A business support programme by the University of Cumbria aims to help the county’s firms to adopt environmentally friendly technology.

Eco-Innovation Cumbria will help local businesses to increase innovation in low carbon technologies and enable businesses to develop new products and markets.

The hope is that it will enhance the growth of the low carbon and environmental goods sector within the county.

The four year project funded by the European Regional Development Fund is a partnership led by the University of Cumbria with Lancaster University and the University of Central Lancashire.

University of Cumbria, pro-Vice Chancellor, Sandra Booth, said: “Businesses working with their local university have a proven competitive advantage in terms of their innovation potential and productivity.

“The University of Cumbria has a significant knowledge base in ecosystem services and energy efficiency which we are keen to share through our staff and students, working on real world energy and sustainability challenges faced by our business partners.”

Eco-innovation Cumbria is set to provide support to a variety of projects, including those in environmental technology, renewable energy, and carbon management.

It will also provide a variety of free workshops and events around Cumbria to explore innovation challenges and develop collaborative research projects between the University partners and SMEs.

Cumbria Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) will oversee the county’s European Structural and Investment Funds.

Corinne Watson from Cumbria LEP, said: “Eco-innovation Cumbria is ideal for businesses which need R&D support, have a new technology idea to develop or are seeking to increase their efficiency.

“It is supporting SMEs to grow capacity and develop new solutions for industry, with a range of short to long term interventions delivered by partner universities.”