Innovation is the cornerstone of the EU’s efforts to tackle major socio-economic and environmental challenges while leading Europe to its post-pandemic era. The EIT, dedicated to delivering concrete results to major EU policy priorities, wants to empower the new generation of innovators to not only maximise their potential but be an actual part of the EU’s response to those challenges.

On 23 June, the EIT Community joins the European Research and Innovation Days. R&I Days is the European Commission’s annual flagship Research and Innovation event, bringing together policymakers, researchers, entrepreneurs and the public to debate and shape the future of research and innovation in Europe and beyond.

Tomorrow at 13:15, the session will put in the spotlight EIT’s young pioneers in order to hear their personal experiences of how they went about realising their projects, as well as their thoughts on the impact the pandemic had in the R&I field and their activities. Furthermore, the session will highlight EIT’s unique ability in creating fully-fledged innovation ecosystems – literally from student to entrepreneur, and how it has been providing innovative Europeans with the tools necessary to kickstart companies with world-leading aspirations.

Speakers include Themis Christophidou, Director General of DG EAC; Eva Kaili, Member of the European Parliament, Chair of STOA, Panel for the Future of Science and Technology; Gary Lewis, CEO and Co-founder Recourcify; Kristaps Krafte, Founder and CEO of Vigo Health; Cristina Aleixendri Muñoz, COO & Co-founder at bound4blue. The EIT session will focus on the contribution of young people as the driving force behind positive change. The discussion – in the form of an “informal interview”- will reflect on young innovators’ ideas of how to help make EU fairer, more resilient, digital and green.

A new service that tackles the very heart of the waste problem

Resourcify aims to transform the waste management space by connecting waste producers and recyclers together to make recycling easy, fast and affordable. Since its creation, the company has grown to have over USD 25 million worth of waste contracts being managed via the platform. The start-up has raised EUR 4 million and works with clients like Johnson & Johnson and Bosch, among others. The start-up joined the EIT RawMaterials Community in 2016 as part of the Booster programme to bring the solution to market.

Europe’s eyes on raw materials

The world needs metals and minerals, but finding sites for new mines is getting more difficult. Copernicus, Europe’s satellite-based Earth observation programme, provides high-quality images that companies can use to spot mineral deposits and plan their extraction. To show the mining world what Copernicus can do, the RawMatCop project funds post-doc research, industrial placements and training.

RawMatCop project supported by EIT RawMaterials has been selected as one of the best most innovative projects and is included in the virtual exhibition. Explore more in the R&I Exhibition!