"Towards a Green Future: European Green Deal" International Project Market Event was held in the capital of Belgium. It was organized by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye (TÜBİTAK) on 16 November 2023, under the auspices of the Minister of Industry and Technology Mehmet Fatih KACIR. With the participation of the Permanent Representative of the Republic of Türkiye to the European Union, Ambassador Faruk KAYMAKCI and TÜBİTAK President Prof. Dr. Hasan MANDAL, European Commission Deputy Director General for Research and Innovation Signe RATSO, and researchers and industry representatives from Europe and Türkiye.
The event took place within the framework of the Türkiye in H2020 Phase II IPA Project, which is co-financed by the European Union and the Republic of Türkiye and of which TÜBİTAK is the main beneficiary.
“We believe that green transformation offers important opportunities for collaboration.”
Speaking at the event, Industry and Minister of Technology Mehmet Fatih KACIR stated green growth technology roadmap studies have been carried out for sectors such as iron and steel, aluminium, cement, chemistry, plastic and fertilizer, and that these roadmaps will determine the best available techniques and new and cleaner production technologies to reduce emissions.
Pointing out relations adapted with international financial institutions to meet the targets specified in the action plan, KACIR explained that they cooperated with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in 3 separate projects in order to develop road maps for the low-carbon transformation of the steel, aluminium and cement sectors.
Türkiye Green Industry Project
Minister KACIR stated that they plan to launch a similar project with EBRD in the field of fertilizer, another important sector within the scope of the Border Carbon Regulation Mechanism, soon.
Türkiye Green project with the World Bank to advance the green transformation of Turkish industry Stating that they launched the Industrial Project, Minister KACIR said that another collaboration with the World Bank was to focus on the development of organized industrial zones in Türkiye, increasing their efficiency, environmental sustainability and competitiveness, and that a total of 750 million dollars was provided for these two programs.
Minister Kacır stated that within the scope of the 2014-2020 Horizon 2020 Program, stakeholders in Türkiye contributed 296 million Euros to the R&D and innovation ecosystem by participating in 958 innovation projects, and especially the number of multi-partner projects led by Türkiye increased from 7 to 36.
Pointing out that Türkiye is also included in the Digital Europe Program with its experience, digital expertise and knowledge gained in the implementation of framework programs, KACIR said, "The Digital Europe Program will pave the way for new paths in our integration with the EU economy and society."
“Horizon Europe Program is very important for EU-Türkiye relations."
Ambassador Faruk KAYMAKCI, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Türkiye to the European Union, underlined that Türkiye's success in Horizon Europe constitutes a very important area of cooperation in our country's EU membership process, and that new collaborations that will emerge through such events will further consolidate this process.
The Importance of the Green Deal and Horizon Europe Program for Türkiye
In her speech, Deputy Director General of Research and Innovation of the European Commission, Signe RATSO, emphasized the success of our country in the EU Framework Programs in recent years and stated that the green agreement targets, which focus on durability and sustainability, are important for Türkiye, especially in post-earthquake restructuring. RATSO stated that the Horizon Europe Program calls offer many opportunities to researchers and the private sector in this context.
“We Design a Greener and More Sustainable Future Together”
TÜBİTAK President Prof.Dr. Hasan MANDAL, in his speech, said, “We design a greener and more sustainable future together.”
In 4 years after the international project market event titled "Cities of the Future" organized by TÜBİTAK in Brussels on November 8, 2019, with the pandemic process added to the challenges experienced at the global level such as food security, climate change and energy problems, these global challenges have become more variable, underlining that the world has become dynamic and complex, MANDAL said, "The role of the scientific world in combating difficulties has evolved from how to solve them rather than presenting them. Prof. Dr. MANDAL said, “In parallel with the developments, the TARAL (Turkish Research Area) ecosystem has also transformed, become closer to the European Research Area, and within the framework of this new mission of the scientific world, our stakeholders have moved towards a process where they learn from each other, develop and work together on the basis of platforms from a project-oriented perspective. "
“From 300 more researchers, over 1000 interviews.”
