Driving Innovation – PBN's Spring 2024 Highlights

1. Főoldal
2. News
3. Driving Innovation – PBN's Spring 2024 Highlights

The spring was a particularly busy period for PBN’s project management team, who represented our organisation in 17 projects in 10 countries, on forward-looking topics such as supporting the transition to a circular economy in various industries, applying digitalisation solutions in industry, creating concepts and pilots for regional and economic development, technological solutions for elderly care and innovative educational initiatives.


SUPPORTING THE TRANSITION TO A CIRCULAR ECONOMY IN DIFFERENT INDUSTRIES


SMART CIRCUIT – circular economy and digital innovation

During the two-day SMART CIRCUIT event in Genova, circular economy and digital innovation solutions related to transforming the Central European manufacturing ecosystem were showcased. On the first day, the conference featured best practices in electronic industrial waste recycling and discussed the potential integration of advanced technologies such as Big Data and AI. The second day focused on exploring the practical application of circular economy strategies and the importance of regional cooperation through interactive group work.

3F GREEN MODEL – agricultural and wood waste as an energy source

During the study visit to Sicily as part of the 3F GREEN MODEL project, local partners demonstrated best practices on how to turn waste into valuable resources. They presented concrete practical examples, such as using olive leaves and citrus by-products as raw materials for developing nutritional supplements; making cosmetic products from snail mucus and edible flowers; and converting agricultural waste into biomethane, a clean and renewable energy source.

























CIRCES – circular economy and design

During the implementation of the CIRCES project, in addition to developing circular-themed educational materials and platforms for high school students, the transfer of knowledge between partners is also a key aspect. At the most recent meeting in Faenza, Italy, participants were introduced to the circular design-focused works of an art institution, as well as a circular company that recovers and utilizes waste from the wine and agro-food supply chains to produce energy, natural fertilizers, and 100% bio-based noble products (alcohol, tartaric acid, extracts).











































KARMA – recycling of construction waste

Interactive workshops, insights into local strategies and projects - but above all exciting exchange of experiences: The fourth interregional KARMA meeting in Szombathely, Hungary, clearly demonstrated the potential of transnational knowledge transfer in the field of circular construction.

























WE.Circular – supporting women entrepreneurs in sustainability

As part of the WE.Circular project, our colleagues traveled to the Moldovan capital, Chisinau, for a two-day event. The project's aim is to integrate female entrepreneurs into the world of the circular economy and Industry 4.0 within the Danube region. On the first day, the good practices of Moldovan and Czech partners were presented, which proved to be valuable knowledge for the partnership. On the second day, the national research results prepared by the partners were presented. From the Hungarian side, the Design Terminal organization joined the project.


DEVELOPING INDUSTRY BY EXPLOITING THE POTENTIAL OF DIGITALISATION


AIRISE – artificial intelligence solutions in manufacturing

The main program of the AIRISE partner meeting in Bilbao focused on the practical training of the AIRISE Ambassadors - who are supporting the partnership to map and assess the specific needs and digital maturity of SMEs in the uptake of AI applications in manufacturing -, as well as the evaluation of the results of open calls proposals for €40 000 in funding.

























Drive2Transform – innovation in the automotive sector

The kick-off event of the Drive2Transform project took place in June at the TechBase in Regensburg. The project involves 9 project partners from 8 Central European countries. The event gave participants an insight into the automotive innovation ecosystem in each country.

DigiTwinGreen – digital twin applications in manufacturing

In the end of May the partners of the international project led by PBN met in person for the first time in Szombathely. During the meeting, PBN engineers provided extensive information about the work going on in our Digital Innovation Hub (am-LAB), highlighting our digital twin development, which we implemented in the DigiTwinGreen project. The creation of educational materials related to the digital twin was also discussed, as well as the participants examined the application materials of the 12 companies who had applied for the digital twin related open call.





