Europe guide to a better future

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EUROPEAN SPECIAL, JAN 2023

Tell us your big

ideas

The road to net

zero

Europe’s

guide to a

better future

JANUARY 2023 / 01

Welcome

Inside

“Great minds discuss ideas,”

Eleanor Roosevelt said.

And in this Innovators Magazine

special, produced in partnership

with the Knowledge4Innovation

(K4I) Forum in the European

Parliament, we bring you some

of the great ideas European

innovators are discussing on an

open access platform that has

been created by the K4I Forum.

These big ideas should give us a

real sense of optimism when we

think about the future, reminding

us that it is ours to create, through

our innovation and creativity.

And the online resource, aside

from posting brilliant ideas, is

asking everyone - from individuals

to corporations, to put forward

their own.

I hope you enjoy reading about

a few of them on these pages –

and that they inspire you to share

some of yours.

IAIN ROBERTSON

EDITOR

Thinking

differently

Marceline du Prie, talks

innovation priorities

05

A new age of

enlightenment?

Maria da Graça Carvalho,

MEP, on an ecosystem

bursting with ideas

03

Europe looks

to the future

Roland Strauss, K4I Founder,

on a continent ready to lead

07

50 Big ideas

Innovators share their

ideas for creating a better

world

08

Ideas

Showcase

WELCOME & CONTENTS

editorial@innovatorsmag.com

innovatorsmag.com

@innovatorsmag.com

@inside_ideas1.5

@insideideas

Innovators Magazine is a

onepoint5media publication

02 / JANUARY 2023

“The best way to have a good idea is to

have lots of ideas,” the double Nobel prize

winning scientist Linus Pauling once said.

Thankfully this is something Europe has

always being good at: generating great

ideas. They have shaped our amazing

continent and transformed the wider world.

And now, as we seek solutions to some

of the biggest challenges this planet has

ever faced, Europe is once again ready

to lead, with our ideas, our vision, and our

commitment to delivering the first climate-

neutral continent.

So, I am obviously delighted and truly

inspired by the number of game changing,

actionable ideas being added daily to the

European Innovation Area portal, created

by our Knowledge4Innovation (K4I) Forum in

the European Parliament to provide a home

for transformative and sustainable ideas -

some of which you can read about in this

magazine.

As Chair of the Forum, it gives me a huge

amount of pride to see groundbreaking

initiatives like this, brought to the fore by an

organisation that has been at the forefront

of Europe’s innovation landscape since

2008.

The influence of the K4I Forum is something

Mariya Gabriel, European Commissioner for

Innovation, recognised in her speech at the

Forum’s inaugural European Innovation Area

Summit last summer, when she said: “The

Knowledge4Innovation platform has served

the objective of providing the European

Parliament, the European Commission, and

Maria da Graça Carvalho, MEP

Chair of the Knowledge4Innovation Forum in the European Parliament

JANUARY 2023 / 03

the stakeholders group with the forum

for discussing innovation.”

These words, warmly welcomed

by everyone involved with the K4I

Forum, were delivered at what was

an historic moment for the EU, when

the Commission was unveiling its New

European Innovation Agenda.

The Agenda, a dynamic action plan

designed to realise the continent’s

twin digital and green transitions, has

got the potential to be the engine

room of the European Green Deal.

It sets out how it will make it easier

for startups to access funding, has a

target to train one million deep tech

pioneers - to help turn Europe into

the deep tech capital of the world –

and is prioritising support for women

innovators.

A great contribution to this agenda,

I am proud to say, comes from the

European Innovation Area (EIA)

Manifesto, which I had the pleasure of

helping develop with the Forum, other

K4I Forum political members, EIT KICs,

European Partnerships, universities,

and innovation support organisations.

Commissioner Gabriel acknowledged

this at the time of the Agenda’s

launch, when she said the EIA

Manifesto and its eight Focus areas

“had a major impact on the creation

of this new European Innovation

Agenda - and all eight are covered by

the new Agenda”.

One of the Manifesto Focus Areas the

Agenda is taking forward is the deep

tech opportunity, and I have been

extremely excited by what leaders in

this field have been sharing through

the Forum’s new online portal of open

access ideas.

