Eco-Tech is calling on researchers and industry to work together to ensure benefits from a rapidly expanding society were students will work with professional scientists and become scientist themselves by observing and recoding real-life data. The plan calls for action on promoting closer partnerships between industry and the research sector to ensure the Baltic region is best placed to realize and capitalize on opportunities in innovative sustainable technology. Conference organizers William Hogland and Jelena Lundström from Linnaeus University Kalmar, were satisfied with the digital event, where as many as 150 online participants have been gathered.

The CONTRA session at the international conference on 24th November was chaired by Prof. William Hogland. The 12th International Conference on the Establishment of Cooperation between Companies and Institutions in the Nordic Countries, the Baltic Sea Region and the World Eco-Tech switch this year for the very first time as a virtual conference. In total 38 individuals attended at the CONTRA workshop and 12 useful and very interesting presentations were shared. The speakers also answered questions from the audience after their presentations finished.

Keynote speaker of the session was Jane Hofmann, communication manager of the CONTRA project, talking about “Social and ecological aspects related to beach wrack”. Apart from partner members of the project, stakeholders that have an invested interest in the CONTRA project, such as Ekobalans Fenix AB, the Gotland Marine association and Lau Beach association joined the session. Stakeholders presentation included topics such as “From beach wrack to biochar without cadmium” by Ekobalans Fenix AB and “Beach Wrack Management, Economy and Analyses on Gotland” by the Gotland Marine association and Lau Beach association. We were more than happy to also host partners from the Interreg Baltic Sea Region project GRASS, Fredrik Gröndahl, KTH, who gave a presentation entitled “Utilization of Beach cast from Swedish Coast”.

Drawing from experience, William Hogland and Varvara Sachpazidou organized and recorded an online study tour in the Öland in July 2020. The study tour acted as a key method of supporting the work done in CONTRA project and the laboratory. The study tour aimed to expose, explore and nurture all the Eco-Tech participants to discover for themselves, the wonders of beach wrack and the natural world.

Overall, everyone who has attended the international conference Linnaeus Eco-tech 20, 24 November since 1997 and other events have given us raving reviews. The positive feedback we received make us gratified that so many of participants attest to the significance of the experience to this very systematic, organized, insightful, inspiration and critical thinking conference