Innovation Fusion goes to Barcelona

Cefic and SusChem are contributing as promotional partners for the 12th Annual Innovation Fusion event which is taking place on 19 and 20 April 2016 in Barcelona. ENG’s 12th Annual Innovation Fusion Summit brings together industry experts in research, development and innovation from both the specialty chemical and the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) sectors. 

The 2016 edition of Innovation Fusion is designed to allow participants to benefit from the shared knowledge that networking and interactive sessions from a multi-industry perspective can bring.

This year’s event will provide delegates with the tools to handle current and future industry challenges and the inspiration to help connect with market demands. Participants will engage with real business stories, best practices and forums that will address issues including:

• Building and cultivating internal innovation culture 
• Developing strong communication with key stakeholders for alignment throughout the value chain 
• Setting and measuring KPI’s throughout the product portfolio 
• Creating value through incremental and disruptive innovation 

The Innovation Fusion event in Barcelona will allow participants to benchmark their experiences against like-minded peers from complimenting industries. The ENG’s 12th Annual Innovation Fusion: New Product Development (NPD) and Technology Excellence for Chemicals and FMCG Sectors Summit is organised in cooperation with BASF, DSM, Syngenta, Solvay, Barilla, Evonik, Dow and Mars Corporation amongst others.

More information
You can find the full Innovation Fusion 2016 programme here. For more information or to register please contact Joanna Serweta.

Cefic members and SusChem stakeholders can get 20% off the registration fee for the event by using the CEFIC20 promotional code!

To follow the event via twitter follow the ENG Events official twitter account @engfbevents or search for the event hashtag: #enginnovation

WssTP Brokerage in Brussels

The European Technology Platform for Water (WssTP) is organising a project brokerage event in collaboration with European Regions Research and Innovation Network (ERRIN) on 26 and 27 November  at delegation of the Lombardy Region in central Brussels. The main objective of the joint Brokerage event is to facilitate networking between members for collaborative projects, as well as to foster the creation of consortia for upcoming Horizon 2020 calls and other EU funding opportunities.

The programme will underline the strategic importance that WssTP and ERRIN give to the role of regional actors and SMEs in European research and innovation related to water. Speakers from the European Commission, the Enterprise Europe Network and National Contact points will be brought together to explain to the lessons and experiences learnt from the 2014 calls. In addition to this, evaluators will share their experiences, by presenting their own point of view.

Partner European Technology Platforms, including SusChem, will be also there, representing industrial sectors for which water is a key concern. Interested participants will have the chance to give short presentations on new project ideas. On the second day of the event, WssTP will host a special session dedicated to the WssTP Working Groups. The groups will present their current activities as touchstones for project ideas.

The WssTP-ERRIN brokerage event is an opportunity to find the partners and expertise you are looking for your projects! Find more details and how to register here.

Meanwhile in Barcelona!
The EIP Water Conference 2014 kick off on Wednesday 5 November in Barcelona. Over 500 delegates will be there and registration is now closed. However you can follow the Conference or some of its sessions online, via our all day web-streaming which starts on 5 November. To view you will need to register here.

You can view the latest conference programme here that includes a great line up of high-level speakers and thought-provoking sessions.

The conference will also mark the launch of the 3rd call for expressions of commitment to establish an EIP Water Action Group. This new call will have a particular focus on actors from eastern European countries and on those EIP Water priority areas which are currently underrepresented. The call will go online on the EIP Water website from 5 November.

EIP Water now has a twitter account - @eip_water - and will live-tweet from the Conference using the hashtag: #EIPWater2014.

The Conference also includes the global launch of the CDP Water Report 2014 on the perception of water risk by the world’s largest listed corporations during the session “How corporate stewardship is driving innovation in water.”

Sustainable Buildings at Barcelona

Improving energy efficiency in buildings could reduce energy demand by at least 24% in housing and 27% in non-residential buildings with consequent reductions global emissions of some 23% compared to current values. These data set the context for the World Sustainable Building Conference, World SB14, taking place in Barcelona this week (28-30 October). And sustainable chemistry has a big role to play in achieving these objectives.

World SB14 will gather together nearly 2,000 experts in sustainable building technologies from all over the world to discuss the impact of the building sector on climate change and its consequences for the global population. And SusChem co-ordinator Jacques Kormonicki will be amongst them.

A set of chemistry-based proposals for increasing energy efficiency in buildings developed by SusChem was voted as one of the top three key innovations needed to transform European cities at the Smart Cities Stakeholder Platform Annual Conference in Budapest in June 2013.

