From January 8 to 10, 2024, the first team meeting took place in Budapest (Hungary) within the framework of the project "Co-creating more connected ecosystems towards European innovation (WEnnovate)", funded by the European Union under grant agreement No. 101134909.
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Representatives of the UAC took part in the first project launch meeting as a member of the project team, made a presentation of the developed methodology and moderated its further discussion.
Natalia Garashchenko is the Head of the Training and Innovation Laboratory of the STC of the UAC:
"It was very interesting to listen to the presentations of the energy reviews in each country, but they can be summarized in one thesis: the project should focus on local energy. For their part, the foreign partners were impressed by the pace of modernization of the Ukrainian regulatory framework, which we presented in the context of the review of our energy system, and noted that they have a lot to learn from Ukraine."
Volodymyr Nochvay is the Head of the Open Innovation Lab at KAU:
"In this project, we will be interested in innovative startups both as consumers and as providers of services and solutions for communities of different levels related to energy. These can be any alternative energy sources, but with a focus on local level networks. We will be happy to cooperate with individual cases and support them in scaling up through consultations and consortium partners. The project consortium consists of a group of professionals who have a good understanding of the priorities and trends in the EU energy sector."
We are proud to be a part of the consortium and lead the project to success. In cooperation with our partners - Sustainable Scale-up Foundation, G-Force, Ukrainian Startup Fund, and Unify Energy - our goal is to make clean energy accessible to every European.
By supporting local energy communities and promoting the sharing of energy, we envision a future where sustainable practices are not just a choice, but a shared responsibility.
Here is a brief overview of our 3-day workshop:
Day 1: We delved into the energy situation in each participating country, gaining a comprehensive understanding of the task structure.
Day 2: Deepening our commitment, we held a workshop to articulate common goals, discuss differences, and identify stakeholders critical to our mission. We also learned the methodology of the baseline study.
Day 3: The last day was devoted to the workshop "Utilizing, Disseminating and Evaluating Knowledge". We clarified these concepts and reflected on how each organization can use the project results in their own services and operations.
This joint work is more than just a project; it is a commitment to contribute to positive changes in the European energy landscape.