The impact of research projects can be significantly maximized by appropriate exploitation strategies and measures. Sharing project results with non-scientific audiences, reaching out citizens, startups and innovative businesses, civic organizations, policy makers, and all relevant stakeholders, can promote innovation and trigger collaborative processes that, in turn, reflect into positive impacts on the community itself. The present deliverable, falling within Task 6.7 "Exploitation of results" (M1-M45), provides extensive information on the key exploitable results generated during the CLIC project which can be used and create impact by the project partners and by other stakeholders outside the project. The document puts a particular spotlight on how the different types of results produced by CLIC, including knowledge, methods, networks and technologies, can meet real needs of their user groups. Great attention has been paid on the social, cultural and economic implications on society generated by the project outputs highlighting their contribution to solve societal challenges; recommendations and guidelines for policymakers; the support to the introduction in the market of innovative circular startups.Section 3 reports on the activities carried out and results achieved by the winning startups.

The deliverable D6.12, "Report on Start-up Competition", falls within the project work package dedicated to Dissemination, Exploitation and Communication (WP6) and, precisely, within the Task 6.4, "Start-up creative and innovative initiatives competition" (M23 - M42). It provides exhaustive information on the CLIC international Startup Competition, which represented one of the project milestones. In times when cities and communities are facing a growing number of interconnected challenges at the environmental, social and economic level, global in scope and unprecedented in scale, with a dramatic impact on our lives, supporting on the ground innovative businesses working on ideas with high potential and vocation to a fairer, more prosperous and resilient society is more important than ever, particularly in the post-pandemic world. In this framework, the CLIC Startup Competition was designed to enhance the entrepreneurial ecosystem in the heritage sector, offering valuable opportunities and capacity building for startups, in Europe and beyond it, recognizing the enormous potential of cultural heritage to shape a better future for all, generating new jobs in diverse economic sectors, creating vibrant spaces of relationship and innovation and increasing the wellbeing of citizen, also through a more equitable development. The competition was meant to give entrepreneurs and innovators a real-world experience to fine tune their business plans and elevator pitches to generate funding for successful commercialization of their innovative services and products. The final event represented a unique opportunity to receive mentoring from experienced entrepreneurs, business coaches, investors; meet potential investors and receive individual feedbacks in separate sessions. The CLIC Startup Competition resulted in 73 participants, 25 best startups accepted for the online voting phase, 15 finalists and 6 winners in three main categories: Circular Tourism, Circular and creative cities and regions, Circular creative industries and social innovation. About 40 supporting Partners including Research Institutes and Universities, investors, twin projects, incubators and cultural foundations decided to support the CLIC Startup Competition as result of the intensive networking activities carried out by all the CLIC Partners. The 6 winners accessed the mentoring provided by CLIC and additional 5 special prizes were assigned to particularly relevant startups.

The Mediterranean is the main world tourist destination with 30% of international tourist arrivals and coastal tourism, although mostly seasonal, is constantly growing. In terms of environmental sustainability and safeguarding of eco-systems, the impact of the infrastructures on the coasts weight for the highest percentage. The ANSWERS A New Sustainable World thanks to renewable Energies, Recycling and sea Safeguarding project addresses its actions to the touristic SMEs operating along the coasts through 3 main pillars: reporting on the state of the art to induce the necessary awareness of the need of sustainable tourism strengthening, growing and scaling up of 60 tourism enterprises; training on renewable energies, recycling of waste materials, abatement of carbon emissions, landscape and cultural heritage protection; exchange of good practices; study visits; models of tourism enterprise according to sustainable development; quality certification ISO 14001; working environment and safety; twinning monitoring of results achieved; diffusion and exploitation actions at regional, national and european level In order to provide a wide range of experiences, skills and transnational competences the actions will see the involvement of 8 complementary partners from 6 different countries: the Interuniversity Research Centre on Sustainable Development (IT) leading company with deep experience on sustainable development, renewable energies and sharing economy; Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (IT) with its Institute on Mediterranean Studies with competences on sustainability and safeguard of the sea and the coasts and its EEN ELSE, CCI Bretagne (FR) and CCI Xanthi (GR) with competences on business and network of enterprises, EUCI (MT) a certification body on quality, environment and safety, Hochfeiler (IT) with competences on communication and exploitation of results, Inmedia Solutions (ES) with competences in tourism auditing, and Cluster Trakia (BG) with experience in ICT services addressed to SMEs.