On Wednesday 11 and Thursday 12 October, a delegation of clusters and universities will visit Crema on the occasion of the Second Steering Committee of the European project ACTT4Cosmetics, worth 3.6 million euros, co-financed by the European Union in the context of the Horizon Europe programme, made up of consortium of seven partners: Cosmetic Valley (FR), Centre-Val de Loire Region (FR), Dev’up Centre-Val de Loire (FR), REI-Reindustria Innovazione (IT), Politecnico di Milano (IT), AEBB ( PT), HPRD – Health Products Research And Development Lda (PT), University of LifeScience Lublin (PL), and two associated partners, Cosmetic perfumery association of Ukraine (Ukraine), North West region economic development agency (Romania).

The project, launched in May 2023 and which will continue for the next five years, has the dual objective of promoting collaboration between European innovation ecosystems in the field of cosmetics and encouraging the spread of collaborative innovation among its actors to address the main challenges of the sector, while responding to local and European policies.

ACTT4Cosmetics aims to develop a program of joint actions to develop fourteen innovative solutions in the context of the green, digital transition, which are accompanied by activities for consumer engagement, increased awareness, lobbying actions towards institutions and policies maker with the goal of greater industry recognition.

This project developed within the European interregional partnership Go4Cosmetics, created to make the voice of the cosmetics industry heard on a European scale and promote innovation; launched in 2021 by the Centre-Val de Loire (France) and Lombardy (Italy) Regions, with the technical support of Cosmetic Valley and REI – Reindustria Innovazione, the partnership was recognized by the European Commission. The network has expanded significantly in a year: there are already ten regions in Europe that prioritize the cosmetic value chain, investing in research and innovation, training, skills and industry.

The partnership will meet at REI on the first day and will then have the opportunity to visit two important cosmetics factories in the Crema area, to dialogue with entrepreneurs on the topics of interest to the project. On the second day he will participate in the sixth edition of the Polo Innovation Day, the event in Crema dedicated to the Italian and international cosmetic production chain.

In 2022, Lombardy achieved a turnover of 8.8 billion euros, two thirds of the entire national amount (equal to 13.3 billion). After the impact of the health crisis, cosmetics has proven to be a dynamic sector in the domestic market (+8.5% turnover in 2022 on 2021) but even more so abroad (+18.6% exports in value, 2022 on 2021), confirming its international opening. The latest estimates from Cosmetica Italia foresee a further growth of +8% for the sector for 2023 in Lombardy, despite the problems of the entire economic system, from the difficulties in supplying raw materials to the energy crisis (Data from the Report “Cosmetics in Lombardy”, edited by Centro studi Assolombarda, Centro Studi Cosmetica Italia, September 2023).

To stay updated on project progress and be involved in the development of solutions www.sistemacosmeticolombardo.com / info@sistemacosmeticolombardo.com