German Federal Minister Annette Schavan will open the German-Brazilian Trade Fair and Congress for Innovation and Sustainability – ECOGERMA 2009 – on 12th March 2009.

Globalisation and climate protection present a major challenge to politics, the economy and society. Consequently, the worldwide demand for innovative solutions, such as energy efficiency and environmentally friendly technologies, is constantly rising.

Against this background, the German-Brazilian Trade Fair and Congress for Innovation and Sustainability – ECOGERMA 2009 – will be held in São Paulo from 12 to15 March 2009. This multi-industry trade fair provides both German and Brazilian research institutions and enterprises with a platform to raise their visibility and expand their international business contacts, partnerships and collaborations in the field of environmental technologies and sustainability.

The Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) will contribute to the German Federal Government's joint stand with its initiative “Research in Germany – Land of Ideas”. The BMBF stand (Hall B, Stand 39) includes more than 20 exhibitors and will visitors a deep insight into German R&D in the field of environmental technology. The exhibiting institutions include:

• Fraunhofer-Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology
• TASK-Project of the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ)
• Leibniz-Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF)

ECOGERMA 2009 is accompanied by a conference on environmental technologies and questions of sustainability. BMBF will hold two workshops during the conference, one on “Research and Environmental Innovations for Future Markets”, the other on “Evolving Sustainable Innovation Systems / Dialogue for Sustainability”.

The symposium on "Research and Environmental Innovations for Future Markets" developed together with the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) will be held from 14.00 to 18.00 on 12 March 2009. It will give visitors plenty of opportunity to inform themselves about the latest developments in environmental technology "Made in Germany" and will also enable them to make contacts with German scientists, researchers and representatives of industry.

The topics are: Remediation Technologies for Contaminated Soils and Sites, Sustainable Water Technologies and Water Infrastructure Systems, Sustainable Industrial Production, Resource and Waste Management.

For more information on the initiative “Research in Germany” by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, on the German exhibitors at ECOGERMA 2009, plus pictures, please go to: www.research-in-germany.de