Walloons and Swedes gather once again around raw materials

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In 2010, Wallonie Bruxelles International and Uppsala University have signed an agreement aiming at promoting an increased collaboration between the whole Swedish scientific community and the one from Wallonie Bruxelles.


In order to serve this purpose, a Scientific Liaison Office has been settled in Uppsala, currently occupied by the Dr Henri Sprimont, which is notably working at the organization of events such as the international Conference ‘Sustainable and Resource-Efficient Materials: A Raw Materials and Recycling Perspective.’

This Conference, supported by Wallonie Bruxelles International, Uppsala University and the The County Administrative Board in Uppsala, will take place in Uppsala, in the premises of the Museum Gustavianum, on the 17th and 18th of December and its attendance is completely free of charge.

During the XVIIth century, it was around the development of the Swedish iron industry that Swedes and Walloons began to forge an indefectible friendship. Today, at a time where the access and the exploitation of natural resources is maybe more than ever of a fundamental strategic importance, it is once again this thematic of metal – and the broader one of Raw Materials – that brings them together to deepen their collaboration and position themselves as leading partners in the quest led by the European Union toward self-sustainability.

- The whole EU’s high tech manufacturing industry, including the clean technologies, relies on the supply of critical raw materials and is for Europe an essential strategic issue whose importance for society is best shown by the following figures: 30 million jobs in the European Union are directly depending of the availability of raw materials, says Henri Sprimont.

It is therefore easily understandable that resource efficiency and critical materials supply stand so high on the European agenda. The Conference taking place in Uppsala will be the occasion for leading experts to develop, in the presence of representatives from the European Commission, the different and sometimes unknown components of this complex problematic, in turns social, geopolitical, environmental and educational.

- Once again Walloons and Swedes are gathered around steel and fire, rich of a secular friendship, proud of common accomplishments and eager to address new challenges, says Henri Sprimont.

Contact person: Henri Sprimont +46 70 167 93 94  henri.sprimont@uadm.uu.se. Online registration : http://fr.amiando.com/uppsala.html

Anneli Waara

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