Koper, 4th March 2019

Yesterday, 4th March 2019, the InnoRenew CoE celebrated with its funders, project partners, industry collaborators and numerous other guests during its second anniversary celebration in the Sveti Frančišek Asiški hall in Koper.

The evening ceremony started with a greeting and speech from Director of the InnoRenew CoE, Dr Andreja Kutnar.

“I am proud that the InnoRenew CoE team achieved so much in two years,” she said. “With hard work and enthusiasm, we managed to overcome many goals, and I am sure that we will continue with good work also in the future.”

She expressed delight that more than 100 guests attended the ceremony, including the state secretary from the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport, representatives of the institute founders, colleagues from the InnoRenew project and industrial partners, the mayor of the Municipality of Izola and his team, rectors of both the University of Primorska and the University of Maribor, representatives from the Embassy of Hungary in Ljubljana, a representative of the German Embassy in Ljubljana, employees of the InnoRenew CoE and colleagues from the University of Primorska.

InnoRenew CoE project partners. Image: Aleš Oven

Dr Jernej Štromajer, State Secretary at the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport, also offered his greetings to the assembled  guests.

“Your work is revolutionary,” he said. “Keep up the great work – the ministry is here, we are happy to see development. Investing in research and development is the only way for our small country to thrive.”

Dr. Jernej Štromajer. Image: Aleš Oven

A roundtable of representatives from the InnoRenew CoE founders – University of Primorska, Fraunhofer WKI, Institute for the Protection of Cultural Heritage of Slovenia and Slovenian National Building and Civil Engineering Institute – then shared their thoughts with the audience. They looked back to 2015, when it was clear that the first phase of the InnoRenew project application was successful, commented on current results and presented their views on the future and further development of the InnoRenew CoE.

Rector of the University of Primorska, Prof. Dr. Dragan Marušič, said that he still remembers when he found out that the application was successful. He was at a conference in Slovakia: “I must admit that I was not sure that they will go all the way, but I am very happy that they did. I see the InnoRenew CoE as the best opportunity for this region and for Slovenia as a whole. This team, their work and the way of working impressed me very much.”

Prof. Dr. Bohumil Kasal, director of Fraunhofer WKI, commented on how he sees the future for the InnoRenew CoE: “Your future is in getting new ideas, generating them and attracting the best experts from different parts of the world.”

Mag. Anita Klemen, from the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Heritage of Slovenia, is impressed by the current results and successful work: “I see the InnoRenew CoE as a butterfly. First, everyone doubted what this is, what will happen. Today, it is clear that this is a story of success, and I have no doubts about it.”

Director of the Slovenian National Building and Civil Engineering Institute, Prof. Dr. Andraž Legat, emphasized that from the very beginning he believed in this institute: “I am surprised by this acceleration in development – all the projects, publications, a young team and employees from around the world. Certainly, this is an important added value for the InnoRenew CoE.”

Image: Aleš Oven

Employees of the InnoRenew CoE presented themselves in a video that shared where they came from, what they have done and what they have achieved over the past two years. Today, the InnoRenew CoE employs 48 experts from various fields and different parts of the world. With successful project applications, the team has gained additional funding of more than a million and a half euros and has accumulated more than 100 members in Living Lab InnoRenew.

Additionally, they have prepared 133 publications, which includes 19 original and review scientific articles, five independent scientific component parts or chapters in a monograph, four professional journal articles, 22 published scientific conference contributions, 57 published scientific conference contribution abstracts, one submitted scientific monograph, two submitted professional journal articles and one scientific monograph under preparation. You can find out more about all the achievements and developments from the last two years in the InnoRenew CoE’s Report April 2017 – February 2019, available at the website innorenew.eu.

InnoRenew CoE report. Image: Aleš Oven

The InnoRenew CoE could not achieve all this without its project partners, the University of Primorska, Fraunhofer WKI, the Slovenian National Building and Civil Engineering Institute, the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Heritage of Slovenia, the University of Maribor, the Pulp and Paper Institute, Zavod eOblak, the National Institute of Public Health and the Regional Development Agency of the Ljubljana Urban Region (RRA LUR). The InnoRenew CoE thanks their partners for all the support and help.