The Center for Innovation and Development is a civic association that operated under the original name of the Czech Cleaner Production Center (CPC) until 31 December 2004.
The organization was founded in 1995 as part of a Czech-Norwegian project financed by the Norwegian government.
In the first years, CPC's activities focused on the implementation of cleaner production demonstration projects, long-term and short-term training courses, support in the creation of environmental policy, the creation of financial mechanisms for financing investment-intensive measures of cleaner production projects, and the dissemination of information mainly about cleaner production.
In the years 1995-1999, more than 150 demonstration projects of cleaner production in various sectors were implemented as part of long-term courses. These projects focused on non-investment measures and became a tool for improving the company's environmental profile. CPC activities and courses were financially supported by UNIDO (United Nations Industrial Development Organization) within a five-year grant from the Austrian government and one-off grants from other countries, e.g. Denmark, Holland, Japan, Great Britain and Canada.