To accelerate Europe’s circular transition, RECEBA confronts the critical gap between strategic ambition and operational reality, where SMEs are held back from implementing profitable circular business models by a lack of practical skills, implementation know-how, and access to integrated support. In response, this project builds a transnational Centre of Vocational Excellence (CoVE) across Italy, Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, France, and Bulgaria, with its methodology poised for replication in associated regions including Albania, Catalunya (Spain), and Ireland's Eastern Midland Region. We integrate VET with regional S3/S4 strategies to create a demand-driven and resilient skills pipeline. Our methodology is practical and impact-oriented. We begin by establishing multi-stakeholder Regional VET Excellence Panels to map real-world industry needs. This intelligence informs the co-creation of 10 modular training programs and an accompanying micro-credential system for skills recognition, spanning EQF levels 5 to 8. Learning is then brought to life within six Circular Business Labs—dynamic hubs providing direct business acceleration support, where learners and SMEs collaborate to solve authentic business challenges, supported by a network of over 100 trained industry mentors. This integrated VET-business acceleration model directly strengthens the EU’s economic resilience—a core tenet of its preparedness strategy—by localising supply chains and reducing critical material dependency. By equipping over 120 SMEs with practical skills, RECEBA prepares them to lead under the new EU Circular Economy Act, turning the ambitions of the Green Deal into profitable, ground-level innovation. The project’s ultimate impact will be a measurable acceleration in the adoption of circular models, fostering a more competitive, strategically autonomous, and sustainable European industrial landscape.