Likewise, women innovators and

female-led startups - another of

the EIA Manifesto focus areas,

and integral to the Agenda, are

providing some of the most important

solutions. This is a space that is very

close to Commissioner Gabriel’s

heart, who says women innovators

are “responsible for some of the

most groundbreaking innovations

contributing to a more sustainable

future”.

The Commissioner has made it very

clear that she is on a mission to give

women innovators more of the tools

they need to succeed, so they can

“close the gender gap” which sees

“three quarters [of startups] still

founded by men” – an outcome she

says will be “good for growth and

good for our planet” – and she’s right.

Again, the Forum’s new online

ideas resource should be a source

of inspiration - not just for the

Commissioner, but for women

across the continent, as it shows

them spearheading a new era for

innovation in Europe.

I would like to add that the Forum has

long advocated for the establishment

of a European Innovation Area that

can better coordinate all these

ambitions. This approach is working

well now, as we see from the successes

enjoyed by the European Research

Area, and the European Education

Area: two streamlined ecosystems

generating real impact. We firmly

believe a pan-European innovation

ecosystem can do the same for

innovation. Because as you can see,

we have lots of good ideas that we

must jointly implement now.

EuroSpaceHub is the first European

digital platform to connect the Space

Academic, Researchers, Industry experts

and Startups to leverage Innovation.

If you are interested to be part

of the space and aviation innovation

ecosystem in Europe, please contact us

for a call to discuss your contribution.

WE ARE LOOKING

FOR PARTNERSHIPS!

WE ARE

YOUR LAUNCH PAD

TO THE AEROSPACE

ECOSYSTEM.

JANUARY 2023 / 05

I am honored to contribute to this

special edition of Innovators Magazine

and the many great ideas we have

been collecting as part of the European

Innovation Area Manifesto.

Innovation is a critical driver of economic

growth and social progress. At TU Delft,

we believe that innovation should be

guided by a set of principles that ensure

that it is inclusive, sustainable, and

benefits society as a whole. That is why

we support the K4I Manifesto, which

lays out our vision for responsible and

impactful innovation.

The K4I Manifesto is built on four pillars:

innovation for society, innovation for

sustainability, innovation for inclusivity,

and innovation for collaboration. These

pillars reflect our belief that innovation

should be guided by the needs of

society, and that it should be inclusive

and sustainable in order to benefit all

stakeholders.

We believe that innovation is not

just about creating new technology,

but also about creating new ways of

thinking and working. That is why we are

committed to fostering collaboration

between different sectors, disciplines,

and stakeholders. We believe that by

working together, we can achieve more

impactful and responsible innovation.

In this special edition of Innovators

magazine, we are excited to share

some of the innovative projects and

initiatives that are being developed at

TU Delft in line with the K4I Manifesto.

From synthetic cell research, sustainable

transportation solutions to inclusive

healthcare technologies, these projects

demonstrate the potential of responsible

and impactful innovation to make a

positive difference in the world.

We hope that this magazine will inspire

others to join us in our mission to create

a more inclusive, sustainable, and

collaborative innovation ecosystem.

Together, we can create a future that is

better for all.

Marceline du Prie

President, Knowledge4Innovation (K4I)

Director, European Affairs, TU Delft

EuroSpaceHub is the first European

digital platform to connect the Space

Academic, Researchers, Industry experts

and Startups to leverage Innovation.

If you are interested to be part

of the space and aviation innovation

ecosystem in Europe, please contact us

for a call to discuss your contribution.

IDEAS SHOWCASE

06 / JANUARY 2023

50

JANUARY 2023 / 07

IDEAS SHOWCASE

Ideas

Showcase

“In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity,”

is a quote often attributed to Albert

Einstein.

It could also quite easily be the slogan of

our times. The climate crisis, pandemic, and

political instability can sometimes appear

like all-consuming, intractable problems that

are pushing humanity to the brink. But in

the midst of all this chaos lies opportunity -

and in Europe we are grasping it with both

hands.

We can see this most vividly in the

innovative ideas we are producing, a

veritable conveyor belt of ingenuity that

views the future as something, not to fear,

but to be inspired by.

And I am very lucky to have a front row

seat to a lot of this activity, through the

impressive work being carried out by the

Knowledge4Innovation (K4I) Forum in the

European Parliament to catalyse some of

these big ideas.

