Partnership Meeting V (İzmir)

It was good oppurtunity for the Project to combine our dissemination activity and International Energy Symposium of Ege university. İzmir welcomed us with it’s very nice weather. Location of the Symposium Center was choosen very well, in Konak, the heart of the İzmir. That allowed us drop in at historical and very well known places of İzmir, Kemeralti Bazaar, Clock Tower, Historical Elavator, Kordon Street. And symposium itself, it was very well organized and beneficial symposium for us. 

We have find oppurtunity to meet not only with project partners, but also with many diffrent bodies, companies and universities around the world. Among all sessions, I liked most the” Nedo Project” session which reveals many diffrerent approaches for energy efficieny renovation of public buildings. Besides, dinners in Lamia Boat and Homeros Valley was very nice and unforgettable memories of the meeting. Finally, we have reached the end of Project. I believe we had very beneficial experiences in renewable energy sector of partner countries. 

We have new and different point of views after all mobilities and Project effort. The Project outcome will reflect all these acquirement. But for me, the most significant acquirement was knowing each others. I hope to work these valuable partners in very near future again. 

Barış Özçelik (Mimar)

The 5th and last transnational RENEWVET meeting took place in Izmir between the 28 and 30 th June. This final meeting had two main objectives: the presentation of the final benchmark report to all partners and also to participate in the 6th International Edge Energy Symposium and Exhibition being held in the city. It turned out to be probably the most pleasant of all meetings because most of the hard work had been done and our hosts: Edge University, represented by Mr. Mete did an excellent job in receiving us. 

After 13 hours of travelling from Portugal, with stop offs in Barcelona and Istanbul, we arrived in Izmir airport. At about midnight we took a taxi to the University guesthouse. Thus, we were pretty tired the following morning when we all met up at the impressive Ataturk Cultural Center where the symposium was being held. On this first day we saw some presentations and were glad to see the importance being given to renewable energies by so many countries and dedicated people. In the afternoon we all met and Mr. Baris presented the benchmark report which was very objective, concise and to the point. We discussed a few twitches it may need and also the final report to our wonderful project. After the meeting we had a bit of free time so we rambled through the local bazaar which was fascinating. What we were not expecting was the fantastic evening meal on board a boat in Izmir bay which was offered to everyone who attended the symposium. It was really an amazing experience. 

On the second day of the meeting some of the partners gave a presentation at the symposium. ETP Sicó felt quite honored to be part of such an impressive event considering that we came from a small renewable energy vocational school. Everything went well and we were even asked some questions by the people assisting. This second day was wrapped up by a fantastic meal on top of the mountain which overlooked the city and its beautiful bay. 

On our last day we took advantage of the fact that all the hard work had been done and scheduled a trip to Ephesus and spent some time rambling through the magnificent ruins they have there, before returning to Istanbul and flying home. 

Stephen Thomas (ETP Sico)

Guilherme Vieira (ETP Sico)

The 5th and Final Transnational conference coincided with the 6th Ege Energy Symposium (http://www.egeenergy.org/) taking place from 28-30 June, 2012 organised by Ege University. This was the perfect platform to bring this project to an end as the conference/ symposium was attended by hundreds of people coming from all over the world, literally! The RENEWVET partners were accommodated at EGE's guesthouse which was to a very good standard and even had WIFI in all the rooms. This is always important as everyone still needs to be able to respond to emails/ queries - even when abroad. The first day saw the final conference of the RENEWVET project where we drew together the final outputs of the project (Benchmark Report, Blog, Final Report to Leonardo) and discussed our contributions to the "6th International Ege Energy Symposium and Exhibition (IEESE-6)"

The second and third day were spent attending the many interesting presentations, speeches and the exhibitions from local and international organisations active in renewable energy technologies. The most excitement was to see how big the sector has become and how much interst there is in Turkey. We (Embrace) were especially excited as we submitted a Transfer of Innovation project together with EGE University & the Austrian Institute of Technology to transfer renewable energy training methodologies to from UK/ Austria to Turkey. Now, in retrospect, we are even more excited to have been granted the project and to have visited Izmir again for the first Kick-off meeting on the RES II project (Renewable Energy Specialists II).

The last 2 years have really culminated in the successful cooperation with professional partners and taking the next step of working on developing a standardised training course for IVT/ PLM involved with renewables, especially electricians, plumbers, heating engineers and other related professions. To have the same standard across the EU when it comes to having people trained on renewables is very important because it allows for workforce mobility and well-installed systems and technologies. This is important because the sector is relatively new and needs to be promoted still. This is best done by highlighting well-running systems (whether domestic or commercial), being installed properly by trained and qualified people. The sector is one of very few sectors that still enjoys healthy growth and it is the sector of the future - having a clean and stable energy supply will become ever more important for Europe and the World.

Dirk Bischof (Embrace)