POST EVENT REPORT 2016

Exhibitions & Conferences for South-East Europe

NEXT EVENT: 7 - 9 March 2017, Soa, Bulgaria

Energy
Efficiency
& Renewables

Waste Management & Recycling

With the Patronage of:

Long-term Partner: With the Support of:

Ministry of Regional
Development and Public Works

Media Sponsor:

Ofcial Media Partners:

Ofcial Hotel:

Organizer:

EE & RE (energy efciency & renewables), Save the Planet (waste management and recycling) and
Smart Cities were again a platform for product launches and knowledge exchange between local
and European key players. The three exhibitions and conferences were organized by Via Expo from
5 to 7 April 2016 in Soa, Bulgaria.
nvironmentally friendly and nancially rewarding technologies and solutions were presented.
The aim of the event was to address policies, stimulate investments and highlight the progress in the
Region.
Bozhidar Lukarski, the Bulgarian Minister of Economy and Ivelina Vasileva, the Bulgarian Minister of
Environment and Water opened the Forum which was under the patronage of the two ministries and
Soa Municipality. Ulrike Straka - Commercial Counsellor, Advantage Austria Soa; Traian Chebeleu
- Deputy Secretary General, Permanent International Secretariat, Black Sea Economic Cooperation
Organization; Anne Lise Rognlidalen - Program Manager of Innovation Norway, the Norwegian
program "Innovation for Green Industry" also welcomed the participants.

EXHIBITIONS

Direct exhibitors from Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria,

Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Italy,

Poland, Portugal, the Netherlands, Slovakia, Spain
and Switzerland

40% were from abroad, 35% - newcomers

For 7th year in a row the Austrian Pavilion was

realized with the active support of ADVANTAGE

AUSTRIA Soa.

Trade visitors from 26 countries seized the

opportunity to establish new contatcts and learn

about the trends in the sectors.
EXHIBITOR PROFILE
Energy Efciency: Energy Efciency in Different
Industry Branches; Cogeneration; Efcient Lighting;
Thermal Pumps; Energy Storage; Energy Efcient
Construction; Isolation; Energy Saving HVAC
Systems, etc.
Renewable Energy: Biomass & Bioenergy;
Waste-to-Energy, Geothermal Energy; Hydro
Energy; Wind Energy; Solar Thermal Energy,
Photovoltaic Systems, Energy and Resource
Recovery; Invertors, etc.
Smart Cities: Building IT Management Systems;
Passive House; Smart Lighting, Smart Heating and
Cooling; Smart Transport; Information and
Communication Technologies (ICT) for Smart
Cities; Smart Energy, etc.
Save the Planet: Effective Waste Processing; Waste
Collection Technologies; Transport Vehicles; Waste
Treatment Equipment; Hazardous Waste
Treatment; Composting; Waste-to-Energy;
Recycling Systems and Technologies, etc.

Partners:

Visitors

The Exhibitions attracted more than 3500

visitors from 26 countries: Austria, Belgium,
Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark,
Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Greece,
Hungary, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Macedonia,
Norway, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Spain,
Sweden Turkey, the Netherlands, UK and USA.
VISITOR PROFILE
Agriculture and Forestry; Architecture,
Construction, Real Estate; Associations & NGOs;
Automation, Electronics; Chemical Industry;
Energy Saving; Engineering & Installation;
Environment; Financing & Investment; Food
Industry; Fuels; Heating and Air Conditioning;
IT & Telecommunication; Lighting; Media; Paper
and Packaging Industry; Power Engineering;
Recycling; Renewable Energy; State & Municipal
Administration; Tourism; Transport, Logistics;
Waste Management.
Visitors by Region
20%
From Soa 45%
45%
From the interior of Bulgaria 35%
35%
From abroad 20%
..........................................................................................
Visitors by Company Activity
18%
Manufacture 42%
42%
Services 40%
40%
Trade 18%
..........................................................................................
Visitors by Job Position
24%
Manager 44%
44%
Expert 32%
32%
Marketing, Sales 24%

CONFERENCES

43 speakers 39% from Bulgaria, 61% from

12 countries
Program Highlights
ENERGY EFFICIENCY AND RENEWABLES
Main Sessions: District Heating: Connecting
Local and Renewable Energy Sources - in Partnership
with Euroheat & Power, Belgium; Geothermal
Heat; Passive House; Energy Performance
of Buildings Directive.
Speakers from: International Geothermal
Association (Germany); Austrain Energy Agency;
German Sustainable Building Council; Ministry
of Economy (Bulgaria); PU Europe (Belgium), etc.
SAVE THE PLANET
Main Sessions: The New Circular Economy
Package; Construction and Demolition Material
Recovery; How to Turn Waste into Resource in
the Food, Agriculture and Wood Processing
Sectors.
Speakers from: European Federation of Waste
Management and Environmental Services;
European Biogas Association; DG Environment,
European Commission; Ministry of Environment
and Water (Bulgaria); ProPellets; Martin GmbH;
Germany; Elit 95 (Bulgaria), etc.
SMART CITIES
Main Sessions: Challenges to the Architectural
Future of the Cities; Green Innovation Business
Opportunities - Innovation Norway Panel; Green
Industry Innovation Programme Bulgaria;
Covenant of Mayors: New Perspectives and
Opportunities for Bulgarian Municipalities;
Intelligent Transport and Energy Systems.
Speakers from: American Institute of Architects;
Chamber of Architects in Bulgaria; Ministry of
Transport, Information Technology and
Communications (Bulgaria); Ministry of
Economy (Bulgaria); Innovation Norway;
Covenant of Mayors (Belgium); Bulgarian
Facility Management Association, etc.

