Second CRM_InnoNet Innovation Network Workshop

The FP7 CRM_InnoNet project is organizing its second Innovation Network Workshop in the field of substitution of critical raw materials on 14 May 2014 in Brussels. The workshop will take a special focus on strategic sectors such as Energy, Transport and ICT with the key speakers from each sector as well as participatory activities. The project has also recently published reports analysing the ICT and energy sector and assessing the substitution potential for the 14 materials listed as Critical Raw Materials by the European Commission. 

The event, which takes place at the Diamant Conference and Business Centre in Brussels, is free to attend and is open for all stakeholders who are involved in any part of the Critical Raw Materials value chain and are willing to exchange ideas and visions for enhancing the competitiveness of the European Union’s research and development and innovation (R&D&I), its industry and economy in the area of substitution of Critical Raw Materials.

Further information on registration and other arrangements will be available soon. The project can also support some travel costs for attendees from SMEs. Please visit CRM_InnoNet website for more information.

Information and speaker presentations from the network’s first Innovation workshop held on 15 April 2013 in Brussels can be found here. This first event was attended by more than by 120 delegates representing 87 organisations inside and outside the European Union.

Critical reports
The full CRM_InnoNet project team of 18 partners recently met in Runcorn, UK for an interim meeting (see team photo below). The project has spent the last year completing comprehensive bottom-up and top-down mapping of critical raw materials usage in Europe.

Three reports from this analysis are now available for download:

• Supply chain analysis of the ICT and electronics sector
• Supply chain analysis of the energy sector
• Raw materials profiles

The third report on Raw Materials profiles is a detailed assessment of the substitutability of the European Commission’s list of 14 Critical raw Materials (the EU -14) in their end use applications.  This report is currently open for consultation, so if you have any feedback on any aspect of the report, please contact the CRM_InnoNet secretariat.

The project is now embarking on its next phase: writing the roadmaps for substitution of critical raw materials in Europe. These are plenty of opportunities to input into these roadmaps including the Innovation Network workshop on 14 May.

What is CRM_InnoNet?
The project is a Coordination and Support Action (CSA) funded under FP7 that is creating an integrated community to drive innovation in the field of critical raw material substitution for the benefit of EU industry.

The European Innovation Partnership (EIP) on Raw Materials aims to play a major role in securing a sustainable supply of raw materials for Europe and has set itself an ambitious list of targets to achieve by 2020. CRM_InnoNet’s goals complement those of the EIP on Raw Materials and the project will seek to align its outputs with those of the EIP.

The CRM_InnoNet consortium is comprised of recognised and experienced key actors across the value chain of substitution of CRM representing academic, research and industry bodies of relevant sectors that will ensure a wide European coverage and high potential to engage other necessary players across the European Research Area.

More information
For more information visit the CRM_InnoNet website that includes a blog, news and events, or the contact project secretariat at CIKTN.

Photos from #SusChem2012

The 10th SusChem Stakeholder event on 17 and 18 April was filled with interesting and inspiring sessions. Here we present a small selection of photos from the event. Lots more images can be found on the SusChem website and we aim to upload all presentations in the near future.

Delegates started with a coffee before an official launch of SusChem Belgium NTP and a welcome message from Prof Jerzy Buzek, MEP.

Ger Spork (above) of the SusChem secretariat at Cefic was the master of ceremonies for the day.

The chairman of the SusChem board Klaus Sommer of Bayer TS told the stakeholder audience that 'the future is based on chemistry'. He is pictured (above) being interviewed by Euractiv. Euractiv has produced a series of videos from the event that are available on the Euractiv website and across SusChem communication platforms in the near future.



"That's about the size of it" says Mike Pitts of the UK's CIKTN gave an entertaining and informative presentation on Critical Raw Materials on Day 1 of the stakeholder seminar. He will also feature in one of the Euractiv video interviews. Mike has already blogged his presentation here.

Rudolf Strohmeier is Deputy Director General of the European Commission's DG Research & Innovation. He made a number of interventions and presentations during the stakeholder meeting calling for a clear private commitement to the forthcoming innovation initiatives.

 

SusChem Stakeholder Event 2012 Announced

Save the date! SusChem has just announced that its 10th Annual Stakeholder Event will take place in Brussels on 17 - 18 April 2012. The event takes the theme 'Partnering for Sustainable Innovation through Chemistry' and will be held at the Diamant Business Centre and Conference Complex on the east side of the city.


As usual, the SusChem stakeholder meeting will be a high profile event and offer participants the latest insights on key topics such as water efficiency, sustainable processes, raw materials, smart cities and other areas where chemistry is playing a central role to develop sustainable solutions for society.

The SusChem event will offer plenty of networking opportunities and provide valuable information on European partnership programmes driven from the Innovation Union and Horizon 2020 objectives.

The 2012 stakeholder event will look to build on the game-changing 2011 event and further engage with value chain partners on concrete priority themes where sustainable chemistry has committed to promote partnerships and inspire innovation to achieve real growth in the EU.

Value chain solutions
No single component in today's complex value chain can deliver the comprehensive and timely solutions that society requires alone: we need to engage the whole value chain and SusChem is looking to deliver this. The 10th SusChem Stakeholder event will be a significant, dynamic, inspiring and productive step towards achieving this. Be there!

The preliminary programme and registration will be available soon via the main SusChem website. In the meantime, if you have any questions on the 2012 SusChem stakeholder event please contact the SusChem secretariat.

And don't forget to follow SusChem news via this blog and also via @suschem on Twitter.