About MIP

The Environmental and Energy Technology Innovation Platform (MIP) was established  by the Flemish Government launched in 2005 as a competence center in which the policy competences of Economy, Science and Innovation (as well as Environment, Nature and Energy worked together. In this first phase, seven research projects with focus on developing new energy and environmental technology  where approved by the MIP Steering Committee . In addition, MIP was also active in setting up a working knowledge centre about public procurement.

Mid 2009 the Flemish Government decided to continue with MIP. The main task of MIP implies the 'greening' of the economy. With this decision, the Flemish Government declares to cooperate in achieving the three main objectives of the UNEP "Global Green New Deal.

  1. Create a major contribution to Reviving the World Economy, Creating and saving jobs, and Protecting vulnerable groups;
  2. Reduce carbon dependency and ecosystem degradation, putting economies on a path to clean and stable development, and
  3. Further sustainable and inclusive growth, achievement of the MDGs, and end extreme poverty by 2015.


MIP encourages companies to invest in new products, processes and services that reduce the environmental impact. In this context MIP aims at closing material and process cycles according to the 'Cradle to Cradle "philosophy and stimulates the development of new technologies for smart power. MIP supports the transition to a new economy aiming at decouple the economy and consumption  from  the ecological impact on our earth.

MIP has two funding programmes:

PROGRAMME 1: Development and implementation of research and development projects

This program focuses specifically on demand-driven research and development projects, in line with the previous MIP, research institutions receive full funding.
To guarantee and ensure the demand-driven nature of this kind of research companies have to provide an equivalent set of resources within the project.

New for MIP is the use of a call system. Projects that meet the following criteria are given priority:

  • 100% efficient use of resources
  • No net emissions (water, air, soil, waste)
  • no use of toxic substances in products
  • contain the concept of a closed cycle


Experts from the IWT (Institute for the Promotion of Innovation by Science and Technology in Flanders) are responsible for the evaluation with respect to the content. Based on this evaluation the Board of VITO (Flemish Institute for Technological Research) decides by general consent on the approval of the projects presented.
Tip: Companies within the same application process may also be supported by the IWT.

PROGRAMME 2: Set up of  sustainable product and process cycles

The central tool in this program is the feasibility study. MIP supports companies or clusters of companies  who intent to launch business models, with respect of the use of sustainable materials and energy, on the free market.
This type of project is organized in close consultation with the relevant authorities. As a regulator, they are indeed closely involved in preparing the feasibility study. With these studies MIP will try to ensure the cooperation of experts from various fields such as lawyers, engineers, project managers, economists and marketers.

MIP-theme groups: a nice cross-pollination

MIP also disposes of an extensive network of partners within the field of sustainable materials and energy. The variation in these partners promotes the multidisciplinary nature of projects and promotes a cross-fertilization with other sectors.

The theme groups consist of a group of companies, governments, experts and end users in order to collaborate on the greening of our economy. For this purpose they can rely on resources of MIP.