AERIS+ PROJECT, INTEGRATED BY PACT, ENDS WITH OBJECTIVES ACHIEVED
28 June 2023
AERIS+, a capitalization project of the AERIS project developed between 2017 and 2020 with the aim of consolidating a reinforced and permanent dynamic of cooperation and integration at a business and institutional level, in order to improve the competitiveness of the aeronautical cluster in the Andalusia – Alentejo cross-border region, ends with the objectives fulfilled.
The project, in which PACT – Alentejo Science and Technology Park participates together with nine other Portuguese and Spanish entities, fulfilled the ambition of bringing together the two regions with strong aerospace potential: Andalusia and Alentejo, through key players in the business and institutional sphere.
Key actions of the project include:
The creation of a Monitoring Committee for the Aeronautical Industry in the cross-border area, with the holding of its first meeting in Seville. The Committee aims to establish synergies and seek links between the two cross-border regions in the aeronautical sector. The Committee is made up of three working groups: an industrial group focused on enterprises and involving business groups, and an institutional group involving public bodies from the regional administration, municipal councils and chambers of commerce; and an R+D+i group related to training in specialized centers, universities and science and technology parks.
The identification of collaboration structures at European level and the creation of contact and exchange mechanisms, which is interesting from the point of view of capacity building at regional level, as it will allow the exchange of good practice and knowledge with other European reference entities.
The holding of the cross-border meeting of the aeronautics sector and the realization of technical visits to companies in the Alentejo region, namely the Beja airport and the maintenance hangar of MESA (HIFLY group), to the company LAUAK Aerostrutures in Grândola, to the aerodrome of Ponte de Sor and to the company TEKEVER and the company Aernnova Group, located in Évora. The meeting, which had the support of the Municipalities of Beja, Évora, Grândola and Ponte de Sor, was attended by more than 20 Andalusian companies, and also included B2B meetings between companies in the aeronautical sector on both sides of the border, in order to enhance the creation of synergies within the cluster.
Technical visits by a Portuguese delegation to Andalusian companies, namely Sevilla Control, Canagrosa and Sintersa, and to the Advanced Center for Aerospace Technologies (FADA-CATEC).
Analysis of the possibilities of transferring technological innovation from companies in the aerospace sector to other sectors, and detection of processes common to different sectors.
Study on the possibilities of Community financing for the sector. With the start of the new Community framework, and based on the diagnosis of the innovation capacities of the Andalusia-Alentejo cross-border region, it provides an overview of the different European financing mechanisms, both ordinary and extraordinary, with potential for the sector.
Holding in Seville of the Conference on the present and future of the sector in the field of cooperation, which continued to foster an environment of permanent cross-border collaboration in the aeronautical sector, both at business and institutional level, and was attended by several relevant public authorities from the regions of Andalusia and Alentejo, as well as other entities of importance to the sector.
The municipalities of Évora, Beja, Ponte de Sor and Grândola were present, as well as the Portuguese Institute for Employment and Vocational Training and the University of Évora, the Regional Ministry of University, Research and Innovation of the Regional Government of Andalusia, and Portuguese and Andalusian companies in the aeronautics and transport sectors avançados.
Com the aim of aligning visions and laying the foundations for the sustainability of cross-border collaboration at the business and institutional level, and continue the work of approximation and collaboration between the two regions, a Memorandum of Understanding was also created,
The AERIS+ project is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund ERDF, through the Interreg V-A España-Portugal Program (POCTEP) 2014-2020.
