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TIMREX Steering Commitee Meeting, 27-28 June 2024, Wroclaw, Poland

La Palma Research Centre joined the TIMREX consortium in Wroclaw, Poland, on the 27-28 June 2024, as part of the project’s yearly Steering Committee meeting. This event was hosted by the partner Wroclaw University of Science and Technology.

The meeting began with welcome words and practicalities, followed by the overview of the agenda and the objectives of the meeting. After that, all partners engaged in discussions about administrative topics and workplan with regards to the different components of the TIMREX programme. The latest editions of the Summer School and Applied Field Exploration course were presented, including the feedback provided by the participating students, followed by discussions on how to improve these actions for next students. The Exploration entrepreneurship course, a strong entrepreneurial component of TIMREX programme, was also presented.

After that, the partners overviewed the thesis topics of the students and their internship activities as TIMREX students. The purpose of this section was to monitor the academic progress of the students, and to plan the necessary actions to fulfill the objectives of the study programme. LPRC presented the work done on Communication and Dissemination matters and how the efforts are helping the project.

Finally, the partners engaged in discussing the targets to be met in the near future and to assess the possibilities to extend the partnership for additional years.

LPRC gives RaVeN students the “Business training and general trends in the raw materials value chain” course

Last week the LPRC team went to Krakow, Poland, to provide a course for the  EIT-Labelled RaVeN Master’s at AGH University of Science and Technology. The course, which was provided during the 20 and 21 November, was entitled “Business training and general trends in the raw materials value chain”.

During the two days of the course, students listened to lectures and took part in seminars that provided fundamental knowledge and practical skills that young entrepreneurs and innovators must possess. Students also obtained knowledge on future trends and scenarios of the raw materials value chain, allowing them to scan and think ahead for innovative solutions.

To complement their theoretical learning, the MSc students implemented their gained knowledge on practical exercises, drafting lean canvases, outlining business plans and giving their first business pitches based on their own business ideas.

The LPRC team enjoyed the experience and would like to wish all the best to the RaVeN – Raw Materials Value Chain Master’s course!

LPRC presents itself to the TIMREX MSc programme students

La Palma Research Centre (LPRC) was present at an event to introduce the non-academic partners to the students of the TIMREX MSc programme. The Partner Introductory Event was an opportunity for students to learn about the activities and added value from industry partners in TIMREX with regards to innovations in mineral exploration and the opportunities for students to join their activities.

LPRC presented the company, its mission and vision for the geosciences and sustainable development. The presentation then focused on the TIMREX work on mapping Innovation and Entrepreneurship-related skills and competencies, how these are considered in TIMREX and how students can benefit from acquiring certain skills for professional and personal development alike. The title of the presentation was “Defining future skills and competencies needs for the raw materials sector”.

Work will continue with the integration in the TIMREX curricula of means to deliver the selected skills and competencies.

 

LPRC joins the INCORE meeting in La Reunion

The INCORE partners met in the Island of La Reunión (France) on the 21-23 November 2022. LPRC was present there contributing to the representativenes of the Canary Islands as an Outermost Region – which is one of the company’s main missions.

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. In addition, the event counted with contributions from members of the Regional Council, companies, and representatives of local research & innovation initiatives. A roundtable discussion on the INCORE project, Innovation and Entrepeurship completed the day.

The second day of meetings was dedicated to consortium’s discussions. Here, the Work Package leaders presented the progress and future tasks of their work, 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 (lead by LPRC)

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.

Follow the INCORE project news on the website and social media channels for more information on how the project is changing Innovation and Entrepreneurship in the Outermost Regions!

RaVeN Project Kick-Off meeting, Krakow, October 2022

The RaVeN project – a new EIT RawMaterials project in which LPRC takes part – had its Kick-Off meeting in Krakow, Poland in on the 17 and 18 October. This was the first time that project partners got together to discuss the implementation of the project, with special emphasis on the EIT Label that RaVeN applied for its Master’s programme.

RaVeN is a new two-year M.Sc. degree scheme that take into account a wide geographical spectrum, diversification and needs of social inclusion, and builds the capacity of higher education in the RIS and ESEE regions. Its main strength is its innovative approach to teaching along the raw materials value chain through the involvement of non-academic experts, mobility exchanges, industry and start-ups to support the learning process.

The meeting agenda included discussions on Management and project coordination, the EIT Label process and next steps, Students recruitment, Didatics, Summer School, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, and, finally, Dissemination and Communication. LPRC leads the last of these Work Packages, but also contributes to some other Work Packages and Tasks.

As part of the its work until now, LPRC has been drafting a few communication and dissemination tools (website, social media, banner, etc) and the overall strategy that will help with the recruitment of students for this Master’s Programme on the Raw Materials Value Chain.

Follow the project on its website and social media for more information!

