The Marc Cornelissen Brightlands Award is a way of encouraging talented pioneers to persevere, show courage and leadership on the road to achieving their dream. The award competition offers all participants a Brightlands platform for knowledge, networking and collaboration, and for the winner, a cash prize of €35,000 to accelerate the realization of their dream. After the preselection event, the jury selected three candidates who will compete as the finalists during the official award ceremony on 20 January 2021. Brightsite is one of the partners who want to keep Marc’s work for Tomorrow’s life alive and work together to support sustainability pioneers to go beyond boundaries.
Support sustainability pioneers
Brightsite is committed to creating a sustainable and competitive chemical industry. In addition to developing innovative technologies and promoting their commercial application, one of the pillars of the knowledge center is aimed at education. After all, training a new generation of employees who can put innovations into practice is a requirement for the successful transition within the chemical sector with the aim of making this sector climate neutral. In the spirit of Marc Cornelissen, it is the ambition to make the Marc Cornelissen Brightlands Award the driving force behind the development of a community of talented sustainability pioneers nationally and internationally. A community contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations, that is supported by a network of individuals and companies with a heart for talent development in sustainability. As a result, this award can grow into a nationally recognized talent award in the field of initiatives that contribute to solutions for sustainability issues in society.
Arnold Stokking, Managing Director Brightsite:
“Innovation is leading in Brightsite’s activities. The Marc Cornelissen Brightlands Award is a symbol of innovation, because Marc Cornelissen was a shining example for people who see it as a challenge to walk new paths. That is why we are one of the partners of this incentive prize for sustainability pioneers, a prize with which we would like to identify ourselves. The award offers plenty of opportunities to draw attention to the importance of a green and circular chemical industry and to actively involve people in it. I am talking in particular about science talents for whom the award is a direct source of inspiration to contribute to the greening of the industry and thus the sustainability of society.”
Marc Cornelissen Brightlands 2021 Award goes to Panos Kouris
Based at Brightlands Chemelot Campus since last year with his startup company Vertoro, Panos Kouris is the winner of the 2021 Marc Cornelissen Brightlands Award. His advanced plans to extract lignin from wood waste, which in turn can be used as fuel for ships and as a raw material for plastics, garnered the most favor with the jury. Dysmus Kisulu of Solar Freeze and Werner Schouten of the Youth Climate Movement shared second place.
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