5th BMBF Forum for Sustainability

Research for Sustainability - Driver for Innovation

hosting

12. European Roundtable on Sustainable Consumption and Production (erscp2008)

23 - 25 September 2008, ewerk, Berlin

Film project
"Research for Sustainability"

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(URL: http://www.fona.de/en/6063)

Berlin, 23/09/08. Today, Thomas Rachel, Parliamentary State Secretary to the German Federal Minister of Education and Research opened the conference "Research for Sustainability - Driver for Innovation" at the ewerk in Berlin. The aim of the conference is to strengthen the collaboration of politics, science and industry for the generation of sustainable innovation. More than 500 international experts will discuss the state of the art in research, the collaboration between politics, science and research communities as well as future research priorities.

At the conference Rachel met with high-level representatives from research policy from Poland, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary with whom the dialogue on sustainability research was started at the 4th BMBF Forum for Sustainability (L2L) in Leipzig in 2007. In Berlin it was agreed to intensify this groundbreaking collaboration.




Thomas Rachel, Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Minister of Education and Research, Germany

“Sustainability has to become the driver for innovations – in Germany, in Europe, throughout the whole world!“

“Our aim is to establish a sustainable, equitable and long-lasting research co-operation with the Central and Eastern European countries. Joint research, joint development – they will require a long-term commitment.“



Maria Elżbieta Orłowska, Secretary of State of Science and Higher Education, Poland

“We have to act together and work together if we want to face the large issue of sustainability.“

“There is still a long way to go but I am confident that this conference will be a starting point for closer co-operation.”“






Anton Anton, Secretary of State, Ministry of Education, Research and Youth, Romania

“We want to drag science down to the earth as quickly as possible.”

“The young generation is the driver of innovation.”











Vanja Dobreva, Vice minister of Education and Science, Bulgaria

“Why sustainability? Because it is a transition to an economy integrated with nature.”











Gyula Csopaki, President of the National Office for Research and Technology (NKTH), Hungary

“The results of this conference encourage us to be very optimistic about future co-operations.”








Miroslava Kopicová, 1st Vice-Chairman of the Research and Development Council, Czech Republic

“We need experts and we need politicians to face the challenge of sustainability.”



For the detailed conference programme please click here.

For pictures from the conference please click here.