Archive for category: News

From 26-28 April 2023, the 31st Plenary Meeting took place in Azores, Portugal, where all partners of the project were gathered to review all work packages and discuss pending tasks that need to be completed towards the end of the project. This event was hosted by the partner Trisolaris Advanced Technologies. It was a momentous occasion for all those involved in the project, as it provided a unique opportunity to assess the progress made so far and to plan the next steps.

The event covered several key topics, including overall project management and coordination. The aim of this discussion was to ensure that all partners were aligned in terms of project timelines and pending deliverables. It was also an opportunity to identify areas where improvements could be made to achieve better outcomes.

Another important topic was the long-term view towards increasing the capacity of HEIs to better integrate regional innovation ecosystems. The participants discussed the implementation of institutional changes in a cooperative approach between the partners. The aim was to foster stronger partnerships between higher education institutions (HEIs) and regional stakeholders to promote innovation and entrepreneurship.

The support package on discovery, incubation, and acceleration with selected start-ups and SMEs from EU Outermost regions was also discussed. The participants explored ways to develop and implement effective support packages for these companies, which would help them to grow and contribute to the regional economy.

Finally, the upcoming events where INCORE will be present were discussed. These events will provide an opportunity for the project to showcase its achievements and to engage with stakeholders from across the involved outermost regions.

Overall, the event was a resounding success. It allowed all partners to come together, review progress made so far, and identify areas where improvements could be made. It was also an opportunity to strengthen partnerships between the partners to continue INCORE legacy beyond the EU funded period. We look forward to continuing our work towards fostering innovation and entrepreneurship in the EU Outermost regions!

The INCORE consortium met in La Reunión Island (France) on the week of 21-23 November 2022, with the purpose to fulfil the following milestones before starting the final semester of implementation: 1) the 2nd INCORE Regional Event (the 1st was in Madeira – Portugal, 2021); 2) 24rd Consortium meeting; and 3) Thematic workshops.

The first day of events happened on 21 November 2022, hosted by the partner École Supérieure d’Ingénieurs Réunion Océan Indien – ESIROI (Université de La Réunion). In this opportunity, external stakeholders from the island attended the open event to deliver high level presentations, including Ms. Rosanna West – EIT HEI Initiative Manager. In addition, the event counted with contributions from members of the Regional Council, companies, and representatives of local research & innovation initiatives.

The presentations and discussions were followed by a technical visit at ESIROI building and INCORE ESINOV spaces. After that, the meetings resumed with a roundtable to make an assessment of the past activities, and to provide guidance to proceed to next steps in the project.

The second day of meetings were dedicated to the consortium, for the 24th internal plenary meeting. In this opportunity the Work Package leaders presented their progress and future tasks, followed by feedback and discussions on how to align the work plan for the upcoming months, including the following topics:

• Coordination activities
• Training programmes for young entrepreneurs and start-ups
• Development of new modalities for HEI-SME cooperation
• Development of joint and individual actions for transformational change
• Communication and dissemination management

The final day started with Rosanna West, who conducted EIT HEI Initiative workshop and ecosystem, from which recommendations were collected. The next section was led by Dr. Oliver Schwabe, the leader of the Call for Start-ups and SMEs to receive high level mentoring from INCORE expertise. Finally, the intensive three-day sequence of meetings, roundtables and workshops was concluded with a technical visit to OLICA – followed by the closing ceremony.

The video below documents some highlights of this event, check it out!

On 7 – 9 June 2022 the EIT HEI Initiative organized a workshop dedicated to the projects partners, who had the opportunity to discuss challenges, share experiences and best-practices, as well as to co-find solutions for common problems in the projects.

In 2021 there was the HEI Co-Creation Workshop #1, which took place online on 27 – 28 October, and now the EIT HEI initiative conducted the second workshop of the series, covering the following domains:

• DOMAIN 1 – FOSTERING INSTITUTIONAL ENGAGEMENT AND CHANGE

• DOMAIN 2 – STRENGTHENING PARTNERSHIPS (KNOWLEDGE TRIANGLE INTEGRATION)

• DOMAIN 3 – CONTRIBUTION TO DEVELOPING INNOVATIONS AND BUSINESSES

• DOMAIN 4 – ENHANCING THE QUALITY OF INNOVATION AND ENTREPRENEURIAL EDUCATION

The structure of this high-level event was divided in two main sections:

1. At first, invited experts provided their views and presented success stories to inspire EIT HEI project partners in achieving their objectives.
2. Afterwards, the EIT HEI project partners were divided into breakout rooms to share experiences and find solutions to commonly identified problems, lead by an expert of EIT HEI Initiative who moderated the discussions.

