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The research road to net-zero industry

The Science|Business Green Deal & Climate days (September 18, 14:00 to 17:00; September 19, 9:30 – 12:30 CET)


Watch the conference videos here

The European Green Deal is arguably the biggest ambition of the current European Commission and EU leaders agree on the need to accelerate Europe’s transition to a net-zero industry. While the EU agreed to invest part of its 1.8 trillion budget euros into accelerating the transition to a more sustainable economy, it needs to get better and faster at moving tech ideas towards the marketplace. Several related questions arise, among which: How Europe’s climate policies and tools can help set the right research and investment priorities to help make it happen? What are the key priorities for climate-related research in the short and medium terms, and how can EU funding support and leverage the success of green tech incubators, entrepreneurs and international cooperation? What is the responsibility of large corporations in the process? And how can Europe reposition value chains to obtain the resources it lacks while avoiding the creation of new dependencies?

On 18 and 19 September, Science|Business will gather experts from industry, research and policy to assess the state of play in the implementation of key aspects of the plan, especially the Net-Zero Industry Act, as well as the research needed to make it happen and other challenges ahead.

Download the event pack here.

Featured Guests
Speakers
Christian Ehler
Member, European Parliament
Ann Mettler
Vice President, Europe, Breakthrough Energy
Signe Ratso
Deputy-Director General, DG RTD, European Commission
Maive Rute
Deputy-Director General, DG GROW, European Commission
Joyeeta Gupta
Full Professor, University of Amsterdam
Mar Capeans
Head of the Site and Civil Engineering Department, CERN
Tim Green
Academic Leader for Sustainability, Professor, Imperial College London
Rosalinde van der Vlies
Director Clean Planet, DG RTD, European Commission
Riccardo Procacci
CEO, Avio Aero & Vice President, GE Aerospace
Paloma Aba Garrote
Director, CINEA - European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency
Rachel Martin
Global Director of Sustainability, Elsevier
Hélène Chraye
Head of Unit, Clean Energy Transition, DG RTD, European Commission
Doris Schroeker
Head of Unit, Industrial Research, Innovation and Investment Agendas, DG RTD, European Commission
Irina Gorbounova
Vice President M&A and Head of XCarb Innovation Fund, ArcelorMittal
Pedro Rocha
Executive Director, PRODUTECH Cluster and PRODUTECH DIH
Wim de Kinderen
Programme Director European Affairs, Brainport Eindhoven
Tara Lindstedt
Board Member & Chief Development Officer, InoBat
Gareth MacNaughton
Director of Innovation, EIT Urban Mobility
Michael May
Head of Business Unit Aviation, Fraunhofer Institute for High-Speed Dynamics
Mark Mawhinney
Head of Sustainable & Digital Industries, European Investment Bank
Muriel Attané
Secretary General, EARTO
Andy Kerr
CSO, Climate-KIC
Louise Drogoul
Advisor for Innovation & Sustainability, CESAER
Damien Meadows
Legal and Political Advisor, DG CLIMA, European Commission
Ana Maria Bravo
Director, Public Affairs IFF
Programme
Programme

Day 1

13.00 Networking Lunch

14:00 Welcome remarks - Maryline Fiaschi, CEO, Science|Business

14:05 Opening Plenary – Investing in Europe’s potential for a net-zero technology ecosystem

  • Christian Ehler, Member and Rapporteur on the Net-Zero industry Act, European Parliament
  • Ann Mettler, Vice President, Europe, Breakthrough Energy
  • Maive Rute, Deputy Director-General, DG GROW, European Commission
  • Tim Green, Academic Leader for Sustainability, Professor, Imperial College London

Moderator: Maryline Fiaschi, CEO, Science|Business

15:00 Coffee break

15:30 Parallel Sessions

1/ How the EU can build up its innovation ecosystem to reach net-zero

An expert roundtable support by the ATTRACT project

Featured guests:

  • Hélène Chraye, Head of Unit ‘Clean Energy Transition’, DG RTD, European Commission
  • Doris Schroeker, Head of Unit ‘Industrial Research, Innovation and Investment Agendas’, DG RTD, European Commission
  • Mar Capeans, Head of the Site and Civil Engineering Department, CERN
  • Muriel Attané, Secretary General, EARTO
  • Andy Kerr, Chief Strategy Officer, Climate-KIC
  • Saija Hollmén, Professor, Humanitarian Architecture, Aalto University
  • Wim de Kinderen, Programme Director European Affairs, Brainport Eindhoven
  • Pedro Rocha, Executive Director, PRODUTECH Cluster and PRODUTECH DIH
  • Marc Mawhinney, Lead Advisor, Innovation and Competitiveness Department, European Investment Bank
  • Francesco Molica, Economic and Policy Analyst, Joint Research Centre, European Commission
  • Louise Drogoul, Advisor, Innovation & Sustainability, CESAER

Moderator: Ricardo Miguéis, Head of the INESC Brussels HUB

2/ Circularity and strategic materials: How can new approaches help us achieve net-zero? - Panel discussion 

