6. April, 2017

On April 6 and 7, the InnoRenew Centre of Excellence was officially kicked into motion during a two-day kick-off meeting!

The meeting was attended by Magda de Carli, Head of Unit Spreading of Excellence and Widening Participation (RTD B5), who shared policy perspectives of the H2020 Teaming 2 programme. When asked about her expectations for the project, she responded: ‘From what I saw in these days that I am here, I am very satisfied and happy. I saw a lot of energy, commitment, wide and strong partnership that is an enrichment because there are several institutes included and each can contribute their own experience and knowledge. Therefore, the predictions are good.’

Prof. Dr. Bohumil Kasal, Director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Wood Research WKI, one of the CoE’s four founding institutions, expressed his viewpoint from the German side of things: ‘We as a German institution that is very strongly internationally established, see in this collaboration a logical extension to our already broad activities. We hope that the benefits will be mutual for all involved partners.‘ He added that he Slovenia’s importance in terms of the use of renewable resources for various products and technologies and that this is an opportunity to develop the corresponding industry and the quality of life.

To which Peter Lange from the German Embassy in Ljubljana contributed: ‘This project is one of the most advanced examples of the Slovenian and German collaboration. Slovenia has well developed science and technology and if German institutions cooperate, it is a benefit for both. This is a science and technology exchange and we are both entering this project as equals as it should be.’

We were also grateful to receive instructions on administrative management from Peter Van Der Zandt, Head of Unit of Research Executive Agency (REA) B5, and Agnes Hegyvarine Nagy, Project Officer of InnoRenew CoE at REA.

The Regional Development Agency of the Ljubljana Urban Region (RRA LUR), one of our project partners, was represented at the conference by Matej Gojčič, Deputy Director for Development and General Affairs. He stated that InnoRenew’s involvement with designers and researchers will have a positive impact on the added value of Slovenian wood and that this ‘will also contribute to re-establish wooden industry in Slovenia that will be able to compete with wood industry in EU and in the whole world.’

Andraž Legat, Director of the Slovenian National Building and Civil Engineering Institute (ZAG), stressed the importance of the project and the Centre of Excellence for the future of wood industry in Slovenia: ‘If the work will be done as we wish and if the results will be as we wish, this will enable the industry and the economy to develop. Without this development, this industry will not survive in Slovenia.’

You can read about the kick-off meeting and the project as a whole in an article by the Slovenian Regional Creative Economy Centre, which concludes that Slovenia is a land of opportunity for researchers! Read the full article (in Slovene) to find out more!

You can also have a look at some of the highlights of the press conference in this video.