The 20th edition of the renowned European Conference by United Nations UNEP Ozonaction, IIR, AREA and Centro Studi Galileo, which took place on 8th - 9th June 2023 at the Politecnico di Milano, ended with the cheers of the audience: the hundreds of attendees were able to appreciate over forty presentations by leading experts in the HVACR sector (heating, ventilation, air conditioning, refrigeration and heat pumps), during a one-of-a-kind event (see photos).
Under the auspices of the Italian Ministry of Environment and Energy Security, the European Conference was organized and delivered thanks to the joint efforts by some of the main stakeholders in the sector: in addition to Centro Studi Galileo and United Nations – UNEP OzonAction, the event is provided by the IIF-IIR (International Institute of Refrigeration, Paris), AREA (union of twenty-four European RAC Associations of contractors), ATF (Italian Association of Refrigeration Technicians) and REI (Renewable Energy Institute, Edinburgh).
The 2023 Conference was a blast also in terms of numbers: 42 speeches, 220 participants in presence and 50 connected remotely, joining from 38 Countries and 4 continents.
During the event there was space for two extremely significant moments:
the first-ever award ceremony to the winner of the "Women in Cooling Video Competition", a new prize that was established by AREA in cooperation with CSG; the winner was Léana Khaled Payan, young French technician of Axima Refrigeration, who was evaluated as the best among the 12 participants (3 from Spain, 2 from France and Turkey, the rest from Ireland, Poland, Italy, Norway and Slovakia). The winner was elected during the latest AREA General Assembly, held in Estonia at the end of May, by a jury that included both representatives of the association and the World Refrigeration Day. All videos are available on AREA’s YouTube channel and Facebook page and were recorded in the technician’s native language (subtitled), to enhance inclusiveness and encourage more women into the sector.
the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between the African Union of RAC Associations U-3ARC and the IIF-IIR, the International Institute of Refrigeration, which will open a new era of mutual collaboration between the two realities. The signature was made respectively by the President and Director General of the two institutions, Madi Sakandé and Didier Coulomb.
The event also included a discussion with Coen van de Sande, President of AREA. The interview touched on several key points, including AREA's position on the new F-Gas Regulation.
In the frame of the 20th EUConfRAC, there was also space for celebrations: to celebrate the anniversary of 40 years of history for CSG European Conferences, the first ever held in 1982 and now reaching its 20th edition, on the evening of Thursday 8th June a celebratory cocktail was offered, along with a splendid commemorative cake.
The Conference concluded with the announcement of the next edition’s dates, scheduled on 12–13 June 2025.
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