The Sofia Innovation Workshop started

The Sofia Innovation Workshop is just one of the many initiatives we are working on in partnership with the Joint Research Centre. Before starting the Innovation Workshop, the Mayor of Sofia, Yordanka Fandakova and the Deputy - Director of DG Joint Research Centre, Ms. Charlina Vicheva signed a Memorandum of Understanding. Through this Memorandum, the two institutions declare their confidence that they will continue their cooperation in the field of:

• improving air quality;

• transport and environmental protection;

• tackling energy poverty;

• protection and security of public spaces;

• digital transformation;

• urban development, including an emphasis on creative cities and the future of cities;

• smart specialization; and

• cyber security.

 

During the Sofia Innovation Workshop will be addressed three challenges facing Sofia and a large part of the cities in Bulgaria: tackling energy poverty, transport and clean air protection and the social impact of innovation. 

“We expect that Sofia Innovation Workshop will gather the opinions and ideas of different groups of society and will arrive at solutions that could be put into practice", said the Mayor of Sofia, Yordanka Fandakova. 

Nowadays, more than half of humanity lives in the cities. This concentration of people creates some of the most serious global problems, but also the greatest innovations. Science is closely related to economic development. Once, major universities and research centres were signs of the prosperity of cities, but now they are sources of innovation and economic growth.

According to Fandakova, it is important how scientific potential in our city and in Europe can help us make the right decisions and develop sustainable and effective policies together with the citizens. Therefore, our partnership with the Joint Research Centre and the scientific community in Bulgaria is extremely important. Sustainable urban mobility, air quality, climate change, urban planning, crisis management are all areas that affect the lives of every citizen and require smart responses. We rely on the achievements of researchers and scholars, but also on citizens to find them.

Sofia Municipality has already gained serious experience in its good partnership with academic and research institutions. The decision-making process in the municipality is supported by the Expert Council on Science, Technology and Innovation, which has been working for eight years now, and is attended by representatives of all universities and the institutes of the Bulgarian Academy of Science.

Photographer: Geo Kalev