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| WM partners out in force at ERRIN |
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West Midlands organisations were in Brussels this week for a workshop organised by the ERRIN Energy Working Group, jointly led by West Midlands in Europe, with over 40 practitioners from across Europe to discuss potential projects for next year’s Intelligent Energy call. Forty six project ideas were presented in a morning session and then small working groups were formed in the afternoon to brainstorm projects with partners. Five regional stakeholders – from the University of Wolverhampton, Walford & North Shropshire College, Greenfields Consulting and Caecus Limited - were able to present their project ideas and seek partners for projects, and West Midlands in Europe also presented projects for partners from the region who were unable to attend. The event was an excellent opportunity to both present projects, find partners and also benchmark and learn from other region’s activities in the renewable energy sector.
One of the projects presented, “Wolverhampton Warmer Homes” led by the University of Wolverhampton, which aims to develop a project to engage hard to reach groups to promote low carbon living, found a receptive audience and a project outline was discussed on the day with potential partners from France, Denmark, Flanders. This project has every chance of success as it also links to the 2010 year of Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion.
This networking seminar was an excellent example of productively using the ERRIN network, which now has over 70 regions, and joined-up working between EU Connects and West Midlands in Europe. EU Connects were able to stimulate regional interest, help develop the project ideas and encouraged practitioners to go to Brussels where they were supported on the day by West Midlands in Europe, who also represented those who were unable to travel.
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