The European Congress dedicated to the novelties of leather chemistry will take place  from 18 to 20 September 2022, the organisation of which has been entrusted to AICC, the Italian Leather Chemists Association. We speak of course of the “III IULTCS EuroCongress Vicenza 2022” for which has been chosen a title that evokes a desire of rebirth and restart: “Renaissance – The Next Leather Generation”.
From a technical-scientific point of view, the Congress – which will be hosted at the Palladio Theater of the Congress Centre of the Vicenza Fair – aims to turn the spotlight on 4 major themes: development of increasingly sustainable and performing chemical products, technological process innovation, new leather analysis methods and sustainability of the sector, seen with a view to reducing waste and enhancing by-products. To ensure the realisation of a high-level event, AICC has set up a powerful organisational machine. We talk about it with Valerio Nori, president of the Commission that deals with services and logistics, who announces objectives and challenges to be overcome, highlighting the importance of also creating an environment favourable to socialisation that has been so lacking in the last two years.

At what point is the organisational machine of Eurocongress?
“The organisation is well underway, we have completed a rough programme and selected almost all the locations for social events. Furthermore, the sector is already responding very well, above our optimistic expectations: the first registrations and sponsorships are already on the way”.

How does the Logistics Commission work?
“The logistics commission consists of 13 members who represent the various associations that co-organise the event. I refer to UNIC – Italian Tanneries, UNPAC (Union of Italian Manufacturers of Tanning Auxiliaries), ASSOMAC (National Association of Manufacturers of Machinery) and the Veneto Leather District, the main associations of the supply chain with which AICC shares decisions. We are working following the timing that the organising committee has indicated to us, which provides that the most important structures for the holding of the congress itself (location, hotel and transport) are chosen in the first part, and that the various details that will have to make the Eurocongress unforgettable will be defined in the second part”.

What goals have you set for yourself?
“Our goal is to organise a congress defined in every detail. We certainly will be able to guarantee an excellent technical level, but our commission wants to ensure a high level also in socialising activities. After the stop imposed in the last two years, we believe that today people have a strong desire to recover the pleasure of being together and we want to create all the conditions to make this possible”.

How many participants do you expect?
“We aim to match the results of the latest IULTCS events that took place in Europe, so we expect at least 400 people even though we are selecting locations that will allow us to host more if necessary”.

What does the social events programme include?
“On Sunday afternoon a guided tour will be organised through the streets and beauties of Palladio’s city. The tour will end at the Olympic Theater where the opening event of the congress will be held at 7:00 pm, i.e a musical show, and then continue with a buffet dinner. In these weeks we are visiting some of the different locations that we have identified as possible for the gala dinner on Monday evening; once defined, we will proceed with the definition of the hotels from which we will guarantee shuttle services to and from the various venues and locations of the congress.
For the last day of the congress, we are planning a tour into the leather district. The idea we are developing is to give guests the opportunity to visit all the peculiarities that our territory can offer; in addition to the tanneries we would therefore like to include in this tour also purifiers, companies that produce machines, chemical auxiliaries and companies that recover waste from leather production. Another idea we are working on is to create an event open to all citizens in order to communicate, even to people who are not directly involved in our sector, the value of leather as a material that fully represents the principles of the circular economy”.

The Call for Papers is open: those who wish to participate as speakers are invited to send an abstract and a presentation of their work to the Organising Committee which can be reached at the following LINK: www.iultcs2022italy.org