S3UNICA partnership is ready to officially start its activities with the kick off meeting that will be organised in Trieste (IT) on 23 and 24 October 2019 by the Lead Partner - Friuli Venezia Giulia Autonomous Region, Central Directorate for environmental protection, energy and sustainable development - Energy Unit. 
During the first day the projects partners University of Udine (IT), University of Trieste (IT), Alba Local Energy Agency (RO), Andalusian Energy Agency, Regional Ministry of Finance, Industry and Energy, Andalusian Government (ES), University Institute of Domotic and Energy Efficiency. University of Malaga (ES), Regional Council of South Karelia (FI), Lappeenranta University of Technology (FI), Association of Municipalities Polish Network "Energie Cités" (PL) will visit the Elettra Sincrotrone in Trieste, an international multidisciplinary research centre of excellence, specialised in synchrotron and free electron laser radiation and their applications in materials and life science. With this visit, the partners will specifically widen their knowledge on energy saving policies and impacts on energy consumptions of large scale Research Centre.
During the second day, partners will discuss on the project implementation phase and its deliverables. The University of Udine and the University of Trieste will present the “self-assessment tool” to stakeholders, while the Finnish partners will focus their presentation on the first “exchange of experience – study visit” that they are going to organise in this semester.
The kick off meeting is open also to the project’s regional stakeholders located in Friuli Venezia Giulia that during the second day will present themselves to the whole partnership. This will be the case of: OveriIT S.p.A., ABB S.p.A., Bluenergy Assistance srl – Bluenergy Group SpA Company (anm ESCO -Energy Service COmpany, energy provider), APE - Energy management agency - AEIT (Italian Association of Electrical, Telecommunication, Automation and Computer Engineers). The stakeholders play also an important role in the project as the beneficiaries of different tools and participants of the exchange of experience visits.
S3UNICA started on 1 August 2019 and last for 48 months with a total budget of EUR 1,538,662.00 and 9 partners coming from Italy, Romania, Poland, Spain and Finland.
The project has been conceived as capitalisation of the Pilot Project ”Smart Campus” selected by DG REGIO under the call for expression of interest for “Thematic Partnerships to pilot interregional innovation projects”, within the S3 Partnership on “Sustainable Buildings.
The project aims to improve the energy efficiency of University Campus buildings and infrastructures, promoting the symbiosis with regional territory and the development of innovative solutions throughout the value chain associated to energy saving and smart grid developments. This goal will be achieved thanks also to the role that the participating Universities will play in regional innovation policies, by providing specific research and technical expertise in the field of energy sustainable buildings and by offering campuses as an hands-on lab where to implement these innovative solutions.
