Sustainable growth the focus for University at West Midlands exhibition

Coventry University will be attending a conference in Birmingham on Tuesday 23rd April which showcases the work being undertaken all over Europe to encourage innovation and sustainable growth.

The conference will include presentations from the institution’s business partnership arm, Coventry University Enterprises (CUE) – which leads a number of European Regional Development Fund-supported initiatives pioneering sustainability – and from Professor David Bailey, who will talk about regional improvement in turbulent times.

CUE is the lead partner for the ‘Know-Eco’ project, which is part of the ERDF-funded District+ programme whose aim is to promote best practice from around Europe in areas such as innovation, sustainability and business growth.

Amongst the key Know-Eco project activities being showcased are those which focus on enhancing the uptake of eco-innovation in the construction and mobility sectors, and those which could help West Midlands businesses improve their performance in future EU funding programmes.

Lead project officer for Know-Eco, Sue Heath, said:

We are delighted to be representing Coventry at this prestigious conference. Our project aims to exchange experiences and good practice among our other regional partners to improve the effectiveness of policies that are approved in the areas of innovation, research and technological development.

By working together, our Know-Eco project will hopefully influence other European countries when it comes to good practices in eco-innovation in construction and transport, and in developing ways of working that are sustainable and practical. This work will be achieved through the delivery of the ‘implementation labs’ in each region that will explore the local policy context and include transnational partners in working sessions.

Coventry University Enterprises is working alongside other organisations in several European countries to link knowledge providers with enterprises to increase the development or uptake of eco-innovation products and services.

Sue Heath added:

Addressing these issues in the Know-Eco partner regions is particularly important given the synergy of these activities to existing and planned policy measures and the sustainable growth strategy for Europe 2020.

The conference on Tuesday 23rd April takes place at the Birmingham Science Park (8.30-11am) and is a free event, with tickets allocated on a first come, first served basis. More information is available online.

For further information, please contact Sue Heath, Institute of Applied Entrepreneurship, at sheath@cad.coventry.ac.uk.