Local roots. Global vision. Smart science.
The meeting in the Rhodope Mountains combined scientific and professional exchange with the first team-building event of CCBRE’s young and growing team. The visit highlighted the importance of connecting scientific research with real-world environments and sustainable regional development, while creating opportunities for the exchange of ideas and future collaboration. The meeting also helped strengthen the sense of community, trust, and partnership among colleagues working in Bulgaria and Switzerland.
At the Centre for Cleantech and Biomass Resource Efficiency, we believe that in order to contribute to the sustainable development of regions, it is first necessary to understand their natural environment, cultural heritage, resources, and needs.
Guided by this idea, we invited our partners and colleagues to one of the most impressive and inspiring places in Bulgaria – the Rhodope Mountains. The meeting combined scientific and professional exchange with the first team-building event of our young and growing team.
During the visit, we had the opportunity to enjoy the beauty of the mountains while also looking at the region through the perspective of its development potential. From the higher parts of the Rhodopes to the lowlands from which we had travelled – Plovdiv – we were presented not only with an impressive natural landscape, but also with an opportunity to reflect on the relationship between natural resources, local communities, scientific research, and sustainable regional policies.
For us, scientific research is not limited to the laboratory. Understanding the real-world environment in which new technologies and solutions are to be applied is an important part of the process of creating applicable knowledge.
The visit motivated us to focus even more closely on the potential of the Smolyan region and to exchange knowledge and practical experience with our colleagues in a real-world setting. For us, knowledge transfer in the field is extremely valuable because it allows scientific ideas to be considered in the context of specific local conditions and needs. Meetings like this can lead to new research questions, partnerships, and ideas for future projects that can be implemented in the region.
The time we spent together outside the formal working environment reminded us how important the community behind science truly is. Strong research teams are built not only through experiments, publications, and projects, but also through trust, open communication, and a shared sense of direction.
We would like to thank our partners and colleagues, whom we are now happy to also call our friends. We look forward to our next meeting, new scientific ideas, and the future initiatives we will develop together.
Although part of our team works in Bulgaria and another part in Switzerland, geographical distance is not an obstacle to building a genuine professional community. On the contrary, we make a conscious effort to maintain strong connections between people, create space for the exchange of ideas, and build not only joint projects, but also trust, shared values, and lasting human relationships. This is why our first gathering outside our usual working environment was particularly important to us – it strengthened our sense that, regardless of borders, we work as one team and develop a shared scientific and professional vision.
CENTRE FOR CLEANTECH AND BIOMASS RESOURCE EFFICIENCY
Contact us
info@ccbre.eu12 Mendeleev Blvd., Plovdiv 4000
Campus of the Agricultural University of Plovdiv
