On 3-6 June 2019 another benchmarking visit within the international RDI2CluB project took place. This time, the Polish partners had an opportunity to host the foreign project partners. Representatives of four countries from the Baltic Sea Region, such as: Finland, Norway, Latvia and Estonia could observe the potential of food processing and wood construction in the Świętokrzyskie Voivodship.
At the beginning of the visit in our region, the project partners visited the Group of Fruit and Vegetable Producers AG Food in Jasienica. The Group brings together 46 fruit producers who manage over 285 hectares. The company realizes its assumptions and strategic aims due to modern investments, the example could be the construction of modern storeroom, which consist of 42 chambers equipped with the newest generation devices. In some chambers was applied an innovative system of dynamic atmosphere supervision.
The participants of a benchmarking visit also had a chance to visit the Dreher Poland factory, which produces a high quality apple juice. The modern factory is located around the city of Sandomierz, in the heart of the orchard district of Poland. In Opatów, on the other hand, they could observe the production of handmade Opatów candies, which are the part of the Culinary Heritage network of the Świętokrzyskie Voivodship. The participants were really impressed after the visit in Plastinvest in Suchedniów, a company manufacturing products using the recycling technology. The company was established in 2011 and it decided to invest in an extremely advanced technological line, producing goods from plastic waste. Thanks to this, entirely new products are created for customers who are aware of the benefits of recycling for the environment. ECOply – a product resulting from the project – has a various use, e.g. as an alternative to plywood or in the production of furniture, floors or fences.
The RDI2CluB project partners could also visit other companies and institutions from the bioeconomy sector, such as: the Seminal Nursery Farm in Suków – Papiernia, run by the State Forests, the Defro company in Strawczyn, which specializes in the production of boilers, including a 5th class ecological pellet boiler, the Waste Management Company in Promnik and the Kielce University of Technology, which, through cooperation with other organizations, actively promotes the development of bioeconomy in the Świętokrzyskie Voivodship. Kielce University of Technology could also present its modern Energis building, fully powered from renewable energy sources. Waste Management Enterprise in Promnik is one of the most expensive investments in the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship worth 230 million zlotys and it consists of a sorting plant, a waste reception hall, a composting plant and a chemical waste warehouse. The most remaining moment for the participants would be for sure, the “Flavours of the Świętokrzyskie Region” dinner, which took place in the Museum of the Kielce Village – Ethnographic Park in Tokarnia. The guests had also an opportunity to see the presentation of the Świętokrzyskie Culinary Heritage Network.
The benchmarking visit in bioeconomy-related companies and institutions in the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship was really intensive, although the participants also took part in transnational workshops, which took place i.e. in Regional Science and Technology Centre in Podzamcze- one of the project partner. The workshops mainly aim to develop a joint action plan at a later stage of the project, or to establish the assumptions of a pilot project platform, which is being developed to combine the common interests of the bioeconomy actors. The platform, which is one of the project’s products, is testing by the RDI2CluB project team now. The platform is supposed to bring together the Bioeconomy Hubs from the countries participating in the project. Such a Hub – Bioeconomy Knowledge and Development Centre is being created in the Regional Science and Technology Centre, and it will act as an animator of activities developing the bioeconomy the Świętokrzyskie Voivodship. The Centre will be a place of exchange of experiences and establishing cooperation in the area of bioeconomy.
If you want to see the relation from the event, please go to:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AN0zQrpCJ4
