An awards ceremony in Manchester this week will recognise the success stories of a three year collaborative research project which has worked with businesses across the North West of England, led by the Centre for Global Eco-Innovation team at Lancaster University.

Delivered by a consortium of universities - Lancaster, Central Lancashire, Cumbria, Liverpool, Liverpool John Moores and Manchester Met - Eco-I NW is a £14m R&D project which has supported more than 300 SME's across England's North West in a transition to a low carbon economy.

Launched in 2020, the project has been working across a wide range of research disciplines and business sectors, from engineering and computing to management and environment.

It has supported 40+ Postgraduate researchers at Lancaster and responded to business challenges across themes including water, energy, natural capital, resource efficiency, air quality, waste and food.

The Eco-Innovation Awards aim to give participating SME’s the opportunity to celebrate their innovative R&D which is “big in ambition but low in carbon”.

Dr Andy Pickard, manager of the Centre for Global Eco-Innovation said: “Much has been achieved over the last three years and the scale of collaborative research being undertaken across the North West is substantial.

“On one of the few opportunities to gather participants together, the six regional university partners would like to acknowledge the work of university researchers, showcase business and product initiatives, and celebrate successes whilst giving further opportunity for the worlds of business and academia to network together.”

All collaborative business partners, academics, researchers, and students have been invited to attend the event, which is being held at the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester on May 18.

The event will include a talk by guest speaker Wayne Hemingway MBE.

Known as an innovative designer and with a passion for sustainability, Wayne has just launched the Charity Supermarket.

With an eye on supporting this and advancing the concept of a “circular economy”, the dress code at the awards ceremony is “pre-loved”.