Two workshops on electric mobility and circular economy to promote collaborative transversal tractor projects

• The conferences were part of the Cross-cutting Tractor Initiatives of the Euskadi 2030 Science, Technology and Innovation Plan

Nearly 100 people from different scientific, technological, business and administrative organisations took part in the two meetings organised by Lehendakaritza on Electric Mobility, on 2 February at the Palacio Europa (Vitoria-Gasteiz) and Circular Economy, on 3 February at the Science and Technology Park of Bizkaia (Zamudio).

The main purpose of the conference was to facilitate the meeting between R&D&I organisations and agents with capacities, lines of work or ideas whose combination can facilitate the presentation of applications to the recently approved call for applications for the Aid Programme for the design of Collaborative Cross-cutting Tractor Projects for Research and Development for the year 2023.

In the first part of the conference, Cristina Uriarte, the Basque Government's Commissioner for Science, Technology and Innovation, placed these new initiatives within the framework of the Basque Country 2030 Science, Technology and Innovation Plan. She pointed out that they are aimed at reinforcing cross-cutting collaboration between the different RIS3 areas of smart specialisation, as well as contributing to tackling some of the major challenges facing Basque society through research and innovation. She ended her speech by presenting the main features of the new aid programme for the design of tractor projects, the call for applications for which was published on 2 February in the Official Gazette of the Basque Country.

During the second part, a working group session was held, which allowed the participants to get to know each other and share skills, lines of work or ideas that could lead to the presentation of new Tractor Projects. The results obtained by the working groups were shared with all the participants in the final plenary session of the day, with the aim of sharing knowledge and facilitating the identification of new collaborations. 

In electric mobility, the general challenge is defined as promoting a new model of sustainable mobility and transport with low greenhouse gas emissions, promoting the value chain associated with electric vehicles based on industrial and scientific-technological capacities. In circular economy, the general challenge is to promote the transition of the Basque Country towards a more efficient economy in the use of resources through innovation oriented towards a new model of production and consumption.