IPBN gears up for sustainability conference

The Irish-Portuguese Business Network (IPBN) will hold its third annual Sustainability Conference on St. Patrick’s Day (March 17).

The event will be held at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCIP) in Lisbon in which keynote presentations will be delivered from a group of sustainability experts from various sectors, followed by a tour of the Hub Criativo do Beato’s new Innovation Hub.
H.E. Ralph Victory, the Irish Ambassador to Portugal will provide opening remarks at the conference, followed by Claudia Coelho, Partner at PwC Portugal who will begin the event with a presentation on sustainable investments and initiatives from the firm.
In conjunction with the IPBN conference’s official partners Enterprise Ireland, Heritage Hotels, KRA Renewables, and Konceptness, the IPBN will offer both its members and non-members the chance to take an in-depth look at some of the initiatives, innovations, and investments guided by last year’s COP26 event in Glasgow.
The talks will include the transition to clean energy, the development and delivery of communication and energy networks, and perhaps most importantly, how organisations can become empowered to develop solutions that support and contribute to the UN Security Council’s goals, and more.
The IPBN will also be looking at the effects of sustainable practices in building and construction trends, how energy efficiency is playing a role, and how renovation and retrofitting in residential and commercial buildings can help offset the effects of climate change while tackling the ongoing housing crisis on a global scale.
The IPBN’s main sponsors for the event are AGreen Full Cycle Building Management Portugal and Dense Air.
The chair of the IPBN Aoife Healy will lead a discussion on the topic of Innovation with Natalie Samovich, Co-Founder & Innovation Strategy Lead of the Resilient Group and Member of the Steering Board of the Alliance for IoT Innovation, Marc Kellett, Founder & CEO at Keltech IoT, Carolina Almeida Cruz, Co-Founder & CEO of C-More beyond the Obvious & Portuguese Tech Award Winner 2021 in the category Sustainability & Climate Change Activism, and Lee Hodder, Director of Strategy & Sustainability for GALP.
In a further discussion on sustainable innovation in the building industry, IPBN Board Member Susan Cabeceiras, Founder & CEO of Konceptness will moderate a panel discussion with Laura McMahon, Sustainability Consultant at Lawler Consulting Ireland, Krystyna Rawicz, Managing Director of KRA Renewables Ireland & Portugal, Pedro Barata, Business Development Director of AGREEN Full Cycle Building Management Portugal, and representatives from Enterprise Ireland.
A tour of the Hub Criativo do Beato (HCB), the new Innovation Hub in Lisbon with Start-up Lisboa, has been organised for the afternoon.
The HCB is the home of a vibrant, inspiring, and innovative group of entrepreneurs from all over the world.  Attendees can expect an in-depth introduction to the HCB Living Lab, whose mission is the promotion of the efficient management of resources, with a particular focus on accelerating the transition to a sustainable and circular economy.
The conference is open to IPBN members and non-members and is free of charge. Registration is open here.

For more information, please contact Arnold Delville, General Manager, Ireland Portugal Business Network – [email protected] – +351 969 196 055
www.ireland-portugal.com