EC Workshop on Safe and Sustainable Smart Nanomaterials - Virtual Event!

The European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) and the Directorate-General for Research and Innovation (RTD) will jointly organise a Workshop on Safe and Sustainable Smart Nanomaterials in Ispra (Italy).

The workshop is focused on smart (responsive, multi-functional) nanomaterials, as such or embedded in products, which are developed for application in industrial sectors such as agriculture, food, packaging and cosmetics.

In general, the workshop aims at facilitating the exchange of information on functionality, safety, sustainability and legislative aspects of smart nanomaterials among developers, scientists and regulators.

Background

The European Green Deal is one of the main priorities of the European Commission. It aims for a climate-neutral, zero-pollution, sustainable, circular and inclusive economy.

This challenging strategy will be an important catalyst for research, development and innovation as it will stimulate manufacturers to design new materials and products in a way that their safety, lifetime and potential for reuse and recycling is maximised.

It also aims to reduce the adverse effects on human health and the environment, lessen demand for finite resources, create less waste and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Safe-by-Design and Regulatory Preparedness are fundamental to promote the development of new materials that are safe and sustainable and, at the same time, ensure a robust but flexible regulatory framework able to keep pace with innovation.

Smart (responsive, multi-functional) nanomaterials represent a promising category of materials for tomorrow with a variety of possible applications in different industrial sectors, from agriculture to food packaging, from energy and construction to medicine.

Programme

The workshop, originally planned on 24 and 25 March 2020, will take place on 9-10 September 2020 and it will be a virtual event.

It is structured in four sessions of presentations, each followed by a dedicated breakout session:

• Session 1 “Designing smart nanomaterials” will be entirely dedicated to developers.
• Session 2 “From Safe-by-Design to Safe-and-Sustainable-by-Design” will give the floor to experts on assessing safety and sustainability of nanotechnology, to illustrate and discuss challenges with smart nanomaterials.
• In Session 3 “Regulatory preparedness”, regulators will present the legislative context and some initiatives concerning smart nanomaterials.
• Session 4 "How to shift towards a more sustainable path? Implications of the Chemical Strategy for Sustainability" will be dedicated to consult the priority areas of Sustainable-by-Design in view of Horizon Europe, EU's next framework programme for research and innovation.

Participants

The conference is open to experts from authorities, research organisations, and industry.

Registration - Expression of interest

Expression of interest is closed (deadline was 21 February 2020 for e-mail to RC-SMART-NANOMATERIALS-WORKSHOPec [dot] europa [dot] eu (JRC-SMART-NANOMATERIALS-WORKSHOP[at]ec[dot]europa[dot]eu)).
Registration is required to attend the workshop.

Virtual Venue

European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Via Enrico Fermi 2479 21027 Ispra (VA) Italy

Contact

If you have any question, please contact JRC-SMART-NANOMATERIALS-WORKSHOPec [dot] europa [dot] eu (JRC-SMART-NANOMATERIALS-WORKSHOP[at]ec[dot]europa[dot]eu).

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Venue

Ispra (VA), IT