The main topics discussed on day one included collecting data about business sectors, and focusing on excellence in Emilia-Romagna region. Similar population and sectoral make-up was identified in Birmingham, where a history of automotive, manufacturing and engineering services existed.
Silvano Bertini, Director of Research presented the structure of the ERDF ROP for Emilia-Romagna, together with the regional innovation policy and performances. The overall ERDF budget is 480 million euros.
Giorgio Moretti, High Technology Manager Aster, described the main milestones of Emilia-Romagna policy and tools. In 2004 the Regional High Technology Network was established. The High Technology Network includes 82 laboratories, 14 innovation centers, dedicated to applied research.
The Regional Smart Specialization Strategy was approved in 2014, providing a framework for both ERDF, as well as FSE (ESF) funds.
The Waste Management Plan and the Circular Economy Law in Emilia-Romagna was presented by Manuela Ratta. Particular attention was dedicated to the "By-products" permanent discussion table, which is one of the good practices mapped in the TRIS Project. BCC and Industrial Symbiosis Ltd were very interested in the approach and the links to the approach were provided.
In both regions, the regional responsibility lies principally if not entirely on municipal waste, but there is the willingness to support better performances in terms of industrial waste as well. Birmingham City Council is facing the challenge of renewing its contract with the company managing the WTE plants (owned by BCC) and consequently is very interested in the waste management plan of Emilia-Romagna.
A visit was arranged to Reggio Emilia Technopole, where Alain Marenghi presented an overall view on the innovation ecosystem of Emilia-Romagna and its functioning. Further visits were arranged to BIOGEST SITEIA Lab and EN&TECH, where two strategic research projects were explored looking at value from waste streams, Valoribo and Sostinnovi. The first one deals with poultry waste streams converted by means of insects to bioplastic components.
Day two Filippo Saguatti of Aster described the INNO INFRA SHARE (Sharing Strategies for European Research and Innovation Infrastructures) project to improve the accessibility and the exploitation of local Research and Innovation infrastructure (RII) assets by SME's.
Lucie Sanchez from Aster gave an overview on activities carried on with ERDF funds in order to support new entrepreneurship and startups. In particular, EmiliaRomagnaStartUp (ERSU) was presented, looking at its service range from support on classical themes relating to innovative entrepreneurship to specialised consulting, business development, internationalization and support for fund raising.
Birmingham City Council were interested in the methods of coordination and marketing the services to start-ups. BCC also shared its experience with a similar voucher-style ERDF project called Green Bridge.
The visit to Technopole of Bologna and the research consortia Mist E-R and Proambiente, discussed research research and development activities for industry, Optical design, Mechanical design, formulations for Cosmetic industry, Rheology, Analysis of magnetic materials etc. Several examples of collaborations with industries were presented. BCC were particularly interested in new product development for air monitoring equipment and ultra violet treatment for contaminated water.
Mark Reed of Birmingham City Council briefly presented on a sub-programme under their ERDF current strategy, illustrating the focus on a large investment on a new high-speed railway (HS2). The BASIS (Birmingham and Solihull Industrial Symbiosis) project, funded by ERDF funds was presented as an additional strategy to unlock new industrial symbiosis opportunities.
Lessons learnt from the staff exchange was an occasion to reflect on our regional ecosystem and on current innovation projects financed by ERDF, here are the main learning points:
- Value of peer to peer communication within the business sector to promote opportunities and services
- Different ways to use by-products involved in some of the regional strategic projects (e.g. use of biochar in ceramics industry)
- Input on how to make the Technopoles shared spaces more interactive so that the spaces themselves can inspire cross-fertilisation of disciplines
Follow up actions included a list of by-products from Emilia-Romagna, in order to evaluate possible further implementation based on Industrial Symbiosis Ltd expertise and share a report on the possibilities for industrial symbiosis within the construction sector.
