The conference Spreading Excellence and Crossing the Innovation Divide will be organised during the Slovak presidency of the Council of the European Union in the second semester of 2016. The event will held in Brussels, Belgium. This conference takes place at an important point in time since the ex-post evaluation of the 7th Framework Programme will be completed and may thus contribute to the overall assessment and reflection on what has been achieved in the effort of the EU to reduce disparities among Member States in terms of performance. In addition, the interim evaluation of Horizon 2020 will be launched and discussions on the future Framework Programme will start to take shape. Furthermore, the first Widening projects under Teaming Twinning and ERA Chairs have started already in 2015 and some examples might be showcased. Among others, the event can follow the results and recommendations resulting from the conference “Young Scientists in Europe” organised during the Dutch presidency and at the same time add other insights. The overall objective of the conference is to provide a platform for stakeholders to have an in-depth discussion on the role of excellence in European research and innovation as well as opportunities presented through Horizon 2020 and ESIF for crossing the innovation gap between countries, regions, research institutions, universities, and enterprises.

The main objective of the project is the organization of the international conference 10th Year Anniversary SET Plan - Central European Energy Conference 2017. The 10th Year Anniversary SET Plan conference will be once again conjoined with the 11th annual Central European Energy Conference (CEEC 2017) and organised in Bratislava, Slovakia. The conference has an ambition to create a prestige international platform offering a floor for open discussion about the most important issues regarding current EU energy policy and research and innovation policy between relevant stakeholders. The conference will examine achievements in the implementation of the Energy Union with a special focus on the Low Mobility Package, State of Play of the negotiations of the 2016 Winter Packages, and the outcome of the 2017 Tour of Europe. In particular, the research and innovation achievements in Europe in the past 10 years that have supported the development of clean, sustainable, efficient and affordable energy technologies for low carbon energy systems in Europe. The conference will pay special attention to evaluation of the role of Central European member states, including their contribution to the implementation of the goals of the Energy Union and the Integrated SET-Plan. The conference will bring together researchers and policymakers from various member states, in particular, from the region of Central Europe, as well as a range of stakeholders from international organizations, research organisations, business, municipalities and civil society to encourage open debate around key energy issues. The program of the conference will consist of ten main panels, five parallel workshops held in a form of dinner sessions, poster session, and will also include side events.

The main objective of the project is the organization of the international conference “SET Plan 2016 - Central European Energy Conference X” during the presidency of the Slovak Republic in the second half of 2016. The SET Plan 2016 conference will be conjoined with the 10th annual Central European Energy Conference (CEEC X). The conference will aim to examine the process of accelerating the development and deployment of low-carbon technologies and creating the European Energy Union, focusing on the research and innovation strategy. Its ambition is to improve the visibility of the Strategic Energy Technology Plan and Energy Union, to identify policy options and priorities and to plan future actions. Based on that, the proposal stipulate these the main objectives of the SET Plan 2016 – Central European Energy Conference X: to examine achievements in the implementation of the Energy Union with a special focus on the role of its Research & Innovation dimension; to assess progress and evaluate the role of Central European member states in the implementation of the goals of the Energy Union within the other four priority dimensions of the Energy Union, including security of supply, creation of an integrated energy market, improving energy efficiency and reduction of emissions; to create a platform for a discussion, dialogue and networking for member states, civil society, business, science and academia, regional and local authorities and other stakeholders in the area of strategic energy technologies; to foster visibility and understanding of the Energy Union and the topic of Strategic Energy Technologies, and to disseminate information. Planned activities include plenaries and panel discussions with international keynote speaker, parallel thematic dinner sessions, side events, poster session and social events.

The main objective of the proposed conference REinEU2016 is to highlight and discuss the contribution of innovation to economic development in general, and the agenda of re-industrialisation in particular. Picking up on discussions at similar events during Luxembourg and the Dutch Presidency, our event will focus on the synergistic topic of the role of innovation in more traditional industries, and its effect on competitiveness. Based on that, the proposal stipulates three general objectives: developing expert discussion on the role of innovation in re-industrialisation, focusing on the intersection between novel technologies, approaches, etc. and traditional industries; contributing to better policy making in the areas of innovation support and industrial policies by providing evidence-based inputs, and feed-back from a wide range of stakeholders; and helping to widen the participation in Horizon 2020 and other actions, aimed at supporting innovation, especially by research institutions and companies from the Danube region and Poland, including non-EU countries participating in the Danube Strategy. Planned activities include plenaries and panel discussions with international keynote speakers, parallel thematic sessions, workshops and seminars, matchmaking for SMEs and research institutions, exhibitions of innovative companies, successful R&I projects and excellent research institutions, and public outreach activities, supported by a robust communication campaign.