Stating that the event being held today will be an extremely important platform for revealing the approaches that the scientific world will develop in the face of global challenges, Prof. MANDAL stated that the foundations of future scientific and technological collaborations will be laid with over 1000 bilateral meetings held by more than 350 researchers participating in the event.
TÜBİTAK President MANDAL held bilateral meetings within the scope of the meeting. MANDAL held a meeting with Alina IVANOVA, EU Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, and exchanged views on the integration of the Turkish Research Area into the European Research Area and the development of collaborations within the scope of the Horizon Europe Programme.
Afterwards, MANDAL, who had a productive meeting with European Research Area and Innovation Director Anna PANAGOPOULOU in Brussels, said, "At the meeting, our country's Horizon Europe European Innovation Council and we held consultations to benefit more from the SME Executive Agency program. "We welcomed Anna PANAGOPOULO's requests to increase cooperation opportunities with the EIC within the framework of the EUREKA Program, of which Türkiye currently holds the term presidency, and her intention to participate in the EUREKA events to be held in Türkiye in the coming period." made his assessment.
Later, Chips Partnership Director Prof. Dr. MANDAL, who had a meeting with Jari KINARET, said, “In the meeting we held, it was planned to create a durable supply chain that will replace the Key Digital Technologies (KDT) Joint Venture as of next May and that supports all processes from research to production and moves together with the processes. In the Chips Partnership, which will be a new set of incentives for the chip industry, we expressed our wishes for the continuation of our successes in the KDT Partnership in this new partnership. "We had the opportunity to explain our country's developments in the electronics industry."
This prestigious event, which lasted for one full day, offered the scientific and technological skills, interests and knowledge of more than 350 participants through rich workshop programs integrated with the goals of the Green Deal within the scope of the 'R&D and Innovation Drive' that will serve the national 2053 net zero emission target. It gave them the opportunity to showcase their ideas.
Participants came together in 4 different thematic workshops throughout the program.
€556 million to achieve Green Deal targets in the areas of Climate, Energy and Mobility
The first workshop - Within the scope of Horizon Europe Program Cluster 5 within the scope of Energy and Mobility, discussions were held on a total of 35 topics worth 556 million Euros to achieve the Green Deal targets, focusing on the Climate, Energy and Mobility 2024 calls. At Workshop 1, attended by more than 70 people, the European Commission Research and Innovation Directorate participated in the Urban and Mobility of the Future Ludger ROGGE, who works in the Systems unit, and Piero DE BONIS, who works in the Transition to Clean Energy unit of the European Commission Research and Innovation Directorate, shared information about the structure of Cluster 5, its strategic goals and the 2024 energy and mobility call topics.
Project ideas were presented by representatives of 37 different institutions and organizations from Türkiye and Europe in informative presentations at the workshop, which attracted great interest from the participants; Demands and expectations for possible collaborations were put forward. In the presentations, new generation batteries; sustainable, safe and competitive energy supply; R&D and innovation issues regarding efficient, sustainable and inclusive energy use, and calls for zero-emission road, maritime and air vehicles were discussed.
€353 million to achieve Green Deal targets in the areas of Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Environment and Agriculture
Second Workshop - Horizon Europe Program Cluster 6 Food, Bioeconomy, Within the scope of the Natural Resources, Environment and Agriculture 2024 call, discussions were held on 35 topics in total for a total of 353 million Euros to achieve the Green Deal targets. In the workshop in question, informative and detailed presentations were made by Mr. Luis VIVAS-ALLEGRE, Sector Manager of the European Commission's General Directorate of Agriculture, and Mr. Manfred ROSENSTOCK, Unit Manager of the General Directorate of Environment, and the questions of the participants were answered. Subsequently, project ideas were presented by representatives of 28 different institutions and organizations from Türkiye and Europe; Demands and expectations for possible collaborations were put forward.
More than 80 stakeholders from the private sector, universities, R&D centers, public institutions and organizations and NGOs attended the relevant workshop. The session included topics such as circular solutions in sectors prioritized in the EU Circular Economy Action Plan such as textiles, plastics and electronics, the environmental impact of food systems, and monitoring of bio-based products with digital systems. In line with the Common Agricultural Policy and Food 2030 targets, R&D and innovation issues for alternative protein sources, organic agriculture, microbiome studies, digitalization in agriculture, fisheries and aquaculture, and healthy food products and processes were discussed. The session, which was welcomed by European Commission officials and all participants, was closed with good wishes after questions and answers.
