About 200 people took part in the two-day conference organized by the Regional University Network-European University (RUN-EU) consurtium and held at Széchenyi István University. The aim of the programme was to discuss common development strategies, action plans and formulate proposals that contribute to the management of regional, national and European level mechanisms for, digital transformation and environmental sustainability, supporting the realization of a circular economy.
Mr Simon Geraghty, Vice-President of the Irish Unilever Prestige, and Mr Bouwe de Boer, project leader of the Friends of Fossil Friesland’s project, focused on digital transformation and environmental sustainability, as well as corporate and settlement challenges and opportunities related to their specific geographical areas.
Szechenyi University’s department of Vehicle Production Studies head Dr. János Jóvai presented the institution’s developments and collaborations related to automotive research, while Krecht Rudolf, the founder of the SentryNode Robotics startup company, spoke about the potential of university-company cooperation and the role of innovative solutions in sustainability.
The Food and Bioeconomy Center thematic workshop was led by Annuka Pakarinen, research director at the Finnish HAMK University. Further presentations to the conference participants included that Dr. Professor Amanda László Palkovics head of the Department of Plant sciences at the Széchenyi István University, where she discussed the institution’s research related to food sciences and bioeconomy, and that of dr. Attila Kovács, head of the Department of Biological Systems and Food Industry Technology, who reiterated the university’s precision agriculture projects and its Smart Farm Educational programme. In connection to precision farming, Tamás Bori, the company’s international sales director, presented the ABZ Drone, he outlined the potential of drone technology and its role in sustainable agricultural production.
Also, during the conference, the Center for Social Innovations workshop was directed by Ms Ellen de Bruin, head of the social work group at NHL Stenden University in Netherlands.
The first day of the two-day event ended with a round table discussion, where the participants discussed regional, national and European level enabling mechanisms, the challenges and opportunities associated with digital transformation and issues related to the management of environmental sustainability.
Three presentation took place on the closing day. The first being Dr. Tibor Dőry, head of the Széchenyi University’s Management Campus Competence Center regarding, the university’s innovation ecosystem, the second held by dr. Szabolcs Rámháp, the head of the Startup Center, explaining the university startup and spinoff programs, while Gergely Mészáros, the Hungary’s initial contact person for the Eurostars and Eureka programs, both being supervised by the National Research, Development and Innovation Office, detailed the application process and the multiple opportunities related to these programs.
A special not of appreciation to the event’s organizer dr. Petra Szakonyi, assistant professor at Széchenyi University, who took on this major role; and also for the support from the European Union and RUN-EU, without, all the event could not have been realized.