Wednesday 22 June 2022 - Ministers and their representatives, hosted by Portuguese Minister of Science, Technology and Higher Education Elvira Fortunato, gathered in Estoril for the Eureka XXVIII Ministerial Conference.

Together, they stressed the importance of Eureka in the global research, development and innovation landscape and recognised its unique role in supporting the development of ground-breaking innovations that are boosting world economies, creating jobs and have real positive societal impact.

Ministers and their representatives reaffirmed their commitment and national support to continue and further the development of Eureka.

Of particular note, Canada and South Korea became full members of Eureka. Chile was reassociated to the network.

The European Partnership on Innovative SMEs, the biggest SME-focused action in the European innovation ecosystems under the EU’s Horizon Europe, was launched by Minister Fortunato and Commission Research and Innovation Director-General Paquet.

Read the full Ministerial Conference communiqué here.

It is commonly known that a broken spine (= paraplegia) will cause loss of some if not all motor functions, due to damage of the bone marrow. In many cases it will paralyse a patient. In the US and EU alone over 480.000 people are bound to wheelchairs, due to their spinal injuries and each year, around 24.000 more people join this list.

In 2021, we launched a series of online sessions held by major corporates as part of our investment readiness programme. Agbar, a multinational water technologies company participated, setting challenges for startups and SMEs. Carlos Montero, Chief Technology Officer at Agbar, told us how the sessions helped Agbar find Dutch infrastructure pioneer, Cittamap.

In 2021, we launched a series of online sessions held by major corporates as part of our investment readiness programme. Enel, a multinational energy company participated, setting challenges for energy sector startups and SMEs. Fernando Sandoval, Manager of Enel’s European Innovation Hub (Hub Europe) since 2017, spoke to us about how the sessions resulted in conversations leading towards a potential partnership with Swiss engineering company, DAES.

A horticulturalist and computer scientist may seem like an unlikely duo, but Green City Solutions’ cofounders, Peter Sänger and Liang Wu, have been driven by a shared goal to create a biotech air filter that reduces air pollution. We learned about their growth together from studying at university to successfully marketing their CityTree and CityBreeze products, which combine dust and carbon dioxide-absorbing moss with internet of things (IoT) technology, creating fresh air zones in many European cities.