Cleantech Forum 2016 opens in Lyon
Today sees the Cleantech Forum 2016 open its doors in Lyon.
The forum is an opportunity for the capital of the Rhône-Alpes region, a large French industrial development hub, to host three days of lectures and events based around cleantech.
This event, the European version of the famous Cleantech Forum in San Francisco, is expected to attract about 400 people across more than twenty sessions, which aim to present innovation in the cleantech sector.
The attendees come from three main areas: start-ups, who are here to present their technologies and solutions to the problems of tomorrow; investors and large industrial groups .
A prestigious event
If the US forum is always held in San Francisco, its European counterpart changes city every year, and it is Lyon which has been chosen to succeed Florence, who had the honor of hosting the event in 2015.
The choice of Lyon as host city is not by accident either as the city is the French region with the largest activity in the chemical sector and has placed cleantech at the forefront of its economic policy.
Lyon has 4 major hubs for the cleantech industry (Axelera, LUTB TMS, and Techtera Tenerrdis), has generated 214 million euros between 2010 and 2015 and boasts 7 engineering schools with over 1300 skilled graduates in the field of chemical engineering each year.
According to David Kimelfeld, the Vice President of the municipal body in charge of the economy of the Greater Lyo region, the city does not intend to stop there because, as he says
“Greater Lyon has become a reference at European level in the field of cleantech. It wants to continue to act in favor of the implementation of major industrial groups in its territory and to sell its international eco-technological innovations. ”
Thus, the city has recently launched a new appeal to tender in a call for projects to support initiatives in the field of cleantech, by offering them a prime geographical location, financial support and development advice.
Three busy days
The conference is set to proceed therefore over the next three days, covering topics ranging from waste treatment to smart networks and from solar energy to air quality.
Naturally, many networking sessions are planned, with the forum hoping to provide plenty of opportunities for the major players of the industry to meet and exchange at an event. Indeed it is that family atmosphere which is at the root of the forum’s ongoing success, with many visitors returning each year.
The forum begins today with the opportunity for attendees to make two flying visits: one to the “path of energy”, which will enable participants to discover the Smart Electric laboratory Lyon and CNR, while the “chemistry valley” tour will afford visitors the chance to explore the historic heart of the activity in the Lyon region and its evolution in the present and the future.
GreenTech Journal will keep you up-to-date on all the news from the cleantech forum right across the duration of the event.
