Funds across Europe, presenting different approaches to supporting small projects and highlighting the concrete results and opportunities that this type of funding provides for local stakeholders, micro and small enterprises, and cross-border partnerships. Through examples from different European border regions, the publication demonstrates how small projects can represent an important first step towards new partnerships, innovation, and long-term cross-border cooperation.
EmBRACE is featured in the publication as an important instrument for promoting cross-border cooperation and strengthening the competitiveness of micro and small enterprises in the programme area. Through more accessible funding opportunities, the Small Project Fund enables beneficiaries to test and develop their ideas through concrete cross-border activities, new products and services, and innovative solutions.
A particular value of EmBRACE’s inclusion in the publication is that two small projects from the first call – PnZEBH and SmartGNSS – were selected as examples of the Fund’s approach and results. These two projects demonstrate how relatively small, targeted interventions can connect partners from different countries and result in concrete innovative solutions.
PnZEBH – Prefabricated nZEB Houses brings together partners from Croatia and Montenegro to develop an innovative prefabricated wooden house in line with nearly zero-energy building standards, while SmartGNSS connects partners from Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro in the development of GNSS/IoT solutions for precise landslide monitoring and applications in precision agriculture.
The inclusion of EmBRACE in the Interact publication provides additional visibility and recognition for the project at European level, while also offering an opportunity to showcase the experience and results achieved in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro to a wider audience working on the development and implementation of Interreg programmes and Small Project Funds.
These examples demonstrate how “small projects” can have a big impact – creating space for new ideas, connecting businesses and organisations across borders, and laying the foundations for future cooperation and larger project initiatives.
The publication “Small Projects Big Journeys – Exploring Europe through Interreg Small Projects” can be downloaded HERE.