OCEANERA-NET Final Conference – Breaking Through: Innovation and Collaboration in Ocean Energy
On the 30th and 31st January 2018, the EU Funded Project OCEANERA-NET hosted its final conference at the Radisson Blu in Edinburgh.
Co-organised by KTN and Scottish Enterprise, over 110 delegates from across Europe attended the 2-day event to celebrate project success and discuss innovation and collaboration in the ocean energy sector. The agenda covered a mix of presentations, cross-sector inspiration from keynote speakers, innovation sessions and a unique UNconference session, where delegates took charge of the agenda and the sessions they wanted to attend. We also had a Ministerial address by Paul Wheelhouse MSP, Minister for Business, Innovation and Energy.
An evening reception took place after the event in true Scottish theme, with a bagpiper, address to haggis, and welcoming speech from the Lord Provost.
Delegates found the conference extremely useful and informative, resulting in a number of collaborations and connections made.
The Project Officer, Dr. Ir. Matthijs Soede, European Commission DG Research and Innovation commented about the project for the Oceanera-Net Brochure which was handed out to each delegate:
“With pleasure I am writing this foreword for the brochure of¬†OCEANERA-NET Final Conference. That is because I see this conference as a great result of the work done by the OCEANERA-NET consortium coordinated by Scottish Enterprise. I have to mention here especially the coordinator Karen Fraser, who has put continuously her energy and enthusiasm in this network.
As European Commission we support (international) cooperation between different stakeholders having together the same goals. It is important to bring skills and knowledge together from different research organisations, universities and industries, but also from for instance governments, developers and regulators. This has been facilitated by the OCEANERA-NET consortium.
 In this consortium we have found a unique combination of governmental organisations from national and regional level in Europe willing to support collaborative research and development projects in the field of Ocean Energy. In the study ‘ lessons learned for ocean energy development’ which was finalised last year, one of the most important conclusions is that in the sector a change of behaviour towards embracing good practices and learning from past experiences is urgent. In this conference we will hear the results of the work supported by OCEANERA-NET and I hope that everybody will listen and learn, and will contribute to the discussions so that we all together support further developments in the ocean energy sector.
The project is maybe now finished, but the work for sure not. I am looking forward to a continued cooperation.”
Matthijs Soede
Brussels, January 2018
Presentations and a delegate list have been published on the event website for those who attended the conference. http://www.oen2018.eu/oen-conference-presentations-now-available/
For more information about the project, or conference, please contact Darren Hill, KTN at darren.hill@ktn-uk.org.