ECOSYSTEM DEVELOPMENT AT LOCAL AND REGIONAL LEVEL


RurAll – development of rural areas

In May the RurAll consortium met in Beltinci for the first live event. In organized workshops, we discussed the procedure of transnational cooperation in developing the governance model but also debated the challenges of community engagement in rural communities. During the round table discussion, we heard about the New European Bauhaus approach in rural communities.

OD4GROWTH – the use of open data in urban management

The transnational study visit of the OD4Growth project was organized on 21-22 May 2024 in Seville, Spain. We learned about open data's contribution to local development, and dived deeper into good practices and initiatives by the Institute of Statistics & Cartography of Andalusia (IECA) & Smart Tourism Office of Seville City Council.



BEST-DIH – interregional cooperation between digital innovation centres

In the framework of the BEST-DIH project the interregional thematic seminar was held on June in Zwolle. We explored key policy tools and strategies driving digital transformation across regions with industry experts, policy makers, and digital innovators that shared insights and best practices.

ICC – smart cities

In the framework of the Intelligent Cities Challenge, a PBN colleague and representatives of Szombathely Municipality participated in the conference in Porto. During the two days, they attended a series of presentations and workshops, where Szombathely's hydrogen energy project was highlighted and used as an example for other cities.

























SKALE2CT – development of business accelerator services

In June PBN colleagues travelled to Turin to learn about Piedmont region' ecosystem which has a long tradition of manufacturing and which has led to the creation of many private companies and start-ups, attracting talented people and providing a rich environment for innovation. During the two-day program two Interreg Europe projects ACCELERATE GDT and SKALE2CT joined their forces and took part on a joint learning event.


NEW TECHNOLOGIES FOR HEALTH INDUSTRY AND REHABILITATION


NOTRE – digitalisation of senior care

As the lead partner of the NOTRE project, our study trip to San Sebastian provided an opportunity to learn about local best practices in the digitalization of senior care. Additionally, we participated in a thematic training session organized by ECHAlliance on "How to Overcome Cultural, Legal, and Social Business Challenges When Approaching Another Ecosystem," coordinated by our colleagues.



RehAllianCE – pioneering technological solutions in rehabilitation

The Kick-off event of the RehAllianCE project was held in May in Gliwice, Poland. Within the framework of the project, Polish, Hungarian, German, Italian and Austrian partners work together for 2.5 years in order to optimize the use of new technologies in the field of rehabilitation. As a first step of this activity, the preparation of the pilot call launching in November was conducted during the personal meeting.

3PASSE – social and solidarity economy

The city of Turin in Italy hosted the 3P4SSE project partner meeting in March. The project aims to promote the Social and Solidarity Economy at regional and European levels. One of the main events of the two-day event organised by the LINKS Foundation was the Policy Conference, where the Managing Director of the LINKS Foundation and a representative from the province of Trento introduced participants to the project and the topics of the Social and Solidarity Economy. The conference was divided into two sections: one focused on social clusters and regional development, while the other discussed new normative frameworks.


EDUCATIONAL INITIATIVES


IPR4SC – promotion of the practical use of intellectual property rights

The IPR4SC Simulation Lab and the fourth partnership meeting took place in Pisa in May. Partners simulated the IPR4Data (IPR Data Analysis & Interpretation) course and its teaching material alongside experts, ensuring the best learning outcomes for participants.

eTOM AT-HU – cross-border education solutions

The eTOM (AT-HU) partnership visited the partner in Graz, where they viewed the newly established outdoor research stations that are ideal as maker spaces and the in-progress maker boxes. Following this, at the meeting in Sopron, the partnership was introduced to the 7K model, which emphasizes the importance of developing skills such as critical thinking, creativity, intercultural communication, and others in education.

DRP LP seminar – management partnership training

We participated in a seminar organized for lead partners of EU projects in Belgrade, hosted by the Danube Program. The seminar covered the rules for financial reporting and project implementation guidelines. PBN is the lead partner for one project (BrAIn) and a project partner in five other projects under the Danube Program.