Innovative Sustainable Cluster For Olive Value Chain (OASIS)

The ‘Innovative Sustainable Cluster for Olive Value Chain (OASIS) Project’, funded by the European Innovation Council and SME Executive Agency (EISMEA) within the scope of the Single Market Programme (SMP COSME), is implemeted by the consortium under the coordination of under the coordination of Izmir Commodity Exchange (ICE) from Türkiye. The partner organizations are Izmir Agricultural Technology Centre (ITTM) from Türkiye; Centro Tecnológico Nacional de la Conserva - CTNC (National Technology Centre for Food and Canning) and Camara De Comercio e Industria Italiana Para Espana - CCIS (Spanish Italian Chamber of Commerce and Industry) from Spain, and CIHAEM Bari (Mediterranean Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Bari) and Unioncamere Puglia (Union of Chambers of the Puglia Region) from Italy.

The main objectives of the project are to train SMEs operating in the olive and olive oil production sector in the Aegean Basin on sustainable practices, to promote technologies that increase resource efficiency, and develop strategies to build resilience against climate change and external factors. By focusing on reducing food loss and optimising resource use throughout the production process, this project ultimately aims to strengthen the food supply chain, reduce production costs and create a more competitive marketplace for both businesses and consumers.

With the project activities:

·        The current resource efficiency of the companies will be analysed by conducting a Sustainability Assessment.

·        Free training and mentorships will be provided to support SMEs to enhance their production efficiency according to their current state assessment. Training topics will include topics such as circular production, resource efficiency, digital transformation, green transformation, smart agricultural technologies.

·        SMEs with good practice examples will be identified, promoted and recognised across the EU.

·        Matchmaking activities will be carried out between participating SMEs and institutions from Italy, Spain and Türkiye.

The project target group consists of 50 SMEs from each country, totalling 150 SMEs operating in the table olive and olive oil production sector. The activities to be carried out for the target group within the scope of the project include researching 10 pre-existing best practices and presenting them to SMEs as an example road map, organising 25 different trainings on various themes for 150 SMEs, determining the measures to be taken to prevent food loss and increase efficient resource use, ensuring the adaptation of the use of new technologies and creating a more competitive and resilient market environment that will reduce production shipment costs by developing new strategies in this field.