€961.6 million to achieve Green Deal targets in the areas of Digital, Industrial and Space and Research Infrastructures
Third Workshop - Within the scope of Industrial, Digital and Research Infrastructures, within the scope of Horizon Europe Program Cluster 4, discussions were held on 33 topics in total, with a total of 961.6 million Euros, to achieve the Green Deal targets, focusing on the 2024 calls for Digital, Industrial and Space and Research Infrastructures. European Commission Research and Innovation Directorate Industrial Technologies Unit attended Workshop 3, where more than 50 people participated. Deputy Head of Unit Nicholas DELİYANAKİS and Policy Officer Garbiñe Guiu ETXEBERRIA, who works in the Industrial Transformation unit of the European Commission Research and Innovation Directorate, shared information about the structure of Cluster 4, its strategic goals and the industry and digital call issues of 2024.
At the workshop, project ideas were presented by representatives of 21 different institutions and organizations from Türkiye and Europe; Demands and expectations for possible collaborations were put forward. In this context, R&D and innovation-oriented cooperation opportunities regarding twin transformation, building a competitive, digital, low-carbon and circular industry, ensuring sustainable raw material supply, calls for advanced materials, data pools, robotics and artificial intelligence were shared with the participants.
€134 million to achieve the Green Deal targets in the areas of Culture, Creativity and Inclusive Societies
Fourth Workshop - Horizon Europe Program Cluster within the scope of Integration of Social Sciences into the Green Deal 2: Culture, Creativity and Inclusive Societies Focusing on the 2024 calls, discussions were held on 12 topics in total for a total of 134 million Euros to achieve the Green Deal targets. At Workshop 4, where more than 30 people participated, European Commission Research and Innovation Directorate General Directorate of Employment, Social Affairs and Participation Research Group Manager Dr. Simone ROMASI shared information about the structure, goals and 2024 call titles of Cluster 2.
Increasing democratic governance and citizen participation, promoting and protecting cultural heritage, facilitating adaptation to multifaceted social, economic, technological and cultural transformations, mobilizing European expertise in the social sciences and humanities and evidence-based policy for a socially just and inclusive European recovery After ROSİNİ gave the details of the call on the development of options, 17 different stakeholders presented project ideas. was carried out. 10 of the presentations, each lasting approximately 10 minutes, were given by researchers based outside Türkiye (United Kingdom, Spain, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Belgium, Serbia, Germany, Italy, Greece), and question-answer opportunities on potential consortiums were provided during the presentations.
Following the workshops, European and Turkish stakeholders held one-to-one meetings according to meeting hours previously arranged online. Within the scope of the event, 130 foreign researchers or private sector representatives from 37 different countries had the opportunity to meet one-to-one with 227 Turkish Research Area representatives from Türkiye on developing sustainable cooperation and evaluating opportunities to participate in projects. Participants arranged these meetings and determined personal meeting schedules before the event through an online program. It was organized around 100 meeting tables within the scope of a special layout prepared in the event hall. The participants gathered held more than 1000 face-to-face meetings. During these bilateral meetings, public and private sector representatives from Türkiye exchanged views with their European stakeholders about initiatives and joint project opportunities regarding the call topics in the Horizon Europe Program. At the end of the one-to-one meetings, a reception was held that brought together the researchers and paved the way for the exchange of ideas.
"Towards a Green Future: European Green Deal"
With the Green Deal, the European Union puts forward a new strategic vision for 2050 with the perspective of "fighting climate change and economic growth". Consensus; It contains regulations that concern almost all sectors under headings such as industry, energy, transportation, biodiversity, environment, food and urbanization. Within the scope of the agreement, the "Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism" implemented by preserving the competitiveness of the EU industry, which has come under additional financial liability due to climate change targets. is planned to be passed. It is expected that the Memorandum in question will serve the transformation of the EU industry by 2050, within the framework of the "Climate-Neutral Europe" target. This Agreement aims to protect European Union producers from the disadvantages brought about by the obligations they impose due to climate change policies.
24.11.2023