Local roots. Global vision. Smart science.
Two months after Cleantech Vision 2026, we can now look back on the conference not only as a memory of a dynamic and inspiring day, but also through the lens of the results that have begun to emerge in its aftermath.
From the very beginning of the event’s preparation, we set ourselves an ambitious goal: Cleantech Vision should not be just another scientific conference where participants leave after exchanging business cards and offering general wishes for future cooperation. We wanted to create a space where people could genuinely meet, engage in meaningful conversations, share experience, and lay the foundations for new ideas and collaborations.
Today, we are pleased to say that this goal is becoming a reality.
The motto we chose for Cleantech Vision 2026 – Transfer of Knowledge – reflects the way we see the role of CCBRE: as a connecting link between scientific knowledge, technology, and the real needs of business and society.
During the conference, we succeeded in bringing together Bulgarian and international scientists, representatives of universities, innovative companies, institutions, and organizations. Even more importantly, the conference became an active meeting point for investors, entrepreneurs, and researchers, who engaged in genuine discussions – about technologies, resource efficiency, the challenges facing industry, and how scientific developments can reach practical application more quickly.
Even more importantly, the conference became a vibrant meeting point for investors, entrepreneurs, and scientists.
This was exactly the kind of model we wanted to demonstrate: universities, research centres, and businesses not as separate systems, but as partners capable of accelerating one another’s development.
This idea was also expressed very clearly by the Rector of the Agricultural University – Plovdiv, Prof. Dr. Boryana Ivanova, who emphasized that science and industry are not two parallel worlds, but two sides of the same shared effort.
This message is also closely aligned with the philosophy on which we are building the work of CCBRE.
For us, the conference was an opportunity not only to talk about innovation, but also to demonstrate it.
One of the technological highlights of Cleantech Vision 2026 was a solution developed by the AI Lab & Digital Solutions team – an artificial intelligence-based application for Bulgarian speech recognition and real-time translation.
For our team, this was also a symbol of something we strongly believe in: when science has a clear purpose and people who are committed to working towards it, linguistic, technological, and organizational barriers can gradually be overcome.
The international support for the conference was particularly significant for us.
Cleantech Vision 2026 was held with the support of H.E. Pierre Hagmann, Ambassador of the Swiss Confederation to the Republic of Bulgaria, while the participants and official guests included representatives of the diplomatic corps, scientific and educational institutions, innovation organizations, and industry.
Among them were H.E. Emil Jacotă, Ambassador of the Republic of Moldova, Eng. Plamen Panchev, Executive Director of Trakia Economic Zone, Dr. Karina Angelieva, Executive Director of the International Science and Technology Center (ISTC), and Mr. Anton Todorov, Chairman of the Management Board of the National Innovation Fund.
A particularly valuable part of the conference was the meeting with our long-standing partners from the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland (FHNW).
Prof. Dr. Salomon Billeter, Professor of Engineering and Executive Director of Sim2Sustain, and Dr. Hans Musch, Executive Director of Renergia AG, shared the Swiss experience in building effective links between universities and industry.
This model of effective cooperation between academia and industry is especially valuable to us.
It is not simply about science generating good ideas, but about creating an environment in which those ideas can be tested, developed, implemented, and transformed into solutions with real economic and societal impact.
Perhaps the most rewarding part of this reflection is that the story of Cleantech Vision 2026 did not end in June.
Following the conference, the Centre for Cleantech and Biomass Resource Efficiency was invited to become an official partner of the annual conference of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, which this year will focus on climate change, resource efficiency, and solutions for a cleaner environment.
For our team, this invitation carries special significance.
For us, the success of Cleantech Vision 2026 will not be measured only by the number of participants, presentations, or panel discussions. Its true success will be reflected in the partnerships, projects, technologies, and new ideas that emerge from it.
This is exactly how we see the role of CCBRE – to build a bridge between science, business, and society, so that knowledge does not remain confined to the laboratory, but is transformed into real solutions for real-world challenges.
CENTRE FOR CLEANTECH AND BIOMASS RESOURCE EFFICIENCY
Contact us
info@ccbre.eu12 Mendeleev Blvd., Plovdiv 4000
Campus of the Agricultural University of Plovdiv
