International Convention of Glass Industry Associations: two days filled with meetings and discussions, ideas and opportunities

Work at the first International Convention of Glass Industry Associations, the two-day event organized in Murano (Venice) by Vitrum, and backed by ITA, has come to an end.

Representatives of the leading glass industry Associations and journalists from the trade press from around the world joined in the meeting.

The first International Convention of Glass Industry Associations met in Murano (Venice) June 21st and 22nd, 2017, bringing together delegations from Italy, Germany, France, the UK, Spain, Poland, Russia, Brazil, Slovakia and the United States of America.

With the valuable support of ITA (Italian Trade Agency), Vitrum’s organizational team convened for the first time ever, under one roof, the leading glass industry representatives, in order to openly and jointly tackle the most relevant topics of interest to the industry worldwide.

Italian and international industry representatives met in Murano to discuss their ideas, objectives and issues, while also providing the journalists in attendance with a competent and attentive think-tank ready to grasp new ideas and opportunities.

On the first day, the delegations were formally welcomed to the island of Murano at the Stazione Sperimentale del Vetro, research center of excellence and global point of reference for associations, universities and institutions affiliated with the world of glass.

Here, the 18 participating associations made presentations highlighting their primary activities and services. Following the presentations, the representatives toured the Stazione labs. The evening ended with a networking dinner in one of Murano’s most typical and exclusive restaurants.

The second day of the Convention began with a visit to the Abate Zanetti Istituto Scolastico Superiore “Glass High School”, where the delegates had the opportunity to explore this groundbreaking and, at the same time, historic educational campus, exclusive in the art of Murano glassmaking.

The inaugural class, with 8 students, just completed the first year of courses, but 19 new up-and-comers are already enrolled for the next school year.

During this tour, the guests also enjoyed practical demonstrations of the skills of the Murano glass masters. Convention work sessions resumed in late morning at the Stazione Sperimentale del Vetro.

To make glass the material that the building and construction industries in general can no longer do without; strengthen the increasingly key role it plays in the field of renewable energy as well as in high-tech niche industries, like state-of-the art telecommunications; achieve “critical mass” with the leading political parties to promote updating of industry standards and regulations; promote solutions that can apply pressure in terms of energy savings and efficiency in production processes; boost best practices by supporting technical consultation tools at all levels and around the world; respond to the growing need for industry communications by leveraging the importance of promoting the value of using glass in daily life to the general public; stimulate a corporate culture of ongoing, high-level education, training and updating; and finally, to boost the concept of a large community network, where the next generation, along with veteran industry professionals, can meet, discuss and stimulate one other with new ideas, drawing upon a firmly grounded technical, historical and artistic culture accessible, from today forward, to future generations.

These are just some of the topics discussed during the second day of the Convention.

“For us at Vitrum, having successfully assembled the leading glass industry associations in our country, in Murano -- cradle of the history and tradition of global glassmaking -- is a huge satisfaction. The enthusiasm that was already palpable on the first day of work sessions spread contagiously to the second day of meetings, confirming that our initiative was right on target”, remarked Dino Zandonella Necca, president of Vitrum, at the conclusion of the Convention.

“As business entrepreneurs and institutional representatives, we are all united by a genuine passion for glass, a precious and irreplaceable material. And that was clear in these two days of meetings. Being able to express our respective needs, country by country, with the aim of bringing common aims into focus and concentrate our energies on a shared goal for the entire industry was the winning component of this important meeting”.

“This is only the beginning of a journey that will focus, in an inspiring and constructive manner, on the world of glass and its related processing”, added Laura Biason, director of Vitrum.

“Future meetings have already been set. The first operational working groups will meet on October 4th during Vitrum 2017 and, in the Spring of 2018, the second annual meeting will be held in Murano”.

“But now it is time to focus on the 20th edition of Vitrum in Milan, with the firm belief – continues the director– that we have opened a new channel of communication that will benefit the entire sector. We are confident that the Convention of Associations, meeting annually, will become a viable opportunity, essential to the entire industry, to meet anddiscuss. It will allow ongoing stimulation of dialog, not only around current industry affairs, but also on its future goals and on the issues that it will become increasingly possible to tackle together, in a genuine atmosphere of partnership and cooperation”.

PARTICIPATING WERE:

Associations and their representatives
Abividro, Lucien Belmonte
AGGA, Patrick Gavaghan
AIHV – Storia del Vetro, Maria Grazia Diani
AIHV, Sylvia Fünfschilling
Assovetro, Lina Incocciati
ATIV, Alessandro Bandini
GIMAV, Aldo Faccenda
Glass Alliance – Glass for Europe, Cedric Janssens
Glass Glazing Federation, James Lee
ICG, Alicia Duràn Carrera
NGA, Susan Jacob
Slovak Glass Society, Peter Simurka
Stazione Sperimentale del Vetro, Stefano Manoli
Steklosouz, Victor Osipov
VDMA, Bernd-Holger Zippe and Timo Feuerbach

Trade journals
Asian Glass
Glas in Beeld
Glas Fenster Fassade
Glass in IT style
Glass Magazine
Glass Russia
Glass Technology International
Glass Worldwide
Glaswelt
Rivista del Vetro
Swiat Szkla
US Glass
Verre et Protections Mag
Vidrio Plano
Vitrea