The Eurecat technology centre is taking part in the ‘Caring for what unites us. Safer and more sustainable roads’ Territorial Specialisation and Competitiveness Project (PECT in its Catalan acronym) which is to roll out innovative solutions for using road building and maintenance materials and signage to enhance road safety and regional sustainability while unlocking fresh business opportunities.
The project is led by Tarragona Provincial Council and backed by Rovira i Virgili University (URV). Eurecat is helping out in the Competitive Intelligence operation which has a €312,608 budget and seeks to drive technology transfer and innovation to improve business positioning. It will also work up the circular economy in road infrastructures to keep raw material use to a minimum.
Noemí Llauradó, chair of Tarragona Provincial Council, today officially unveiled this PECT and another entitled ‘Living and active towns. Balanced and innovative territory’. She was accompanied by M. José Figueras, URV Vice-Chancellor, and Pere Granados, the Provincial Council’s Deputy Member for European Projects and Knowledge Region, at an event also attended by Xavier López, Eurecat’s Chief Operating and Corporate Officer.
The ‘Caring for what unites us. Safer and more sustainable roads’ PECT is divided into six operations anchored in innovation and technology. “It is designed to meet very specific challenges in sustainable building and maintenance coupled with innovative and safe management and use of local roads in Tarragona,” says Miquel Rovira, director of Eurecat’s Sustainability Division. The idea is to “make a concerted effort in terms of sustainability and safety.”
As part of the project Eurecat “is to provide technology watch and innovative strategic foresight studies to unpack current trends and technological breakthroughs in road infrastructures,” adds Roger Font, the director of Eurecat’s Consultancy Department. “We will also draw up an action plan to drive R&D projects tapping circular economy technologies with huge potential for the sustainable road building industry.”
Assessment of the actions’ impact will be based on whether new ideas have been generated for using secondary raw materials in roads, partnerships with local firms, how many tons of raw materials have been saved as a result of the circular economy, and entrepreneurial growth powered by new business models.
The ‘Caring for what unites us. Safer and more sustainable roads’ PECT is backed by PIMEC, the College of Industrial Engineers of Catalonia and the Association of Engineers of Catalonia.
PECTs are projects sponsored by local stakeholders and led by local public organisations to drive highly innovative initiatives geared towards economic transformation in their region. These two new projects now underway come under the Research and Innovation Strategy for Smart Specialisation in Catalonia (RIS3CAT) and the Catalonia ERDF Operational Programme 2014-2020 designed to unleash smart, sustainable and inclusive growth in the region. One of RIS3CAT’s main challenges is exploring and fostering new forms of partnership between quadruple helix actors (government, research and innovation players, businesses and civil society) to deliver innovative and more effective solutions to society’s contemporary challenges.
The presentation was also attended by Adam Tomàs, Deputy Chair and Deputy Member for Territorial Assistance Services at Tarragona Provincial Council; Francesc Medina, the URV’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Innovation and Knowledge Transfer; Francesc Díaz, the URV’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Research and Scientific Planning; Misericòrdia Camps, the URV’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Institutional Relations, Culture and Social Commitment; Magí Trullols, Chair of la Conca de Barberà County Council; Xavier Gràcia, Chair of el Priorat County Council; Sebastià Mata, Deputy Chair of the Association of Rural Initiatives of Catalonia (ARCA), and Raúl Ferrer, scientific coordinator at the Wine Technology Park (VITEC).
