Nordics in India are committed to expanding research and innovation collaboration opportunities

The Nordic-India Innovation Partnership Project – NordicsInIndia is organising two Indo-Nordic Circular Economy and Bio-Economy Workshops, in cooperation with the Nordic Centre in India, to be held on May 26 in Pune and May 27 in Bengaluru. The project is funded by the Nordic Council of Ministers. The local partners in India are Pune University and Bangalore Bioinnovation Centre.

The delegations, in collaboration with Indian stakeholders, will conduct theme-based workshops under sustainable, circular, and bio-based economy. The invited stakeholders will include government authorities (urban development department, municipal corporation etc.), leading companies, and key research and technical institutes with an ambition to establish relationships and joint innovation and research projects.

Maan Singh Sidhu, Coordinator of the project NordicsInIndia stated that the workshops will also cater to the strong need to set up research collaborations among leading research agencies and universities from Nordic countries and India to develop next-generation circular economy solutions and add value to the society that can be tested in local conditions.

Anna Lekvall, Consul General of Sweden in Mumbai, said, “It is encouraging to witness the deepening collaboration of the Nordics with India on circular economy and bioeconomy. Innovation and sustainability are central pillars in the India Sweden partnership. I am happy to highlight the recently launched Indo-Swedish Joint call for proposals on Circular Economy with a total budget of MSEK 69 co-financed by the Indian side. This is a unique partnership with 9 funding agencies from both countries. The Nordic workshops and the joint call demonstrate the breadth and depth of our collaboration with India.”

Arne Jan Flølo, Consul General of Norway, Mumbai, said “We are facing global climate and environment challenges and we need collaboration to address them. I am glad to support Norwegian and Indian partnerships in several areas on the road towards becoming carbon-neutral societies. One key area is renewable energy and green electric value chains. Another is circular economy”

Jakob Williams Oerberg, Counsellor Innovation, Research and Higher Education, Royal Danish Embassy, New Delhi said “We are faced with the double global crisis of climate change and an unsustainable global food system. From the Danish side we are especially interested in working with India on using biology to create new climate friendly foods, new green fuels and to ensure that our waste is upcycled to new valuable products. If nature does not let anything go to waste, why should we?” 

Mika Tirronen, Counsellor of Education and Science, Embassy of Finland, New Delhi, said “ Finland was the first country to publish a roadmap to circular economy in 2016, and the first World Circular Economy Forum was held in Helsinki in June 2017. Finland is one of the initiators of global climate action, and we aim to be carbon neutral by 2035. I think Nordic countries and India are like natural partners in this domain.

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