The SusChem proposals highlight five major chemistry-enabled solutions that have been tested and proven to significantly reduce energy consumption in buildings as well as contribute towards achieving the EU 20-20-20 targets.

Chemical winners
Key Chemistry-enabled Solutions are:

• High Reflectance Indoor Coatings
• High Reflectance and Durable Outdoor Coatings
• High Performance Insulation Foams 
• High Performance Vacuum Insulation Panels
• Phase Change Materials (PCM) 

Jacques Komornicki says: "Using these tested energy efficiency solutions can reduce energy use in buildings by up to 70%."

“These innovations are particularly suited to the renovation market and this market in turn has the potential to create growth and jobs in Smart Cities that adopt them whilst also contributing significantly to their emissions reduction goals - a double win!” he continues.

You can learn more about these Key Innovations for Smart Cities in the SusChem report: "Innovative chemistry for Energy efficiency of buildings in smart cities." For more information on SusChem materials innovation for energy efficiency in buildings, please contact Jacques Kormornicki at Cefic directly.

About World SB14 Barcelona
World SB14 Barcelona is a Conference organised by GBCe and promoted by CIB (Conseil International de Batîment), iiSBE (International Initiative for a Sustainable Built Environment), UNEP-SBCI (Sustainable Buildings and Climate Initiative) and FIDIC (International Federation of Consulting Engineers), and counts on the collaboration of WGBC (World Green Building Council). The Sustainable Building Conference Series, of which World SB14 Barcelona is part, is the largest global meeting aimed at debating different aspects of sustainable building.

GBCe (GBC España)  is a non-profit association that unites representatives from the entire construction industry, to work together towards an energy and ecologically conscious approach to the design of the built environment. GBCe counts with the active participation and democratic representation from public institutions, academia, professional and business associations, among others.

SusChem at Expoquimia 2014!

Barcelona will be hosting the seventeenth Expoquimia International Chemical Show from 30 September until 3 October and both SusChem Europe and SusChem Espana are organizing activities throughout the conference and exhibition.

On 30 September SusChem Spain will hold its annual General Assembly. Among the topics to be discussed are the use of CO2 as a raw material for the chemical industry, process intensification and the added value that the SusChem network brings to the industry, the wider chemical and process community and society as a whole. In the evening, there will also be a session dedicated to new opportunities to finance research and innovation activities including combining funds for maximum effect.

October 1 sees a session entitled ‘Smart cities: Chemicals inside’. The meeting will be chaired by Prof. Carlos Negro, President of the forum “Chemistry and Society” and will include presentations by Elisa Martin Garijo, Director of Innovation and Technology at IBM, and Antonia Morales from Cefic.

SusChem project workshops
Also on 1 October SusChem FP7 project E4Water is hosting a workshop on ‘Industrial Water Management: New Ways to Improve Efficiency.’ E4Water addresses crucial process industry needs to overcome bottlenecks and barriers for an integrated and energy-efficient water management. Its main objective is to develop, test and validate new integrated approaches for a more efficient and sustainable management of water in the chemical industry, with cross-fertilization possibilities for other industrial sectors.

SusChem Europe and the SPIRE PPP will be presenting on 2 October and SusChem FP7 projects BIO-TIC and R4R (Chemical Regions for Resource Efficiency) will be holding workshops on 3 October. See you there!

Smart Chemistry
Expoquimia takes place at Barcelona's Gran Via Exhibition Centre and will be attended by the leading companies and organizations from the international chemical industry. A major feature of the event is the Smart Chemistry, Smart Future initiative headed by the Spanish Federation of Chemical Industries (FEIQUE) that showcases the sector's capacity to generate wealth and employment and its contribution to improving the well-being of society as a whole.

The Smart Chemistry, Smart Future zone at Expoquimia is based around four main themes where, both now and in the future, the contribution of the chemical sector is absolutely fundamental:

• Smart Cities (how we can make the cities in which we live more sustainable)
• Energy & Water (how to improve the management of our natural resources)
• Life: Health and Food
• New Technologies4U (new technologies and their impact on our daily lives).

Expoquimia is being held in conjunction with Eurosurfas and Equiplast, two benchmark events in the surface treatments and plastics sectors respectively effectively making Barcelona the industrial and scientific capital of the chemical industry in Spain and southern Europe during the event.

For more information contact the conference organisers.

