The EU-MED Innovation Week 2019 on water, energy, and food was held in Tunis in February 2019. The 3-day event has become an exceptional networking platform for exchanging ideas, defining policies, finding new solutions and business opportunities in the interrelated fields of food, water, and energy.
This third 5TOI_4EWAS Innovation Week gathered the most relevant experts to examine strategies for a smarter and more sustainable Euro-Mediterranean development for the years to come in the framework of the Horizon 2020 funded 5TOI_4EWAS project. Krystel Khalil, Projects Director at Berytech attended the three-day event. Here are the highlights of her 3-day experience.
Day 1: H2020 New Work Program
Day 1 of the innovation week kicked off with an eye-opening training session on H2020 new work program 2018 – 2020:
- the corresponding call for proposals with the focus on the three foci of food, water
and energy; - the benefits of participation for researchers and innovators from MENA countries;
- how to find suitable partners;
- full insight into proposal development and/or project management; and
- the main concerns for H2020 coordinators providing them with useful tips and tools.
Day 2: Join Action Plan
The second day was another day of deep-dive debate and contribution to the identification of priorities and recommendations for decision-makers of the area.
One session showcasing the most representative know-how developed by 5TOI_4EWAS in the Water-Energy-Food NEXUS was followed by the 5TOI_4EWAS Joint Action Plan (JAP) presentation. The JAP is the strategic agenda for years to come on how to stimulate innovation in the EU-MED area. The JAP will be publicly released soon, and it will be the most important legacy of the project for the European Commission.
The second day also hosted simultaneous master classes addressing different topics that include 1) Intellectual Property (RSS); 2) Horizon Europe; 3) COST actions; 4) FAB-LABS; 5) The NEXUS approach; 6) Venture capital incubators and examples of success stories.
Day 3: NEXUS Future Challenges
The third and final round of talks, showcase and brokerage event at the innovation week went deep into the key issues of NEXUS future challenges. It included interactive panels with international and local experts in food, water, and energy NEXUS to set an innovation strategy for the Euro-Mediterranean area, tips to reinforcing strategic alliances, to shape new opportunities as well as to leverage synergies and enrich the NEXUS living lab ecosystem.
Wrap Up
The final conference saw the participation of the most important stakeholders of the EU-MED research and innovation cooperation in the NEXUS sector. The showcase gave voice to startups operating in the fields of water, energy, and food exposing their innovative projects and products. B2B matchmaking activities helped to create collaboration opportunities between experts and stakeholders, institutions, NGOs, consultants and public bodies.
The third innovation week confirmed again how 5TOI_4EWAS is the most import initiative in the EU-MED area and a cornerstone in the water, energy and food NEXUS. The know-how developed by the project will last for years thanks to its extended array of partners spread in 15 EU-MED countries, including Lebanon through Berytech
