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The workshop “SSbD in Practice: Current Status, Critical Barriers and Success Cases”, organised by EXELISIS and supported by the European Union, was successfully held on 20 April 2026 at the ZEUS Wyndham Grand Athens, bringing together more than 140 registered participants, both on‑site and online. The event opened with a welcome address by Mr Alexandros Katraouzos, President of the Board of the Hellenic Association of Chemical Industries (HACI) and CEO of NEOTEX S.A. The first thematic session, “SSbD Framework, Policy & Regulatory Readiness,” was chaired by Dr Alexis Grigoropoulos and Dr Ioanna Katsavou from EXELISIS, and featured presentations by Dr Georgios Katalagarianakis, former European Commission officer, who reflected on the evolution of the SSbD concept; Professor Eugenia Valsami‑Jones from the University of Birmingham, who presented the core scientific principles of Safe and Sustainable‑by‑Design; and Mr Apostolos Skarlatos, Vice President for Regulatory and Sustainability Affairs at SustChem S.A. and Deputy General Director of HACI, who discussed synergies between SSbD and Ecodesign within the EU product regulatory framework.
The second thematic session, “SSbD in Action: Industrial Success Stories & Real‑World Impact,” was chaired by Mr Alexandros Katraouzos and demonstrated a strong interest from industry and the audience in SSbD, with strong industrial representation and active engagement.
With contributions from Marina Sofra (R&D Manager, VITEX S.A.), Maddalena Rostagno (CEO, DG Advanced), Stavros Moschidis (Regulatory Affairs Manager, ISOMAT), Aris Gorogias (QHSE Manager, Megara Resins Group), Emanuele Grillo (Chief Operating Officer, Tecnochimica S.p.A.), and Electra Papadopoulou (Senior Researcher, CHIMAR), this session shared concrete examples of implementing SSbD principles across different industrial sectors.
The workshop concluded with Thematic Session 3, organised as a panel session and round‑table discussion on R&D challenges in SSbD implementation, moderated by Prοf Kostas Pyrgakis (University of West Attica). This session included lively discussion, confirming the relevance and timeliness of SSbD as a guiding framework for sustainable innovation. Participants highlighted the value of cross‑sector dialogue and the need for continued collaboration to support the transition from research to market‑ready SSbD solutions.
Following an introductory presentation by Stelios Bikos, IRISS Project representative and Coordinator of SusChem Greece, the panel brought together representatives from several EU‑funded projects, including BIO‑SUSHY (Mireille Poelman, Materia Nova), MOZART (Professor Luca Magagnin, Politecnico di Milano), PROPLANET (Johannes Seif, IDENER), NICKEFFECT (Aliona Nicolenco, CIDETEC), SAFARI (Carla Martins, ISQ), FreeMe (Mirco Valsecchi, Gaser Group), and TORNADO (Raquel Rodriguez, Tecnalia), fostering an interactive exchange on research needs, barriers, and future directions for advancing Safe and Sustainable‑by‑Design.
For more information and access to the workshop agenda, please visit: https://www.exelisis-events.gr/ssbd/