Different representatives of the INCORE project divided the attendance of the workshop, matching the most appropriate work package leaders with the content area of each session in the event. It was a great opportunity to learn more about other projects, and to jointly build solutions and new ideas for the upcoming months.

INCORE is a project supported by EIT InnoEnergy | EIT HEI Initiative and, in January 2022, the Project Coordinator Nuno Almeida (Instituto Superior Técnico – IST) was invited by the HEI Programme Coordinator to conduct a written interview to highlight INCORE achievements. This initiative is named ‘Project Spotlight’, in which INCORE was selected (alongside three others) thanks to the great work that the consortium is performing is the past months.

Nuno received a questionnaire to describe several aspects, findings and impact of the project during Phase I, from which an article was elaborated and published by the HEI Programme communication personnel.

The article was published in 12 April 2022, covering several aspects about INCORE and its partners, such as:

• Nuno’s background and role in INCORE
• Goals
• Background
• The project and the EIT HEI Initiative
• Consortium
• Results
• Challenges
• 1st Open Event
• Future steps
• Highlights

Have a look at the full article at: 

The INCORE consortium had the first opportunity to meet in person to discuss the project progress, and the short to long term objectives. The host of the meeting was the partner Eduardo Leite – Universidade de Madeira (UMa), who organized the meeting and the venue at Colégio dos Jesuítas – Funchal, Madeira (Portugal). The three-day meeting was planned according to the following schedule:

• 9th November 2021: Welcome by UMa´s Dean and Vice Dean
• 10th November 2021: 8th INCORE Consortium Meeting
• 11th November 2021: 1st open INCORE regional event

On the first day of the meeting (09/11), the INCORE partners were welcomed by the dean and vice dean of Universidade da Madeira at the Rectory Meeting Room. After a brief introduction of the consortium, the Project Coordinator Nuno Almeida provided a short presentation about INCORE’s concept, background and objectives, emphasizing its positive impact in the entrepreneurship and innovation sectors in the EU Outermost Regions. The introduction of the project was well received by UMa’s dean and vice dean, who showed a strong support to the initiative.

The following day (10/11) was dedicated to the 8^th plenary meeting – exclusive to the INCORE partners. Plenary meetings have been held biweekly, online, and this was the first chance to conduct it in person. The task leaders related to Work Package 2 – Setting the Stage – presented the work progress and the produced deliverables that mapped the following topics:

1. Contextual analysis of the regional innovation environment
2. Institutional capacities and information exchange
3. Training and mentoring programmes to be developed in INCORE
4. Action Plan and Roadmap to implementation – towards Phase II of the project.

The third and last day of meetings (11/11) was organized as an open event, dedicated to UMa staff and students. This was a hybrid event held in the Courtyard Room I at Colégio dos Jesuítas (Universidade da Madeira), as well as online. The opening session was conducted by the vice dean of UMa, followed by the Project Coordinator Nuno Almeida, who provided a presentation about the project. After that, the next session titled “Innovation Capacity Building in EU’s ORs” counted with two invited guest speakers from Instituto Superior Técnico (IST) – who are now part of INCORE project – to provide insightful presentations on:

• Introduction to Entrepreneurial Dynamics and Social-Economic Impacts in ORs (Miguel Amaral)
• Requirements for Resilient Innovation Ecosystems in ORs (Oliver Schwabe)

The session was wrapped up with some questions from the audience, who demonstrated engagement and interest in deploying their entrepreneurial capacity in the Madeira Island. Our mentors already offered their support and follow up discussions with these students.

After intense meetings during these three days, the INCORE consortium reviewed the past and current progress of the tasks, and aligned the work plan for the upcoming months. In addition, it was an opportunity to develop team building activities, and strengthen the partnership within the project.