Bringing the circular economy to farmers in the rural Alpine region for sustainable growth by establishing medicinal and aromatic plants value chains and supporting green infrastructure.
Duration: January 2018 – March 2019
Funding: The project is co-financed by the European Union (Alpine Region Preparatory Action Funds – ARPAF).
Partners:
- Cluster Agency Baden-Württemberg (DE, Lead)
- Plastic Innovation Competence Center (CH)
- Provincia autonoma di Trento (IT)
- Poly4EmI hosted by Anteja ECG d.o.o. (SI)
- Bavarian State Ministry for Environment and Consumer Protection (DE)
Medicinal and aromatic plants (MAPs) are botanical raw materials that are used for therapeutic, aromatic or culinary purposes as components of cosmetics, medicinal or food products. There is an increasing demand for medicinal and aromatic plants thanks to an increased production of healthcare formulations. MAP’s-based supplements have a market of $35 billion p. a.
The project aims to bring the circular economy approach to farmers in rural Alpine region for more sustainable growth by establishing medicinal and aromatic plants value chains and supporting green infrastructure networks by promoting sustainable practices and awareness raising.
The main results of the project are a strategic overview on how this cross-cutting topic can work in the Alpine Space, one fully developed medicinal and aromatic plants’ value chain, proposals for upgrading skills of actors and first experiences how green infrastructure networks can work in practice.