One great example of this can be seen in

the amazing response we are getting to

our open call for actionable ideas that can

help give form to the eight focus areas,

of the European Innovation Areas (EIA)

Manifesto, developed by the Forum and

its extensive network of policymakers,

businesses, startups and academics.

The Manifesto, which European

Commissioner for Innovation, Mariya

Gabriel, said last year had been fully

integrated into the New European

Innovation Agenda, includes pillars

for capitalising on Europe’s deep tech

opportunities, regulating the more

questionable aspects of disruptive

technologies, financing new technologies,

moving from education to entrepreneurship,

and promoting women innovators.

It is a vision for the future of Europe that

is now coming to life through the limitless

ideas filtering through our open access

online EIA resource – some of which you

can learn more about in this magazine.

But you can do more than read about these

ideas, you can bring forward your own -

and take an active role in leading Europe

towards a climate-neutral future.

I trust the ideas on these pages - and the

many more online – will inspire you in the

same way they inspire me. Because what

they show is a Europe which understands

that “we can’t solve problems by using the

same kind of thinking we used when we

created them”, as Einstein opined.

Roland Strauss

Founder, Knowledge4Innovation (K4I)

See our website

for more

Current climate policy efforts are insufficient to keep the earth’s average temperature rise below 2 Celsius, let alone 1.5.

Resilient adaptation to global warming may well be insufficient and we need to consider cooling the earth by way of climate

engineering. The technologies for this are not ready for deployment and deeper scientific insights are required. Moreover, a

governance structure is needed taking into account ethical aspects of climate engineering. Deployment of climate engineering

technologies will bring about impacts that go across national borders so an international approach is required. The United

States has taken an initiative via DARPA. The European Union has not done so as yet. This may result in lagging behind in

understanding, despite the high probability that climate engineering may be of geo-political strategic interest to the European

Union.

In synthetic cell research scientists seek to understand how cells, and more broadly life, work by trying to replicate the cell

molecular mechanisms. Thanks to ERC funding and national initiatives, European scientists are world leaders in this field.

Building synthetic cells also promises revolutionary new technologies that will boost the green economy and strengthen Europe’s

sovereignty in Deep Tech. Technological applications will cover areas such as producing sustainable chemicals, making

materials that are 100% reusable or capable of self-repair, and harnessing CO2 as plants do. Research is progressing rapidly

worldwide; the United States and China, in particular, are investing heavily in this field. If Europe were to rely on synthetic

biology technologies from beyond its borders, this could lead to both potential dependence and economic loss. European

scientists working on synthetic cells need to join forces to upscale research, in collaboration with companies, in one coordinated

European Innovation Ecosystem and boost technology development in Europe. Financial support from the European Commission

is essential to realize this ecosystem, and to ensure Europe’s leadership in world-class, socially responsible and environmentally

sustainable technologies.

More impact is needed from the EU research programs in the real economy. From “Invented in Europe” we must turn the

excellent research results into “Made in Europe”. Commissioner Mariya Gabriel gives this boost to initiatives from networks

of Universities, Knowledge institutions and entrepreneurs all over Europe. The regions and cities must take a stronger enabling

position than ever before. Since 2008 K4I advocated for a better coordination among the EU instruments. From fragmentation

to integration. We supported the Smart Specialization Strategies, an obligation for all member states to make combined EU

investments a reality. Now we can create more impact from synergies between Horizon Europe and Cohesion Funds.

We see a growing interest all over the world in our results. The Organisation of American States (OAS), where I am in function

now, shows direct interest in our governance and Smart Specialization and we should strengthen cooperation with third

countries. The green and digital transitions show the need for more transatlantic cooperation. Let’s join forces!

01

Green Transition

HERMAN RUSSCHENBERG / TU DELFT

UNIVERSITY

02

Europe’s Deep

Tech Opportunity

STEFANIA USAI /TU DELFT

UNIVERSITY

03

Green Transition

LAMBERT NISTELROOIJ / FORMER MEP / K4I HONORARY PRESIDENT

INNOVATION (FUNDING) AGENCY

08 / JANUARY 2023

IDEAS SHOWCASE

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