  • Aurel Ciobanu-Dordea, Director, Circular Economy, DG ENV, European Commission 
  • Ignacio Calleja, Senior Advisor - Circular Economy, EIT Raw Materials 
  • Silvestre Pinho, Professor in Mechanics and Composites, Imperial College London 
  • Dario Croccolo, Full Professor & Head - Interdepartmental Centre for Industrial Research, University of Bologna 
  • Elena Gaura, Professor of Pervasive Computing, Director of Research Institute for Data Science and Emerging Technologies, Coventry University 
  • Ana Maria Bravo, Director, Public Affairs, IFF 

Moderator: David Matthews, International Editor, Science|Business

3/ Net-zero in the city: Fostering sustainable urban spaces - Expert Roundtable

Featured Guest:

  • Paloma Aba Garrote, Director, European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA), European Commission 
  • Holger Robrecht, Deputy European Director, Local Governments for Sustainability 
  • Gareth Macnaughton, Director of Innovation, EIT Urban Mobility 
  • David Holden, European Coordinator, Technology Division, CEA 
  • Rachel Martin, Global Director, Sustainability, Elsevier 
  • Denis Bonvillain, Director, Head of EU Affairs, Veolia Environment 
  • Ted Veldkamp, Professor of Applied Sciences, Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences 
  • Markus Kröll, Head of Department, Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation 
  • Paul Cartuyvels, Executive Director, BOUYGUES Europe; President; European Construction Technology 
  • Antonio Marcomini, Vice-Rector, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice 
  • Representative from the City of Tshwane, Republic of South Africa 

Moderator: Raffaele Guerini, Policy Officer, Science|Business

17:00 Networking Cocktail - Supported by Quantum Delta 

Welcoming remarks - Ulrich Mans, Strategic Partnerships Lead, Quantum Delta
 


Day 2

8:30 Breakfast

9:30 Parallel Panels

1/ Navigating towards a more sustainable future for aviation

Panel discussion supported by GE Aerospace

  • Rosalinde van der Vlies, Director, Clean Planet, DG RTD, European Commission
  • Damien Meadows, Legal and Political Advisor, DG CLIMA, European Commission
  • Riccardo Procacci, CEO, Avio Aero; Vice President, GE Aerospace
  • Michael May, Head of Business Unit Aviation, Fraunhofer Institute for High-Speed Dynamics, Ernst-Mach-Institut

Moderator: Brandon Mitchener, Senior Advisor, Science|Business

2/ Clean capital: What does the future hold for green tech investment?

  • Irina Gorbounova, Head of XCarb Innovation Fund, ArcelorMittal
  • Tara Lindstedt, Board Member, Chief Development Officer, InoBat
  • Stéphane Ouaki, Head of Department, European Innovation Council, EISMEA, European Commission
  • Marc Mawhinney, Head of Sustainable & Digital Industries, European Investment Bank

Moderator: Simon Pickard, Network Director, Science|Business

10:30 Coffee break

11:00 It takes a (green) village: New ideas to move energy innovations from lab to market

A session featuring inspirational concepts to accelerate the transition towards net-zero, from labs to market.

Participants:

  • Mar Capeans, Head of the Site and Civil Engineering Department, CERN

Moderator: Florin Zubascu, Executive Editor at Science|Business

11:30 Keynote Speech - Joyeeta Gupta, Full Professor of Environment and Development in the Global South, University of Amsterdam

11:45 Closing Plenary - Powering green tech: the importance of climate policy for tech value chains

  • Signe Ratso, Deputy-Director General at DG RTD, European Commission
  • Joyeeta Gupta, Full Professor of Environment and Development in the Global South, University of Amsterdam
  • Mar Capeans, Head of the Site and Civil Engineering Department, CERN
  • Yves Desbazeille, Director General, Nucleareurope

Moderator: Florin Zubascu, Executive Editor at Science|Business

12:25 Concluding remarks

12:30 Networking Lunch

Contact us
Practical Information

For network members, please contact [email protected] for any information needed

For non-network members, please contact [email protected]

Partnership Opportunities
Practical Information

THE OPTIONS

Do you want to raise your organisation’s visibility and actively contribute to the EU policy dialogue around climate change, the Green Deal, the net-zero objective and the role of research and innovation in fighting one of the biggest challenges of our times? Science|Business offers you to steer part of the event programme.

All partnerships are supported by guided networking activities, editorial coverage, and branding in all event- related onsite and online communication materials and complimentary access passes to the event.

You can contact us for any further questions and request the partnership brochure via the following form .

WHY SPONSOR THIS CONFERENCE?

Topics can revolve around several questions that arise surrounding the main theme of the event, among which:

  • How can Europe’s climate policies and tools help set the right research and investment priorities to help make it happen?
  • What are the key priorities for climate-related R&D and innovation in the short and medium terms, and how can EU funding support and leverage the success of green tech incubators, entrepreneurs and international cooperation?
  • What is the responsibility of large corporations in the process?
  • How can Europe re-position value chains to obtain the resources it lacks while avoiding the creation of new dependencies?

THE AUDIENCE

The event, fully hybrid, will bring together 125-150 participants onsite – and several hundreds online - including key representatives from European institutions, national ministries, innovation agencies, corporate R&D executives, government affairs teams, vice-rectors, deans of faculty, heads of labs, senior researchers, and representatives from international organisations.

Venue
Practical Information

Blue Point, with address Bd Auguste Reyers 80, 1030 Brussels
Please find here the link for more details regarding the venue’s accessibility.  


Partners