WTC Moscow representative participated in the regional meeting of European World Trade Centers, which took place in Trieste, Italy. During the event they talked with our friends from the WTCA Family about the current issues in the Association

Environmental issues, comfortable business environment, as well as the development of "smart cities" in France - a chat with WTC Lille&Arras Executive Director Laurie Grzechnik.

Hello, сan I ask, how does the idea of sustainability, energy efficiency and, as we call it, “the comfort business environment” is realized or manifested at your WTC? Do you play these 21st century games? Is it important (implemented, about to implement, planning to implement) for you NOW?

Laurie Grzechnik: Hello, thank you for this interview. Concerning the WTC Lille&Arras we are very well-engaged in the process of the 3rd industrial revolution in our Region. That means that we are very-well aware of the environmental problems, linked also to the ITC (information and communication technology) sectors - for us it is really something that we are focusing on NOW. Concerning the activities of our WTC: all that is connected to "the clean energy" is also very important to us. Our Region is well-engaged in the process in link with a business club called Rev3 which is for the 3rd industrial revolution. Therefore, the companies with concrete projects are here together to improve their business in these specific sectors.

You are in contact with the club and you help them to facilitate this dialogue.

Laurie Grzechnik: That’s right. We are a part of the process. The club is run by the Chamber of Commerce and the Regional Council of the Northern part of France called Hauts-De-France. This theme is shared by almost all the business community members of the region and it is really a core business. The members of our WTC Business Club have contacts with the companies of the Club Rêv 3. We work together.

Everybody is playing their part. Smart-city: a technology of the future or a current reality?

Laurie Grzechnik: It is realty up-to-date, it is really NOW. We have really a reflection on that theme in our business community. Smart-cities and all that is there: the smart-grid, the EcoMobility and others.

How do YOU understand the smart-city? Only the technology?

Laurie Grzechnik: It’s a global project for cities! And with the 3rd industrial revolution we are really a part of it. We have different clusters in the region, and these clusters gather all the companies from different sectors: we were just talking EcoMobility and so on. So they really concentrate on that.

What about those large commercial real estate development companies. Do they tend to be involved with this 21st century idea? Or they keep to themselves in this respect and they are separate – “look, we will build, and we will get the rents, the cash flows coming-in, and then, when we have the time, we will have a look at how we can contribute to the smart-city”.

Laurie Grzechnik: No, it is definitely the main preoccupation of the developers, linked with the public authority. They work hand-in-hand and it is an obligation of theirs. They really want to improve and work on the global projects with the eco-systems in order to live well in this city, to help the job-creation and the clean-tech and so on. For example, for the new buildings – the wooden buildings, self-sufficient buildings. And in the Northern part of France we have also the big retailers like Decathlon or Leroy Merlin that have been involved in this 3rd industrial revolution to improve on the way of consuming, and to create jobs, new jobs – linked with less waste.

It sounds like the business community took up this trend. The stress here in on the COMMUNITY. They don’t keep to themselves, they are engaged.

Laurie Grzechnik: The 1st industrial revolution of the 19th century – led by the coal and the mass production. The 2nd industrial revolution – the mid-20th century with petrol, electric (it come down to the sources of energy). Our Region was the leader in the first industrial revolution with coal-mining, textile industry and so on. Then we completely missed the 2nd industrial revolution. That’s way we are really well-engaged in the 3rd industrial revolution and we’ve developed a big network of companies and public authorities and so on to be successful in ITC, in sustainability, in clean-tech – all that is around the 3rd industrial revolution. There is the web-page called Rev3 and it will let you know more about that.

Do you think you or your partners will be interested in participating in a session on smart-cities: online or visit us in Moscow in May?

Laurie Grzechnik: We have to consider that and to find the correct moment for this. It’s the question of HOW and WHEN.

Thank you very much.