Sustainable chemistry: Implementing the research & innovation agenda for Europe

On 27 August the initial proposals for implementing the ambitious European research agenda for the chemical & biotech sciences developed by SusChem will be presented to its 4th Stakeholder meeting in Budapest. The Implementation Action Plan (IAP) is available in draft form from the SusChem website.

The IAP activities are collected around themes of major importance for sustainable chemistry: bio-based economy; energy; health care; information and communication technologies; nanotechnology; sustainable quality of life; sustainable product and process design; and transport. The need to create a supportive environment for innovation and research is also emphasised. Finally, the next steps in the implementation of three visionary projects, introduced in the SusChem Strategic Research Agenda (SRA), are outlined and the future role of SusChem in European networking and during the implementation phase is defined.

The SRA visionary projects crystallised the possible future societal benefits of the proposed research. The IAP shows how SusChem intends to realise some of these project. Specifically, key activities and partners for defining the concepts and planning the construction of a 'smart energy home', an 'integrated biorefinery' pilot facility for collaborative research and a 'F3 (faster and more flexible future production) chemicals factory' are discussed.

Focus for enterprise and innovation

SusChem offers a unique opportunity to focus European spending in chemical R&D towards the most promising areas for greatest impact on the overall goals of sustainability and improved competitiveness. The chemical sciences are at the core of the nano-, bio- and environmental technologies that will meet the major challenges facing our World today.

In addition to discussion of the IAP, the workshop will tackle SusChem's future role, elaborate on funding possibilities and examine the specific needs of new EU Member States.

The workshop will conclude with a plenary contribution on the 'future of chemistry' from Nobel Laureate Prof. Jean-Marie Lehn. Other distinguished speakers include Prof. Daoben Zhu of the Chinese Academy of Science, Patrick Hennessy, Director of DG Enterprise, a spokesperson from the European Research Council, and Alfred Oberholz, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Management of Degussa and chair of the SusChem board. The meeting is being held in conjunction with the 1st European Chemical Congress organised by the European Association for Chemical and Molecular Sciences (EuCheMS).