structural development

What is Ivana doing at all the conferences?

At ENO, Ivana Petrovska, project assistant for the innovation team, creates a monthly in-house “newspaper” that is actually a presentation but is so full of news that we call it our “innovation newspaper”.

Our colleague creates them for the innovation team, but also for all other interested parties - because of course future-oriented structural development can only succeed if everyone involved is informed about megatrends, technological developments and also the latest funding opportunities at EU level. And because Ivana goes to a lot of trouble to keep us informed and inspired - and tries with us to look into the future in order to develop the district of Görlitz in a sustainable and forward-looking way - we want to present the work of Ivana Petrovska from the Introduce the ENO structure development team!

Hello!

As a project assistant and member of the innovation team, I always try to keep an eye on global innovations and creative solutions to a variety of challenges. One of my responsibilities is to monitor sustainable innovations around the world (via the internet of course) and keep our team updated on the global solutions. It is important to continuously check which directions developments are taking and which research data and innovations can potentially be adopted in our district. Lost? Not with us!

I came to ENO from North Macedonia and immediately fell in love with the district of Görlitz . As a graduate psychologist with an "outside" perspective, I see a region undergoing structural change - at a significant point that opens the doors to economic, ecological and social development. The world is constantly changing. Not only as a psychologist do I know that all developments must contribute to greater well-being of the citizens. When researching new ideas for implementation, this is my No. 1 criterion. Regional development is made by people and is FOR people. The changes must always improve the socio-psychological level and lead to better mental health and, if the project fits (such as Lausitz Vital ) also physical health - there is no other way.

Another daily activity that I really enjoy doing is exploring funding programs and support offerings for “regions in transition” and for start-up companies. This always includes collecting best-practice information, i.e. looking at where something has already been tried and how it can best be done. There are many other regions that have already successfully completed their transition process. These regions are often very committed to helping other regions in transition and sharing their insights, valuable information and experiences.

One of these regions is the Zasavje in Slovenia, which has more than 250 years of mining history and is now establishing a center for development and training in zero-carbon technologies as part of its transition plan. Ida-Viru region , Estonia's biggest polluter, shared information on the challenges it had to face, as well as tips and advice on how to prepare and implement an efficient transition plan. We are also no strangers to international knowledge transfer: our Mühlrose in the north of the district tells, for example, the story of the successful construction of a new village after the excavation and the expansion of mining activities in the Nochten opencast mine .

Those who, like Ivana, leave Görlitz on the early train to Leipzig will be rewarded with such impressions of the trade fair

I also attend conferences regularly. Mostly online, but sometimes I can also go to Leipzig, for example, and in addition to snapping great photos in the morning sun, I also get to let my eyes open again and again through new ways of thinking. The last conference I attended was the Green Hydrogen Conference in Leipzig . This event was great - I learned so much! At several lectures I learned about important new financing opportunities, decarbonization plans, different projects, hydrogen strategies in other countries, innovative technologies and projects (in the field of geothermal energy and energy storage, just to name a few). And also completely different methods for the development of post-mining areas were presented. I was constantly jotting down everything to pass on the new knowledge to my colleagues in the structural change team .

Always with the development of the LKGR in mind, I left the conference with the feeling of wanting to set and achieve even higher goals (initially for my work) and also for the future of the LKGR. It was so inspiring that I immediately started working on new ideas. Just what breakthroughs are pending in the global hydrogen industry - I definitely want to work for our LKGR to develop attractive, efficient and sustainable future projects. We in the ENO are not that far away from that, after all, we initiated the first serve in the matter of hydrogen together with many great partners in the summer...at a regional level we are all doing quite well here in the LKGR - with our 1. Hydrogen Forum, which was just the first of many!

There is a tremendous amount of opportunity just waiting to become a reality here as well.

And from many conversations I know: there are institutions, organizations, innovative companies and start-ups that see the potential that our LKGR offers. In addition, they are open to cooperation and more than willing to locate their companies and innovative technologies here. With a twinkle in my eye and an enthusiastic voice, I can say - the future looks bright!

If you would like to know more about our ongoing projects, are looking for a business partner or have an idea that we might be able to work on together, please don't hesitate to This email address is being protected from spam bots! To display JavaScript must be turned on. .

See you soon at this point - I'll keep you posted!

Many greetings!

Ivana