Investment Forum on Sustainable Chemistry

The second 'Sustainable Chemistry, Innovative and Competitive Companies' Conference will take place in Barcelona on February 17 to 18. The event will be held at the IESE Business School (the graduate management school of the University of Navarra) and is jointly organised by IESE, SusChem España and Foro Química y Sociedad.

The conference aims to provide competitive insights and advantage to the chemical and pharmaceutical value chains. With the chemical industry at the start of most value chains and supplying its products to all sectors of the economy, it is at the forefront of the transition to a more sustainable society.

The second 'Sustainable Chemistry, Innovative and Competitive Companies' event has two distinct strands: the first part on Thursday February 17, will show new developments successfully implemented by the Chemical and Pharmaceutical industries in different areas, with special emphasis on new plant, reaction and process design, and on materials technology.

The second part on Friday February 18 will involve an expert panel session giving their insights on '2050: the Future of Industry'. This will be followed by the first Investment Forum on Sustainable Chemistry.

Sustainable innovation
The theme for the first day is 'Sustainable chemistry: innovating solutions to present and future challenges'. Presentations will showcase a range of new approaches including: the Future of Manufacturing; Engineering and Construction of Process Plants as the Basis of Sustainability and Competitiveness; New Materials and Solutions for Energy Efficiency in Construction; and New Developments on Ground and Water Decontamination through Chemical Reduction.

The session will be opened by a plenary presentation by Ger Spork Innovation Manager at Cefic and SusChem coordinator. Ger will speak on 'European Innovation Partnerships: the role of chemical industry as solution provider'.

Among solutions for increased sustainability presented during the first section of the conference will be a set of case studies from the SusChem-inspired F³ factory. The F³ factory is a collaborative research programme for strengthening the European chemical industry’s global technological leadership through faster, more flexible production methods.

Future industry, future investment
On the second day an expert panel will indulge their views on the future development of the industry over the next few decades in the '2050: the Future of Industry' debate. Participants include Dr. Gernot Klotz, CEFIC Executive Director, Research & Innovation. This debate will be chaired by Juan Roure, professor of Entrepreneurship and a member of IESE’s International Advisory Board.

Following the debate, the aim of the Investment Forum is to support the creation and development of entrepreneurship in Sustainable Chemistry by creating a reference meeting platform for enterprises and potential “business angel” investors who are interested in projects with high growth potential.

Participants will carry out short ‘elevator pitch’ presentations of projects at the initial phase and looking for development finance. The nature of these innovative projects will also give some excellent ideas on the future direction of a sustainable chemical industry.

More information
For more information on the conference visit the dedicated website or contact SusChem España Technical Secretary Cristina González. Please note that registration before 31 December 2010 attracts a 20% discount on conference fees.