On the 7 November the ZEM (Zero Emission Marine) programme gathered to their Annual Seminar at Wärtsilä´s headquarters in Helsinki.
The event was an opportunity to reflect on the year and hear more about new ZEM projects. It was also an opportunity to meet the ecosystem, network and discuss potential collaboration ideas.
”Year 2025 will mark the last year of ZEM. We still have one year left in the programme and there are still great opportunities for ecosystem collaboration. However, good ideas take time to incubate, and project ideas should be sent to the ZEM programme already during quarter one in 2025.”,Kenneth Widell, ZEM Programme Lead highlighted in the beginning of the event.
Now, there are 11 active ecosystem projects under the ZEM umbrella and in total, ZEM is part of 16 different projects. Two of the newest projects, Flex-CPT and AINA, were presented at the Annual Seminar
The seminar also hosted an interesting keynote speech on the IMO GHG Strategy and schedule for negotiating global measures by Eero Hokkanen, Alternate Permanent Representative of Finland to the International Maritime Organization (IMO). Eero gave an update on the IMO and how important the measures are for setting the scene for legislation also on EU level. However, he emphasized the importance of the private sector to drive the green transition. “In a world with a challenging political landscape the private sector initiatives will drive change more than IMO”, he said.
Furthermore, the event hosted an interesting panel discussion on the topic of “Key ingredients for successful project applications”. Amongst the panellists we had Tero Ijäs, Ecosystem Manager from Business Finland, Maciej Mikulski, Professor from University of Vaasa, Ville Vuorinen, Professor from Aalto University and our ZEM Project Lead Kenneth Widell. In the discussion, the panellists found certain aspects to be of high importance in order to create a successful project applications. Amongst these, the importance of communication and trust.
“We have a treasure here in Finland, and that is the open dialogue, which I appreciate. Communications is the key and that is the best in the world and that is why we can create great projects”, said Maciej.
All in all, key learnings from the panel discussion were:
💡Open and clear communication is key when preparing project applications
💡Establishing trust between project partners is essential
💡Researchers needs to listen to industry needs and vice versa
💡A well prepared and thought-out application takes you a long way
The event gathered around 50 participants and apart from the presentations, the event emphasized networking and discussion opportunities.
“I´m glad to see that we have succeeded with building an ecosystem in the ZEM programme. It is with great honour we now embark on our final ZEM year together in the ecosystem”, Kenneth said.
Want to become part of the ZEM Ecosystem? Sign up here
