We are excited to be collaborating with the Discovery Park, Canterbury Christ Church University and the University of Greenwich to provide a platform for discussion and debate around the sustainability journey to net zero at the Energy and Tech Sustainability Expo on Thursday 23 March. The event will bring together industry leaders, policy makers, academic experts and students to interact, engage and break down barriers.
At Kent we bring world-leading expertise in health and wellbeing, social justice, inequalities and conflict, sustainability, environment and natural resources to tackle local, national and global challenges. With particular strengths in supply chain governance, sustainability and resilience, road and maritime transport, circular systems and sustainable farming, we are looking forward to this opportunity to listen to industry challenges and identify areas where we can step up to meet the region’s needs.
The event builds on the success of the Kent and Medway Hydrogen Summit in 2021 which saw stakeholders come together to discuss the future of this new and potentially revolutionary form of energy. As well as showcasing successful hydrogen applications and collaborative projects, the event sought to provide a baseline understanding of the South East – and the Thames Estuary in particular – as a prime location for the upscaling of hydrogen production; with significant offshore wind and onshore solar generation capacity, the UK’s largest cluster of ports and significant logistics operations with more than 18 million people within a radius of 70 miles.
At the Energy and Tech Sustainability Expo, we aim to continue this conversation with a stronger focus on enabling interaction and engagement between sectors, partners and supply chains. In doing so, we hope to identify areas where we can collaborate to channel our expertise and resources to support growth.
Dr Rob Barker, Director of Research and Innovation in the Division of Natural Sciences, will be co-chairing the event, and Strategic Partnerships Manager, Simon Barnes, and Placements and Employability Manager, Nikky Ellis, are contributing to panel discussions on Infrastructure and Skills. There will be a number of University of Kent academics and students in attendance, and delegates will be able to find out more about our partnership opportunities at exhibition stands hosted by the Division of Computing, Engineering and Mathematical Sciences and Research and Innovation Services.
The University of Kent is already working with a wide range of partners on net zero and sustainability projects. The Centre for Logistics and Heuristic Optimisation in Kent Business School is leading ground-breaking research projects on the decarbonisation of the road and maritime transport. Experts from the Division of Computing, Engineering and Mathematical Sciences and the Division of Natural Sciences are also working on projects relating to net zero energy systems and sustainability, and we have recently launched an environmental sustainability database to make it easier for partners to identify regional expertise in this area.
The Energy and Sustainability Expo is an important opportunity to drive the region’s net zero agenda and start planning for an affordable, diverse, exciting journey to carbon elimination. The event is free to attend and will take place from 9am – 5pm on Thursday 23 March. If you are interested in attending, please register free via Eventbrite.