News

ECRN Executive Board meeting in Leuna on 26 October

A day before the 9th ECRN Congress, the ECRN Executive Board convened in Leuna (Germany) to review and discuss the ongoing and upcoming activities of the network. The Director of the ECRN Secretariat in Brussels, Dr. Hanny Nover, presented the current activities of the network and initiatives of thematic working groups and laid out proposals for further activities.

The Executive Board was pleased to hear that the exchange of experiences between member regions has been translated to concrete actions, such as a pilot project on energy efficiency that engages local SMEs, and welcomed the proposals for further collaboration e.g. in the context of REACH Review, education, and skills development. The Executive Board also adopted a Congress Declaration for the 9th ECRN Congress (held in Halle on 27 October 2011) and emphasized the importance of collaboration in supporting the development and growth of the chemical regions. They also urged all member regions to take the key messages of the declaration and apply them in their respective regional activities.

The ECRN Executive Board met in Leuna
on 26 October 2011
Andreas Hiltermann, the Managing Director of
InfraLeuna, welcomed the Board to the
chemical site.
The Executive Board (in the picture from the left:
Vice Presidents Karl-Uwe Bütof and Alberto Cavalli,
accompanied by Folco Ciulli) discussed and debated
several issues, including for instance the Congress
Resolution for the 9th ECRN Congress
Prof. Dr. Birgitta Wolff,
the ECRN President,
chaired the meeting
The day ended with a guided tour around the Leuna
Chemical Site which spans an area of 1,300 hectares
More than 100 chemical companies operate on
the site, employing over 9000 workers.

9^th Congress of the European Chemical Regions: Sustainable use of structural funds in chemical regions on 27^th October 2011

9^th Congress of the European Chemical Regions: Sustainable use of structural funds in chemical regions on 27th October 2011

The 9th Congress of the European Chemical Regions will be organised on 27th October 2011 in Halle/Saale (Germany), hosted by ECRN member region Saxony-Anhalt.

This year the theme of this annual event will be European regional policy and ?Sustainable use of structural funds in chemical regions?. At the Congress, the participants have a chance to see a range of interesting presentations, attend workshops and meet prominent speakers from regions, the EU, public sector, industry, and research.

Discussions will focus particularly on the potential and opportunities for sustainable use of structural funds in the European chemical regions in the context of Europe 2020 Strategy. As in previous years, we look forward to sharing ideas and experiences with different chemical stakeholders.

For further information, please see the Congress website (in German and English). Congress Agenda and additional information is also available here.

We warmly welcome you to join us in Halle in October!

ECRN Permanent Working Group meeting in Brussels 14-15 September

The second Permanent Working Group Meeting of 2011 was held in Brussels on 14-15 September. The meeting focused on new thematic working groups and ECRN activities for the rest of the year 2011. Themes such as biopolymers-network, use of structural funds and the industrial policy agenda of the European Union were discussed at the meeting. Almost every region of the network was represented and speakers of the two-day meeting included among others Martina Beitke from CEFIC; Bernd Geschermann from Energy Agency, NRW; Lucie Davoine from DG Employment, Social affairs and Inclusion and Otto Linher from DG Industry. In addition to two days of discussions and presentations, the meeting participants were also invited to a networking dinner to continue discussions on a more informal setting. The ECRN members who were unable to attend the meeting can review the materials and minutes from the ECRN Intranet.

ECRN members gathered to
Brussels to discuss current
activities and plans for the future
Lucie Davoine from DG Employment,
Social Affairs & Inclusion gave an
overview of EU initiatives on skills
development during the Networking
Dinner
The Permanent Working Group had
an intensive two-day meeting and
discussions continued also during
a Networking Dinner on the
evening of the 14 September
Otto Linher from DG Enterprise
& Industry briefed the group on an
upcoming project seeking to analyse
policies in chemical regions

ECRN meets Commissioner Tajani

On 19 May, the outgoing ECRN President, Prime Minister Dr. Haseloff, the newly elected ECRN President Prof. Dr. Wolff, and ECRN Vice President Alberto Cavalli met with Commissioner Tajani and handed over the network?s joint position on the Green Paper consultation Towards a Common Strategic Framework for EU Research and Innovation Funding.

Prof. Dr. Birgitta Wolff elected as the new ECRN President

On 19 May, the General Assembly of the European Chemical Regions Network (ECRN) elected Prof. Dr. Birgitta Wolff as its new President. Prof. Dr. Wolff is the new Minister for Science and Economic Affairs in the government of the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. She succeeds Dr. Rainer Haseloff, who was elected as Prime Minister of Saxony-Anhalt in April 2011. Prof. Dr. Wolff is the new Minister for Science and Economic Affairs in the government of the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. She succeeds Dr. Rainer Haseloff, who was elected as Prime Minister of Saxony-Anhalt in April 2011.

ECRN represented at the Commission's conference on HLG follow-up in February 2011

The European Commission will organize a conference on 10 February 2011 to present the current progress in implementing the HLG recommendations. The ECRN contributed actively to the work of the HLG and has also been active in supporting the follow-up and implementation of the High Level Group?s recommendations for enhancing the future success of the chemical industry in Europe. The network will be represented in the forthcoming conference, where Alberto Cavalli (Vice President of the ECRN) will be one of the speakers.

New Director at the ECRN Secretariat

From November 2010 onward, the Brussels Secretariat of the ECRN will be led by Dr. Hanny Nover. Dr. Nover will initiate a process for building a new strategy and future vision for the network, and in her work, she will draw from her extensive experience in the field of chemicals and work in Ministries of the Environment and Economic Affairs in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, as well as positions in the European Commission and projects in different parts of Europe.

ECRN has welcomed a new member region

The 22^nd member region, Brandenburg from Germany was welcomed to the network at the Executive Board meeting preceding the Annual ECRN Congress held in Brussels on 7 October 2010. While the growth of the network further strengthens the voice and influential potential of the activities of the ECRN on the European political arena, and the network seeks to continue dialogue and collaboration with the European institutions and stakeholders, the ECRN is also keen to foster synergistic relationships and knowledge sharing within and among its member regions to realize the positive potential of the network.

12th ECRN Newsletter published
(October 2010 edition)!

The latest ECRN Newsletter print edition (Newsletter No. 12, October 2010) has just been published. The Newsletter is also available as pdf-document on the ECRN website under http://www.ecrn.net/communicationanddownloads/newsletter.php (or via "Communication and downloads" - "Newsletter").

Who-is-who of the European Chemical Regions 2010 edition published!

The Who-is-who is also available as pdf-document on the ECRN website under About the ECRN - Who is who