WE ARE YOUR LAUNCH PAD TO THE AEROSPACE ECOSYSTEM.

EuroSpaceHub is the first European digital platform to connect the Space Academic, Researchers, Industry experts and Startups to leverage Innovation.

If you are interested to be part of the space and aviation innovation ecosystem in Europe, please contact us for a call to discuss your contribution.

Marceline du Prie

President, Knowledge4Innovation (K4I) Director, European Affairs, TU Delft

I am honored to contribute to this special edition of Innovators Magazine and the many great ideas we have been collecting as part of the European Innovation Area Manifesto.

Innovation is a critical driver of economic growth and social progress. At TU Delft, we believe that innovation should be guided by a set of principles that ensure that it is inclusive, sustainable, and benefits society as a whole. That is why we support the K4I Manifesto, which lays out our vision for responsible and impactful innovation.

The K4I Manifesto is built on four pillars: innovation for society, innovation for sustainability, innovation for inclusivity, and innovation for collaboration. These pillars reflect our belief that innovation should be guided by the needs of society, and that it should be inclusive and sustainable in order to benefit all stakeholders.

We believe that innovation is not just about creating new technology, but also about creating new ways of thinking and working. That is why we are committed to fostering collaboration between different sectors, disciplines, and stakeholders. We believe that by working together, we can achieve more impactful and responsible innovation.

In this special edition of Innovators magazine, we are excited to share some of the innovative projects and initiatives that are being developed at TU Delft in line with the K4I Manifesto. From synthetic cell research, sustainable transportation solutions to inclusive healthcare technologies, these projects demonstrate the potential of responsible and impactful innovation to make a positive difference in the world.

We hope that this magazine will inspire others to join us in our mission to create a more inclusive, sustainable, and collaborative innovation ecosystem. Together, we can create a future that is better for all.

Maria da Graça Carvalho, MEP Chair of the Knowledge4Innovation Forum in the European Parliament

“The best way to have a good idea is to have lots of ideas,” the double Nobel prize winning scientist Linus Pauling once said.

Thankfully this is something Europe has always being good at: generating great ideas. They have shaped our amazing continent and transformed the wider world. And now, as we seek solutions to some of the biggest challenges this planet has ever faced, Europe is once again ready to lead, with our ideas, our vision, and our commitment to delivering the first climate-neutral continent.

So, I am obviously delighted and truly inspired by the number of game changing, actionable ideas being added daily to the European Innovation Area portal, created by our Knowledge4Innovation (K4I) Forum in the European Parliament to provide a home for transformative and sustainable ideas - some of which you can read about in this magazine.

As Chair of the Forum, it gives me a huge amount of pride to see groundbreaking initiatives like this, brought to the fore by an organisation that has been at the forefront of Europe’s innovation landscape since 2008.

The influence of the K4I Forum is something Mariya Gabriel, European Commissioner for Innovation, recognised in her speech at the Forum’s inaugural European Innovation Area Summit last summer, when she said: “The Knowledge4Innovation platform has served the objective of providing the European Parliament, the European Commission, and the stakeholders group with the forum for discussing innovation.”

These words, warmly welcomed by everyone involved with the K4I Forum, were delivered at what was an historic moment for the EU, when the Commission was unveiling its New European Innovation Agenda.

The Agenda, a dynamic action plan designed to realise the continent’s twin digital and green transitions, has got the potential to be the engine room of the European Green Deal.

It sets out how it will make it easier for startups to access funding, has a target to train one million deep tech pioneers - to help turn Europe into the deep tech capital of the world – and is prioritising support for women innovators.

A great contribution to this agenda, I am proud to say, comes from the European Innovation Area (EIA) Manifesto, which I had the pleasure of helping develop with the Forum, other K4I Forum political members, EIT KICs, European Partnerships, universities, and innovation support organisations. Commissioner Gabriel acknowledged this at the time of the Agenda’s launch, when she said the EIA Manifesto and its eight Focus areas “had a major impact on the creation of this new European Innovation Agenda - and all eight are covered by the new Agenda”.

One of the Manifesto Focus Areas the Agenda is taking forward is the deep tech opportunity, and I have been extremely excited by what leaders in this field have been sharing through the Forum’s new online portal of open access ideas.

Likewise, women innovators and female-led startups - another of the EIA Manifesto focus areas, and integral to the Agenda, are providing some of the most important solutions. This is a space that is very close to Commissioner Gabriel’s heart, who says women innovators are “responsible for some of the most groundbreaking innovations contributing to a more sustainable future”.

The Commissioner has made it very clear that she is on a mission to give women innovators more of the tools they need to succeed, so they can “close the gender gap” which sees “three quarters [of startups] still founded by men” – an outcome she says will be “good for growth and good for our planet” –and she’s right.

Again, the Forum’s new online ideas resource should be a source of inspirationnot just for the Commissioner, but for women across the continent, as it shows them spearheading a new era for innovation in Europe.

I would like to add that the Forum has long advocated for the establishment of a European Innovation Area that can better coordinate all these ambitions. This approach is working well now, as we see from the successes enjoyed by the European Research Area, and the European Education Area: two streamlined ecosystems generating real impact. We firmly believe a pan-European innovation ecosystem can do the same for innovation. Because as you can see, we have lots of good ideas that we must jointly implement now.