Media Partners:

Attendees

207 participants from 14 countris: Austria,

Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic,
Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy,
Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Romania, Serbia,
Sweden, Spain, the Netherlands,Turkey, UK and
USA.
Attendees by Region
From Soa - 45%
22%
From abroad - 33%
45%
From the interior
33%
of Bulgaria - 22%
..........................................................................................
Attendees by Job Position
Expert - 42%
Manager - 30%
Marketing and sales - 28%

28%

42%

30%

ATTENDEE PROFILE
Agriculture & Forestry; Architecture &
Construction; Association & NGO; Bank,
Finance, Investments; Chemical Industry;
Electronics & Automation; Energy Efciency;
Engineering & Installation; Environment; IT and
Telecommunication; Light Industry; Metals,
Machine Building; Oil and Gas Industry;
Packaging; Power Engineering; Renewable
Energy; Research & University; Smart Cities;
State & Municipality Administration; Waste
& Recycling.

PROMOTION

An extensive promotional campaign was carried out in 19 countries. The forum was supported by 152 partners
and media partners. The event was announced in international and national media - Internet sites, news agencies,
specialized magazines, radio stations.
How do we reach the event target audience?
Email reach:

LinkedIn followers:

Facebook followers:

Website reach:

187 000
11 800+
100 000+ .................................................................................
5 100

WELCOME MESSAGES & TESTIMONIALS

Mr. Bozhidar Lukarski, Minister of Economy of the Republic of Bulgaria
The increasing of energy efciency and building of smart cities, based on implemented innovations, are determining factors for
achieving sustainable development and accelerated economic growth. They directly concern not only the substantial improvement of
the conditions and environment in which we are living, but also help for more competitive national economy.
Under the conditions of limited resources, including energy, it is essential to create intelligent production, which can multiply the
effectiveness of the inputs. This is a necessary condition for ensuring the creation of added value in our economy and to achieve
raising of our standards in a long-term period.
Mrs. Ivelina Vasileva, Minister of Environment & Water of the Republic of Bulgaria
I congratulate you on the occasion of the opening of the SEE Conference "Save the Planet", which this year will again present the best
practices in waste management and recycling. Focusing on innovations in this eld, the event will display the latest technologies and
knowledge exchange in the public and private sector and consider waste as a resource.
I would like to thank the organizers for their invitation to the Ministry of Environment and Water to take part in the seventh edition of
the Conference. This is an opportunity for us to present the novelties and key aspects of the Bulgarian legislation on waste
management trends and the achieved results regarding recycling and utilization.
Mrs. Lilyana Pavlova, Minister of Regional Development and Public Works of the Republic of Bulgaria
I am very glad that the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works is among the institutions that support the SEE Forum on
Energy Efciency (EE) and Smart Cities as EE is among the priorities of the Ministry and the Bulgarian Government.
Your contribution as an organizer of the specialized event is extremely important because the topic is a key one for our society and
economy. When you started the Forum on Energy Efciency 12 years ago, the energy efciency topic was unknown and inapplicable
for Bulgaria. Today even the children know about it. Measures for saving energy and environment protection are deeply underlined in
the construction sector and in all spheres of the economy as well.
Ms. Ulrike Straka, Commercial Counsellor, Advantage Austria Soa
Today Austria is a leader in Europe and all over the world through its technologies for environmental protection. Austrian companies,
participants in this years exhibition "Save the Planet", are already known in Bulgaria. They offer equipment from sorting of waste to
its utilization and technologies for production of heat and electricity from biomass and wood waste. At Save the Planet they present
their latest enhancements and would like to attract more new customers.
Ms. Gabriele Brandl, Austrian Energy Agency
The event was organised very well, it was a great knowledge exchange! We are very interested to participate in the next event
hopefully in 2017! Looking forward to the further cooperation!
Prof. Robert Gavriliuc, Ph.D. President of the Romanian Geoexchange Society
Once again, I want to thank you and the whole organization team for your hospitality and care for all the participants. I really hope that
there are many cooperation possibilities which have not been exploited yet, but which can offer great perspective for the future.
Mr. Dan Staniaszek, Senior Expert, Buildings Performance Institute Europe (BPIE)
You have a professional team and I was well looked after at all stages. I believe the SEE market is emerging, with great potential, but
of course catching up with the rest of the EU after a legacy of underinvestment. Clearly, events like the SEE Forum can denitely help
the market.

Are you interested in getting more information - our team will be delighted to answer you in a short time.
T +359 32 512 900, 88 679 29 43 E ofce@viaexpo.com W www.viaexpo.com