On the 7 and 8 of February, the STEPHANIE project held its first interregional learning event.
8 partners from 7 different countries gathered together in order to start exchanging experiences on the topic of space technology with Photonics. STEPHANIE – Space Technology with Photonics for market and societal challenges is a project funded by the INTERREG EUROPE programme for interregional cooperation, which runs from 1 January 2017 and lasts 5 years, divided into a 3 year phase of exchange and 2 years of implementation.
The project is led by CNR-IFAC INSTITUE OF APPLIED PHYSICS /OPTOSCANA (IT), while the other partners are Regional Government of Tuscany (IT), the City of Prague (CZ), Photonics Bretagne (FR), NanoMicroMaterialsPhotonics.NRW Cluster (DE), Andalusian Foundation for Aerospace Development (ES), Durham County Council (UK), University of Liège (BE).
They work together to ensure that policy is designed to guarantee real benefits from space technology based on Photonics, particularly in space and earth observation. Interregional exchange particularly seeks to improve how policy tools support R&I delivery through quadruple helix cooperation and coordinated, simplified funding schemes for the development of marketable and society orientated products and services.
The event in Florence was the occasion to kick start the project, presenting the regions involved and sharing objectives and activities for the 5 years of collaboration. An interactive workshop was also held, involving regional stakeholders (representatives from the Quadruple Helix) that will support STEPHANIE's activities at local level. Partners visited a Tuscan centre of excellence in Photonics and space sector, a branch of the Space Line of Business (LoB) of Leonardo Company (former Finmeccanica), a global high-tech company and one of the key players in Aerospace, Defence and Security.
For further information on the project, please visit the official website: WWW.INTERREGEUROPE.EU/STEPHANIE
http://www.photonics21.org/pho_nl_backend/2017/04-2017/NL-April.php?view=true#artikel_4
