A.SPIRE Industrial Innovation Days 2026

On 21 and 22 October, the A.SPIRE community gathered at Albert Hall in Brussels to discuss the future of the Energy-intensive Industry, connect and network to make that future happen, and showcase the legacy of Processes4Planet. Two full days, over 130 participants, one vibrant community.

Day 1: Innovation in action

The event was preceded by the release of the first draft of our Strategic Research, Innovation and Deployment Agenda (SRIDA) to our members, including the Investment Journeys, the concrete pathways being developed to achieve our ambition, “Energy-intensive Industry: Global champions rooted in Europe”.

Making it happen: Connection, context, priorities

The morning of 21 October looked at the connections, context and priorities of the SRIDA development.

Mr Carsten Schierenbeck of the European Commission (DG RTD), Mr Willem Van Ierland (DG CLIMA) and Mr Markus Dugal from Covestro took the stage to discuss the industrial and policy perspectives. It was a vivid and future-oriented dialogue moderated by our Executive Director. Key takeaways:

• The momentum and the relevance of the A.SPIRE Vision, SRIDA development and the Investment Journeys.
• The industrial perspective: the Investment Journeys and the SRIDA development are going in the right direction.
• Alignment between the European Commission’s perspective and the Investment Journeys: competitiveness, business and investment cases, industry’s confidence to invest, a systemic approach of the whole value chains, tackling strategic dependencies, industrial AI, secondary materials and substitution of critical raw materials, and circularity (present in three Investment Journeys).
• Energy-intensive Industries are essential in turning value chains into integrated collaborative ecosystems.
• The evolution of Horizon Europe and the new FP10: Mr Schierenbeck stated the need for the programme to support seamless transition journeys from innovation to deployment, and stressed that the next MFF will be shaped together with the partnerships.
• Simplification in accelerating innovation was the key point raised by the industry (Mr Dugal). The Commission’s perspective also puts it high on the agenda.

The alignment between industry and the Commission on these priorities is encouraging. A.SPIRE looks forward to seeing this shared vision backed by concrete support. The Energy-intensive Industry cannot stand alone. A.SPIRE is ready.

The second session brought in the cross-cutting view. Our transversal teams (Foresight, Portfolio and Digital) and the Next Generation Partnership Task Force shared what they have learnt so far and how it feeds into the SRIDA. Our APG Vice-Chairs and Executive Director then took stock of the SRIDA work since May, the Investment Journeys, highlighting progress, key insights and the open points to address in the afternoon and in the run-up to November.

Shaping the Investment Journeys together

In the afternoon, participants moved from listening to co-creating. In parallel workshops, they worked through the Investment Journeys, identifying gaps and overlaps and shaping proposals. The guiding question throughout: how to accelarte technology readiness to business readiness, value chains readiness and, ultimately, investment readiness.

The conclusion of the day: the Investment Journeys reflect the needs of the Energy-intensive Industry our community’s commitment to make them happen is stronger than ever.

Dinner Debate: Energy-intensive Industry talks. With the European Commission

The day ended with a dinner debate organised by A.SPIRE at Atelier 29. Our President, Ms Dorota Pawlucka, our APG Chair and Vice-Chairs, and for the European Commission, Mr Carsten Schierenbeck and Mr Martin Špolc (Director for Prosperity, DG RTD), engaged in a constructive dialogue. Innovation acceleration, cross-sectoral collaboration, investments, circularity, skills and the use of industrial AI were high on the agenda.

Our President described the Energy-intensive Industries as solution providers for societal challenges. The A.SPIRE/Processes4Planet community was recognised as frontrunners in industrial innovation. Mr Špolc stated that “the industries generate the local value, the European Commission must help to keep the value in Europe.”

"Industrial challenges are the challenges of Europe and, to solve them, we need: impact, scale and speed”, he continued. The importance of working together was stressed by both Commission representatives. Our Executive Director answered: “A.SPIRE is in!”

Day 2: Processes4Planet legacy and the collaboration that moves it forward

The second day was all about turning ideas into collaboration. After a first look at the Processes4Planet 2027 topics with HaDEA and our APG Vice-Chairs, our members took the floor to pitch project proposals.

In the Marketplace (supported by the 2DPLOY project), participants pitched innovation challenges and solutions, matching industrial needs with the expertise of research organisations, SMEs and solution providers.

Structured networking rounds kept the conversations going over coffee and lunch.

In the afternoon, Processes4Planet projects showcased their results across climate neutrality, circularity, digitalisation and transition modelling, while the 2DPLOY workshop shared lessons learnt on the journey from research and innovation to the Innovation Fund.

These collaborations, results and learnings will feed directly into the new SRIDA, closing the loop between the legacy of Processes4Planet and the agenda for the decade ahead.

The rooms were full on both days, and the energy was incredible. The A.SPIRE community reaffirmed it  commitment to advance our mission.

Join us and co-set the Energy-intensive Industry agenda for the upcoming years. Be in the room where priorities are set. 

Contact Vladiana Petarlecean, vpe@aspire2050.eu, to learn how.