Results from Sustainable Business Cleantech

LIFE Foundation was selected to carry out a three year (2018-2020) ”Sustainable Business Cleantech” project scaling up to SEK 9 million. The aim was to support ”green” small and medium sized enterprises from Värmland to be internationalized on emerging markets based on sustainable business models.

The video below shortly explains what the project was about. We also wanted to share a summary of the results that were achieved during the project, listed in seven themes on this page.

The project results were presented in a film made within the project, a model description that shows how the project has been matchmaking Swedish Cleantech with emerging markets and a final report. These were all made in Swedish and are therefore not shared here. Do not hesitate to contact us if these are of any interest for you to take part of.

1. Workshops and networking

Several seminars were arranged with organisations and companies in Värmland. These seminars increased knowledge in sustainable business development, further development for the companies and new contacts, locally as well as internationally. These are some of the seminars that were held:

  • Workshop in sustainable business with Karlstad Municipality.
  • Workshop in the three parts about environmentally driven sustainable business development.
  • Meeting about sustainable solutions during a crisis situation with Läkarmissionen and MSB (Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency).
  • Network meeting between companies and organisations in Värmland and particpants from six different African countries that were a part of LIFE Academy’s Renewable Energy Programme.
  • Cleantech Talk between contacts in Latin America, that have been a part of education programmes at LIFE Academy, and cleantech businesses in Värmland.
  • Network meeting between the Embassy of the Republic of Botswana in Sweden and the packaging industry in Värmland. The Embassy also visited Lumine LED, a company that works with LED lights in Karlstad, Värmland.
  • Web seminar in three parts to increase knowledge about the market on emerging markets.
  • Lecture and workshop with Anti-Corruption Expert Anna Romberg.
  • Digital seminar about Circular working methods.
Meeting about sustainable solutions during a crisis situation with Läkarmissionen and MSB
Workshop about sustainable business.
Mingle between organisations in Värmland and participants in the Renewable Energy Programme.
Mingle between organisations in Värmland and participants in the Renewable Energy Programme.

2. Matchmaking with emerging markets

The companies that were included in the project and wanted to establish on emerging markets were supported and lead through their individual process. Several films were created for the companies and shared with the LIFE Academy network in countries of interest. Matchmaking has been made between the following:

  • Rainpower, Glava Energy Center and Zambia (interested parties in Zambia visited Sweden)
  • Lumine LED and Botswana MoU (Memorandom of Understanding) was signed (the Embassy of the Republic of Botswana in Sweden met with the Swedish company to discuss the way forward towards establishing a production unit for LED-lights in Botswana).
  • Cellcomb and South Africa (contact was established to understand the market better).
  • Wec360 received contacts and established connections within the Green Building in Vietnam.
  • Lumine LED wrote a resale agreement with Pablo G. Páex, CEO, Páez y Páez Representaciones in Ecuador.
The Embassy of the Republic of Botswana visiting Lumine LED.
The Embassy of the Republic of Botswana visiting Lumine LED.
Lumine LED signing a resale agreement with Pablo G. Páex
Pablo G. Páex signing the resale agreement.

3. Marketing films with the co-financed companies

The project planned trips to South Africa and Latin America in 2020 to give the co-financed companies a chance to present their products and services to LIFE Academy connections. These trips were cancelled due to the Covid19 pandemic. Instead, the project produced marketing films for companies that were interested in having one. These films were shared on LIFE Academy’s Facebook page to reach the LIFE Academy network, which was the target group for the trips.

Have a look at some of the films that were made:

4. Swedish Cleantech and Smart City Sweden

The project offered the co-financed companies to be marketed on the international portals swedishcleantech.se and Smart City Sweden where businesses working with cleantech can be found by foreign establishers and investors. Several of the companies took this offer.

5. Circular Economy

Knowledge about circular economy was increased in collaboration with Paper Province, Compare, Visit Värmland, Glava Energy Center and IUC Stål och Verkstad (all organisations in Värmland). Together we arranged a seminar with a Circular Economy Expert and invited companies to participate. There was also a digital seminar about circular working methods with six different lectures to inspire both individuals as well as companies to work in a circular way.

Lecture with Circular Economy Expert, Tobias Jansson.
Workshop after lecture with Circular Economy Expert, Tobias Jansson.
Digital seminar about circular working methods.
Digital seminar about circular working methods.

6. Focus in southern Africa and Latin America

In the beginning of the project focus was on needs in southern Africa because LIFE Academy has a lot of connections there. Towards the end of 2019 an effort was also made in Latin America and the project started to look at needs there. In Latin America needs like handling cooking oil, sustainable coffee cultivation and environmentally friendly ways to replace plastic were identified.

7. Marketing

Sustainable Business Cleantech was marketed through the project website cleantechbusiness.se (the website was deleted when the project ended), newsletters, films and interviews on social media, advertisement, participation on exhibitions and networking and articles and radio in local press.