Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research ISI
Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research ISI

Project

INDUCE – Towards a sustainable agro-food INDUstry: Capacity building programmes in Energy efficiency

The INDUCE project is developing a capacity building programme for companies in the food and beverage sector who want to improve their energy performance. The most important innovation of the INDUCE project is to develop ad-hoc trainings adapted to the company’s special needs and potential. The toolkit developed in this process consists of training material, online lessons, guidelines and tools. The INDUCE methodology links knowledge transfer on energy efficiency with behavioural and organizational change models, so an energy culture and awareness are established in the company, while employees are motivated to act in a more sustainable manner. Unique is the Human-Centered Design approach, in which every phase will be conducted in close cooperation with the end users, so the INDUCE methodology and toolkit will be tested and validated in 15 pilot companies from the food and beverage sector in Spain, France, the Netherlands and Germany. This enables INDUCE to interact with the companies to select the best interventions, measures, etc.. In a second step, the INDUCE community of trainers will be established by certifying 60 trainers, in charge of implementing the INDUCE methodology in companies, hence increasing INDUCE impact.

 

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The INDUCE project will develop an open access platform (INDUCE toolkit) where training material, online lessons, guidelines and tools will be available for companies aiming to increase their energy efficiency. Besides, the INDUCE methodology will be integrated in the platform with the objective of designing a specific capacity building programme for every company accessing the INDUCE toolkit, which will result in an ad-hoc training adapted to the company’s needs and opportunities.

The INDUCE methodology will link knowledge transfer on energy efficiency with behavioural and organizational change models, so an energy culture and an environment conducive for change are established in the company, while employees are motivated to act in a more sustainable manner. Unique about this methodology is that it will follow a Human-Centered Design approach, in which every phase will be conducted in close cooperation with the end users of the capacity building programme. This will enable INDUCE to interact and test together with the companies the best interventions, measures, etc. to be implemented.

The INDUCE methodology and the toolkit will be both tested and validated in 15 pilot companies from the food and beverage sector in four countries that represent over 45% of the EU companies in this sector: Spain, France, the Netherlands and Germany. In a second replication step, an INDUCE community of trainers will be established by certifying 60 INDUCE trainers. They will be in charge of implementing the INDUCE methodology in another 300 companies, hence increasing INDUCE's impact up to 106 GWh/year of energy savings.

The INDUCE Consortium includes three well-know research centres with expertise in energy efficiency, behavioural science and decision-making processes. In addition, a partner in charge of training at national level and an association as multiplier organization has been involved in every pilot country. Finally, this competitive consortium is completed by a research oriented SME focussed on exploitation and dissemination.

The specific goals that will enable the achievement of INDUCE main objectives include:

  • Goal 1: To develop an adaptable methodology for the design and implementation of capacity building programmes by using a Human-Centered Design approach
  • Goal 2: To identify general needs, requirements and motivations in the F&B and agro-food sector as well as best practices and transfer them to the project’s audience.
  • Goal 3: To define interventions, adapt tools and produce guidelines that will be made available to an audience of over 15.000 companies and 100.000 stakeholders to increase their capabilities in implementing energy efficiency.
  • Goal 4: To unlock the implementation of more than 400 measures on energy efficiency, leveraging a potential for energy savings up to 106 GWh/year through the provision of ad-hoc recommendations and behaviour change.
  • Goal 5: To establish changes in the mind-set of all actors in the companies for the inclusion of energy efficiency.
  • Goal 6: To create an INDUCE community of trainers for the implementation of INDUCE methodology in at least 300 companies within Spain, France, the Netherlands and Germany.
  • Goal 7: To make available the capacity building programmes and other results developed in the project by the INDUCE platform and by the definition of business plans adapted to the products and partners of the consortium.
  • Goal 8: To influence national programmes and overcome existing barriers for the implementation of INDUCE interventions.

The project was started in February 2018 and is expected to be completed by July 2020. Reports and other documents related to the study will be published on the study website at https://www.induce2020.eu/deliverables/.

Publications

  • Not yet

Duration

February 2018 to July of 2020

Client

  • European Commission (H2020, EE-15-2017, CSA)

Partners

  • CIRCE (Spain)
  • TNO (Netherlands)
  • FIAB (Spain)
  • FNLI (Netherlands)
  • FPI (Germany)
  • KWA Business Consultants (Netherlands)
  • Ökotec (Germany)
  • ACTIA (France)
  • SYNYO (Austria)