Groningen delegation visit to UNIDO, Vienna
This week a delegation of New Energy Coalition, University of Groningen and Hanze University of Applied Sciences visited the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) in Vienna to discuss future collaboration.
UNIDO is the UN agency dedicated to sustainable and inclusive industrial development in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals and its activities include capacity building support, policy advice and research in the areas of energy and clean tech solutions.
In 2016 Energy Academy Europe – now part of New Energy Coalition- and UNIDO concluded a Memorandum of Understanding outlining the intention for collaboration. Since then, joint activities were organised in Groningen in the form of training courses on sustainable energy solutions for policy makers in developing countries and emerging economies.
The purpose of the Vienna visit was to explore further areas of collaboration with UNIDO. There were good and productive discussions with the Energy Department and the Policy Research & Statistics Department on potential collaboration in the areas of clean tech innovation ecosystems and entrepreneurship, as well as research and capacity building on industrial transformation and energy systems analysis.
The visit included a meeting with the Director-General of UNIDO, Mr Li Yong, who also kindly expressed his interest in furthering the collaboration.
Sjoerd Ammerlaan, International Affairs Officer of New Energy Coalition: ‘The purpose of our partnership with UNIDO has always been to take our collaboration beyond the capacity building training we have organised so far. This week’s meetings provide promising avenues to take it further and we appreciated the enthusiasm we sensed, including at the highest levels within UNIDO, for collaboration with New Energy Coalition and our partners.