National Platforms get ready for Horizon 2020

With the SusChem Europe’s forthcoming Brokerage event fast approaching two SusChem National Platforms, in the UK and Spain, are organising events in early October to ensure their industrial and academic stakeholders are ready to get the most out of the new EU Research and Innovation Framework programme when it launches on 1 January 2014.

On 1 October SusChem’s coordinating partner in the UK, Chemistry Innovation, is organising a Horizon 2020 Brokerage event on nanotechnologies, advanced materials, biotechnology and advanced manufacturing and processing (NMBP). Chemistry Innovation is coordinating the event on behalf of the Technology Strategy Board – the UK’s lead Innovation Strategy body - and the UK Government’s Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.

This all day event takes place at the National Composites Centre in Bristol and is free, but places are limited. The main objectives of the event are to:

• Hear first-hand from the European Commission the content and detail of the first NMBP related calls within Horizon 2020
• Formulate partnerships with attendees for proposals that will be submitted to Horizon 2020

In order to encourage the formation of partnerships, attendees will have the opportunity to pre-book 1:1 meetings with attendees in addition to the option of attending parallel workshops in the afternoon.

For more information on this event, please visit the event web page or contact Tracy McCarroll by email.

Spanish preparations

The next day, 2 October, sees SusChem Espana starting its campaign to facilitate the participation of Spanish chemical industry stakeholders in the new Horizon 2020 programme by promoting and stimulating dialogue on innovation and project ideas.

The brokerage event takes place in the ACCIO Building in Barcelona and will be the first step in building highly innovative and competitive projects in cooperation with other stakeholders both within Spain and at European level including via the SusChem Europe brokerage event in Brussels on 23 October.

The active participation of the audience will be encouraged through the presentation of project ideas and through bilateral meetings between potential project partners.

More details (in Spanish) on the Barcelona event can be accessed here and you can download the event programme, which also includes a link to on-line registration.

The event is free if you are presenting a project proposal or if you have attended the preceding seminar on ‘Successful Preparation for Horizon 2020’ that also takes place in Barcelona at the Instituto de Química on 1 October. Otherwise registration costs €90 (VAT inc).

More information on the 1 October seminar on Strategies for Horizon 2020 ‘Cómo prepararse con éxito para el Horizonte 2020?’ can be found here.

Sustainable Surfactants and the Bioeconomy

CESIO 2013 - the 9th World Surfactant Congress and Business Convention – has convened in Barcelona from 10 to 12 June and Pádraig Naughton Innovation Manager - Resource and Energy Efficiency at Cefic is participating today (12 June) in a panel discussion entitled: ‘BioEconomy – Opportunities and Challenges'. SusChem News caught up with Pádraig before he be departed for Barcelona.

The bio-economy and the use of bio-based feedstocks and energy are seen by many as major contributing solutions to societal challenges such as climate change, availability of fossil-based resources and the competitiveness of Europe for the future. And the surfactant sector is no exception.

Europe has a strong research and development tradition and Pádraig is confident that the development of the technology and knowledge to meet these expectations will be forthcoming and Europe can play a leading role in the world.

However, Europe's recent track record on commercialisation of new technology does not instill confidence that we can convert newly developed expertise in the bioeconomy into local growth and jobs. Other regions are also working hard in this field and are ramping up their investment. Pádraig’s contribution addresses concerns in this area and is entitled ‘BioEconomy: Growth and jobs for Europe or elsewhere?’

Balanced approach
An integrated, balanced approach is needed, building on Europe’s strengths and identifying and addressing the gaps to reach a long-term vision for the future of this region argues Pádraig.

“In order to create growth and jobs in the European economy, it is essential to ensure sustainable business through market pull, rather than technology push,” he says. “Past EU developments have a good track record in research and development and technology development, but too often we have not been able to reap the benefits locally.”

Pádraig’s talk will address the consequences of this weakness and the barriers that need to be addressed to cross the “innovation valley of death” to a sustainable bioeconomy in Europe.

He is hopeful that Europe can rise to the challenge in a united manner and that large-scale collaborative research and innovation has a role to play in this. “Conducting innovation and creating long-term value from these efforts is a primary goal of Horizon 2020,” concluded Pádraig.

What is CESIO 2013?
CESIO 2013 is organised on behalf of the European Committee of Organic Surfactants and their Intermediates (CESIO) a sector group of Cefic, the European Chemical Industry Council.

The Congress offers a one-of-a-kind location to meet the relevant actors in the global surfactant industry, its suppliers and customers, and service companies to share expertise, discuss market trends, learn about new developments and to network within the supply chain, consultants and academia.