ESEIA Celebrates 15 Years of Sustainable Energy Innovation and Collaboration
ESEIA marked its 15th Anniversary with a grand celebration held on 19 November 2024 at the prestigious Fondation Universitaire in Brussels. This milestone event provided a unique platform for members to reconnect, reflect on past achievements, and discuss the vision for the next decade of ESEIA’s journey.
The celebration brought together 50 key stakeholders, including representatives from the European Commission, ESEIA members, and partners, to honor 15 years of impactful work in sustainable energy innovation.
The evening program was rich with highlights, including:
- 15 Years of Impact presented by ESEIA Director and Co-Founder Brigitte Hasewend, showcasing the alliance’s remarkable achievements and contributions to sustainable energy innovation.
- A Panel Discussion on sustaining ESEIA’s effectiveness in addressing the challenges of the energy transition and climate neutrality.
- The celebration of the 2023 ESEIA Awardees, recognizing their dedication and outstanding contributions to the alliance’s mission.
- The ceremonial cutting of the anniversary cake, symbolizes the unity and shared success of ESEIA’s members and partners.
A Strong Alliance
In the past 15 years ESEIA is proud to have built a strong reliable network of members and partners. ESEIA had 28 member organisations on average in 15 countries. 64 member organisations, one third from business, paid 1,2 Mio € in membership fees. ESEIA funds 5 Working Groups and 7 Focus Groups with 300 active experts from all fields of the energy system. In addition, ESEIA has worked with 300 partner organisations from all EU countries and from abroad, one third from business, industry, and public agencies, two thirds from higher education and research organisations.
R&I Coverage
ESEIA covers the entire innovation ecosystem. As such ESEIA spots R&I gaps in a wide range of fields including in circular economy, bioresource utilization, sustainable urban regions, smart mobility, sustainable built environment, advanced computing, smart grid services, new business models, sustainable governance and legal frameworks, as well as education and training.
- Firstly, over the past 15 years, ESEIA has led sustainable energy research and innovation with 15 EC funded R&I projects for a total of 17.7 Mio € of which more than half for external partners. The ESEIA success rate is 25% overall and even higher in strategic projects.
- The second major impact was created by training 1,750 students and professionals in 42 ESEIA training courses.
- Thirdly, global projects like EMERGE have extended ESEIA’s impact beyond Europe by diffusing knowledge, exporting best practice, and enabling market access to 150 partners outside Europe.
Vision for the Future: The event also served as a launchpad for ESEIA’s future strategy. ESEIA Vice-President Teresa Ponce de Leão from LNEG, PT delivered a keynote address outlining a bold vision for the next decade, focusing on continued innovation in renewable energy, the expansion of ESEIA’s international network, and deeper collaboration with policymakers to drive the EU’s climate agenda forward. She also referred to the ESEIA FP10 Position Paper published in the spring of 2024 advocating thematic priorities in the upcoming European Commission’s Framework Programme 10 (FP10), reinforcing ESEIA’s commitment to guiding EU policy in alignment with Green Deal objectives.
Networking and Collaboration: Attendees, including industry leaders, researchers, and policymakers from the European Commission, had the opportunity to network and discuss future collaborations. The event concluded with a celebratory dinner and entertainment, fostering a renewed sense of community among ESEIA members.
To relive the highlights of ESEIA’s 15-year journey, we invite you to download the 15-Year Anniversary Photo Book. We encourage all members to share the press release across their media networks to amplify its reach and celebrate our collective success.
Contact: office@eseia.eu
