In the November issue of Clean Sky E-news it is noted that Clean Sky’s Executive Director Axel Krein presented Clean Sky’s sustainable aviation programme at Innovair’s annual meeting on 29 October. The following about Clean Sky and Sweden is also included:
Clean Sky and Sweden: Delivering climate-neutral aviation together
Sweden has a proud history in aeronautics, and Clean Sky’s Executive Director Axel Krein was honoured to present Clean Sky’s sustainable aviation programme at Innovair’s annual meeting today.
Sweden is a strong supporter of Clean Sky’s mission to achieve climate-neutral aviation by 2050. The goals of Sweden’s National Aeronautics Strategy involve reducing the climate impact of aviation, and the motivation of the Swedish aerospace sector towards making zero-emission aviation a reality can be clearly seen through their active involvement in Clean Sky.
Currently, 15 of Clean Sky’s participants hail from Sweden, and they are involved in 30 different projects. Two Swedish companies – Saab and GKN – have been Members of Clean Sky since its inception, and both are still heavily involved in Clean Sky’s sustainable aviation activities.
In February 2016, Clean Sky signed Memoranda of Understanding with two Swedish regions – Västra Götaland and Östergötland. The aim of these MoUs is to boost local industrial development in aviation and support smart specialisation in European regions, harnessing European funding sources like the European Structural and Regional Investment Funds (ESIF) to do so.
The Västra Götaland region aimed to reduce the environmental footprints from civil aviation by further boosting regional industrial development within the aeronautics sector, including large companies, SMEs, industrial research institutes and universities. That goal has given rise to a number of projects focusing on innovative new technologies such as additive manufacturing and 3D printing. An ‘Aerospace Cluster Sweden’ has also been set up for SMEs, to help cement the area as an aviation technology hub.
In Östergötland, innovation hubs have been set up to improve collaboration and knowledge sharing across the Swedish aeronautics sector. These hubs focus on different specialisations that are relevant to aeronautics – for example, the Innovative Materials Arena, Additive Coodination in East central Sweden (ACES) a digitisation coordination hub focusing on 3D printing and additive manufacturing, and a hub focused on the Internet of Things.
We look forward to launching many more exciting new collaborative projects for climate-neutral aviation with our Swedish counterparts. Working together, we can truly make sustainable aviation a reality. Onwards and upwards!