The goal of the meeting was to discuss strategic issues encountered in the Alpine area related to wood, tourism, industry, and circular economy. One update on the cross-cutting issue hydrogen was also discussed.
An update on European issues was given: Switzerland holds the EUSALP presidency since January 2023; technical support is now provided by the Secretariat based in Nice and Grenoble (TSS). The EU Commission has proposed a report about 4 macroregions that will be adopted by the end of the Swedish presidency.
Other objectives of the meeting were the discussion of the AG2 Work Plan 2023-2025 and the presentation of projects. The final aim of the operational discussions was to incubate some European projects.
The missions of the AG2 were highlighted:
- Develop new or better value chains inside sectors regarded as strategic in the Alpine region which show potential with distinctive conditions in the region.
- Bridge the gap of disconnected value chains or parts of it.
- Move higher up value chains or adjusting products and services to the green economy.
- Bridge different policies and efforts in order to stimulate the transformation of the industrial structure and drive job creation and growth.
- Support innovation by making better use of cluster initiatives.
Organization of the meeting:
9.00
| Welcome address
|
9.10 | Tour de table/ New members updating |
9.20 | Presentation of the AG2 WorkPlan 23-25 |
9.45 | SESSION ON WOOD |
| Presentation of the Programme launched by the Italian authorities on datas about forest product chains (first results) |
10.15 | Presentation of H2020 project DESIRA (providing digital tools to support the wood traceability over the process lifecycle, in compliance with the EU Timber Regulation) |
10.30 | WOODCircle Erasmus+ project for Circular and Sustainable Woodworkers (upskilling and innovative training approaches, including mobility and e-learning) |
10.45 | LIFE Project of Proxipel (draft project) |
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|
11.15 | SESSION ON TOURISM |
11.15 | INTERREG Alpine Space Project BEYOND SNOW
|
11.45 | Business models for health tourism use of forests |
12.00 | Food heritage in the Alps: presentation of a candidacy to UNESCO |
12.15 | Q/A session
|
14.00 | SESSION ON BIOECONOMY/CIRCULAR ECONOMY |
14.00 | Presentation of the cross-cutting priority on Circular Economy (AG2 and other AGs) |
14.30 | Presentation of the Interreg Project INNO Value-Chain |
15.00 | Presentation of the Project Ice-Peac |
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15.30 | Presentation of the cross-cutting priorities on Hydrogen (AG2, AG4, AG9)
|
16.00 | SESSION ON DIGITAL INDUSTRY |
16.10 | Projects Go-DIP and ZOOOMfoster digitalization; cross-cutting priority of data economy and future plans |
16.30 | Presentation of the Horizon Projects on decarbonized Industry |
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17.00 | Wrap-up session - End of the meeting |
At the end, AG2 coleaders warmly thanked all speakers for these very concrete presentations and the fruitful discussions on each of them.
It was also underlined the importance of addressing the follow-up of these projects:
- Support and promotion of these projects in the INTERREG programmes.
- Support and promotion of these projects in the programmes directly managed by the European Commission.
- Follow-up of the expected results.
- Creation of a steering group for enabling this follow-up process by having an individual approach (bilateral follow-up).
The next meeting is scheduled for the 30th of November in Brussels.