BRINC – Brokering cross-border innovation through clusters

The COSME-funded project BRINC aimed to promote the use of joint cross-border public procurement of innovation (PCP and PPI) across Europe. The project ran from 2021 to 2024 and brought together public authorities, SMEs, and innovation brokers (InnoBrokers) in a collaborative development process.

BRINC strengthened participants’ capacity to identify innovative needs, conduct market dialogue, and drive green, circular solutions through public demand.

Watch the BRINC introduction video here:

Activities and Outputs

The project offered training programmes, facilitated real-life innovation procurements, and established two thematic networks – one for public buyers and one for InnoBrokers – focusing on knowledge sharing and capacity building.

Throughout the project, public sector needs were identified, SMEs were engaged in market dialogue, and tenders were developed with a strong emphasis on sustainability and circularity.

The project was coordinated by the European network ACR+ (Association of Cities and Regions for sustainable Resource management). Clean was an active partner responsible for communication and case development in Denmark.

Selected Cases

BRINC supported three cross-border procurement cases, all with particular relevance for the green transition:

• Diaper waste treatment – City of Copenhagen: Development of a recycling solution for diaper waste, in collaboration with municipalities in Denmark and Sweden.

• Circular demands for EV chargers – Parkering Malmö: Public procurement focusing on upgradeability and lifespan of EV chargers, based on shared European criteria.

• Recycling of single-use sanitary materials – Institut Català de la Salut (ICS): Exploring recycling solutions for large volumes of hospital waste, such as gloves, gowns, and masks.

Read more about the 3 cases here

Publications

Read more about the project’s results, recommendations, and key learnings in the final reports:

InnoBroker Toolkit – 11 tools towards procuring innovation

InnoBroker Model – Exploring the role of innobrokers in procuring innovation