TIMREX Steering Committee meeting, Zagreb, October 2022

LPRC took part in the most recent TIMREX project meeting, which brought the partners together for discussions on the project objectives and activities, in Zagreb, Croatia, on the 3 and 4 of October.

The meeting agenda included discussions on Summary of the EIT label application and labelling process, the Joint curriculum, the Role of the Exploration entrepreneurship course, the Innovation and entrepreneurship development, the Curriculum development towards Lighthouse targets , the Pilot Cohort, the project Homepage and Promo video. From LPRC, Luís Lopes presented the company’s work on Innovation and Entrepreneuship skills and competencies for the Masters programme, while Márcio Tameirão presented the work on the project homepage and planned video, and the Roadmap for 2022 KPIs, deliverables and preparation for 2023 tasks.

LPRC will continue to lead and implement work on both the Innovation and Entrepreneurship skills and competencies development and work on the project’s communication and dissemination actions.

Follow the project on its website and social media for more information!

LPRC was in the Madeira Island for the first in person INCORE meeting

After a few months of online collaboration, the INCORE consortium had the first opportunity to meet in person to discuss the project progress in the Madeira Island between 9 and 11 November 2021. LPRC members Luís Lopes and Márcio Tameirão were in this Outermost Region island not only to help define next activities and steps but also to bring coordination to the communication and dissemination efforts of the project.

The three-day meeting was planned according to the following schedule:

  1. 9th November 2021: Welcome by Univerirsity of Madeira´s Dean and Vice Dean: brief introduction of the consortium, 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.
  2. 10th November 2021: 8th INCORE Consortium Meeting: The task leaders related to Work Package 2 – Setting the Stage – presented the work progress and the produced deliverables that mapped topics on Contextual analysis of the regional innovation environment, Institutional capacities and information exchange, Training and mentoring programmes to be developed in INCORE and the Action Plan and Roadmap to implementation.
  3. 11th November 2021: 1st open INCORE regional event: a hybrid event held in 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 Outermost Regions” counted with two invited guest speakers:
    • Introduction to Entrepreneurial Dynamics and Social-Economic Impacts in ORs (Miguel Amaral)
    • Requirements for Resilient Innovation Ecosystems in ORs (Oliver Schwabe)

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.

Follow the project on the website and social media!

INCORE 2nd project meeting

Following the first official Kick-off meeting, the INCORE team held another meeting on the 8th of September to discuss and analyse the project implementation, with EIT InnoEnergy, the entity responsible for the funding.

In this occasion, the agenda focused on three main points: 1) administrative and financial reporting of the partners’ activities (WP1 – Project Management), 2) on how to implement the tasks of WP2 – Setting the stage, in order to meet the proposed KPIs which include training and mentoring of students, staff and non-staff members of the targeted Outermost Regions, and 3) the communication and outreach measures to boost the project impact.

LPRC presented its ideas for the implementation of the communication activities. These included the creation and set up of the website, social media channels, logo and templates for the project and will be followed with the creation of the Communication and Dissemination Plan and all the outreach materials.

The INCORE team during the 2nd meeting.

Follow the project website and Social Media channels (@incore_eu) to learn more on how we are connecting the Outermost Regions to support Innovation and Entrepreneurship!

INCORE Project Kick-off

The most recent collaborative project in LPRC’s portfolioINCORE – held its Kick-off meeting online on the 17th of August, to start discussions on the implementation pathways for the project. INCORE is one of the 23 projects selected under the recent Cross-KIC call for Higher Education Institutions Innovation and Entrepreneurship development. The project aims to boost innovation and entrepreneurial capacity in higher education institutions in Europe’s Outermost Regions by seizing region-specific contextual and business opportunities.

The project represents a collaborative approach between four regions – Madeira and Azores (Portugal), Canary Islands (Spain) and La Reunion (France) – involving different actors from the Knowledge Triangle including education, research and industry partners (such as LPRC). The project is, however, driven by the HEIs from Madeira, Canarias and La Reunion, and these are supported by IST (Lisbon). The partnership includes:

  • Instituto Superior Técnico (HEI, Portugal)
  • Université de La Reunion (HEI, France)
  • Universidade da Madeira (HEI, Portugal)
  • Universidad Europea de Canárias (HEI, Spain)
  • Universidade da Madeira (HEI, Portugal)
  • La Palma Research Centre (SME/Research, Spain)
  • Trisolaris Advanced Technologies (SME, Portugal)

INCORE is divided in 4 WPs – Project Management, Setting the Stage, Action, Communication, Dissemination and Outreach. LPRC is leading the communication efforts, but also support the implementation of the work within the other WPs. The agenda of the Kick-off meeting included presentations and discussions on all of the future actions. From LPRC, Márcio Tameirão presented the vision for WP4 outreach activities.

Check the project website and Social Media channels (@incore_eu) to learn more about the project!