SusChem Stakeholder Event 2014 – Registration open now!

This year SusChem will be celebrating its tenth anniversary. And to mark a decade of sustainable chemistry research and innovation leadership in Europe the twelfth SusChem Stakeholder Event will be extra special! Our 10 year anniversary celebration will take place over two days in Brussels - on 11 and 12 June 2014 – and registration is now open!

The theme of the 10-year celebration is: 'Sustainable Chemistry: At the Forefront of Innovation.' At the event SusChem stakeholders will be able to contribute to defining our new Strategic Research Innovation Agenda (SIRA) for the next decade and we will be celebrating SusChem successes stories from the past ten years.

This special SusChem Stakeholder event takes place on 11 -12 June at the Renaissance Hotel in Brussels. Join us in celebrating this important occasion for SusChem and sustainable chemistry in Europe, and help to pave the way forward for future SusChem success!

The draft agenda for the event is now available and includes updates on SusChem activities and the opportunity to help shape important new developments for the SusChem community, including:

• Presentations and discussion on the new SIRA which will cover SusChem's priorities, as well as the new opportunities for funding schemes for SusChem projects over the next decade!
• A showcase of the role and the impact of SusChem’s National Technology Platforms  and the many ways they contribute to SusChem's mission and activities now and into the future.
• Presentations on Future and Emerging Technologies in Horizon 2020 and the 'why, how and when' of Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs).
• A celebration of ten years of achievements in sustainable chemistry and a forward look to another decade of breakthrough innovation in sustainable chemistry!

SusChem history
The SusChem European Technology Platform was officially launched in Brussels on 6 July, 2004 by the European Commission, together with Cefic and EuropaBio, with the aim to "increase the attractiveness of investments in chemical R&D and innovation in Europe."

SusChem was launched as a multi-stakeholder forum to develop a European strategic research agenda in three prioritised technology areas: industrial biotechnology, materials and process. It was also designed to address non-technological barriers to chemical innovation. A launch document highlighting the rationale, scope and organisation of the Technology Platform (see below) acted as a thought starter for the development of the initial Strategic Research Agenda and action plan.

“Research is the primary source of innovation in the knowledge-intensive chemical industry and is driving the sector forward,” says European Research Commissioner Philippe Busquin at the 2004 launch event. “The European chemical industry has an impressive track record of developing new products and manufacturing processes, but the challenge is to improve the transformation of laboratory ideas into new sustainable products and services to boost EU competitiveness.”

“The Platform offers a great opportunity to merge industry’s and the EU’s ambitions by focusing and aligning collaborative research in support of a more competitive and more sustainable industry,” says Jan Dopper of DSM’s Managing Board and the chair of Cefic’s Research and Science Board in 2004. “Engagement with all stakeholders will be key to stimulate and focus the innovation process”.

The launch document was developed by Cefic and EuropaBio in consultation with the European Commission and showed that the Platform was (as now) a timely concept based on the Cefic study “Horizon 2015” that outlined the risk to the competitiveness of the European chemical industry and highlighted innovation as a main driver for the sector’s future competitiveness.