Going Smart Green Now – our motto for ECO11 is a call to action as we need more people and money to build our Smart Green Economy. After 5 months of hard work the ECO11 Agenda is online. The current version is 0.9. We only have a few slots left for startup pitches, hot companies to watch and a final keynote that sends our participants home with ultimate motivation. We have assembled 68 ECO11 Speakers showcasing Europe’s leading Cleantech VCs, startups, corporates and visionary scientists. Following is my personal agenda preview. I am extremely grateful and look forward to a mind-blowing Smart Green Economy Congress which you definitely should not miss.

Kicking-off ECO11, Prof. Dr. Michael Braungart (EPEA) talks about the Cradle to Cradle Economy and explains why eco-effective design of materials, products and services is necessary for our survival and how it should be done. On day 2, the famous French VC Denis Lucquin (Sofinnova Partners) complements Braungart’s intelligent design concept in his talk about Industrial Biotech emphasising the need for new smart green materials and the resulting huge investment opportunities.

Reinsuring the world’s biggest insurance companies, Munich Re has a huge interest in the cost of Climate Change and managing its risks. Prof. Dr. Peter Höppe tells us about the increasing number of natural catastrophes that are attributable to climate change. Unfortunately, a major part of the damage very often is uninsured loss. If there is no money for rebuilding what has been destroyed we will eventually loose living space. The massive number of climate refugees will look for new places to live.

Companies consume many resources, produce lots of CO2 emissions and should proactively minimise their carbon footprint. Sustainability Management is not only a major corporate responsibility but also the key success factor in the global competition driven by consumers that use the Internet to buy smart and green together. Michael Bültmann presents how far Nokia‘s managers have advanced on the Sustainability Learning Curve and how they design Green Products.

A German Green IT startup that quickly crossed the Atlantic after its foundation is JouleX whose American CEO Thomas Noonan flies to Berlin to unveil the future of Enterprise Energy Management. Thomas demos how smart software can help companies save energy costs and explains why JouleX is a good example for the intersection of the Smart Economy and the Green Economy.

The mobility of people and goods is a key driver of our Smart Green Economy. In my view, we should work asap on Sustainable Social Mobility – think sharing rides in shared zero-emission electric vehicles. Dr. Gregor Matthies (Bain & Company), one of the best automotive consultants in Europe, analyses the emobility strategies of the big car makers. Afterwards we let the Young Future Mobility Leaders share their visions and advice for the big players on our inspring mobility startup panel.

If we share small online city cars, the city of the future needs less parking space and can offer more public space. Of course, future cities should be Smart Green Cities. Prof. Dr. Meinhard von Gerkan (gmp Architects) presents the masterplan for the Smart Green City TXL+ in Berlin. Prof. Dr. Werner Sobek (Werner Sobek Engineering and Design) lectures on Sustainable Building and Bruno Derungs (Climate Change Capital) shares the latest Cleantech for Green Buildings and Smart Cities. Afterwards we have the honour to have Renate Künast (Alliance 90/The Greens) on stage. She will share her Visions and Policies for the Smart Green Capital Berlin. As you may know, Renate Künast is the Greens’ candidate for the election of Berlin’s Governing Mayor coming up on 18 September 2011.

The lighting in cities and buildings consumes a lot of energy. Organic LED is a new Green Photonics technology that has a bright future and can save lots of energy. CFO Harry Böhme represents Novaled from Dresden, one of the leading European OLED startups and a hot company to watch in the Energy Efficiency sector.

As they are really strong, Novaled may already be on the longlist of target companies the new SPAC European Cleantech 1 (ECT 1) is interested in. On day 1 in Room Wind, ECT 1’s CEO Sven-Roger von Schilling explains the strategy and benefits of his Special Purpose Acquisition Company. The SPAC provides fast access to the stock market via the business combination with its target company of which the SPAC would acquire a minority share. Next to this indirect Cleantech IPO, I hope to see some direct Cleantech IPOs in Germany soon, too.

Day 2 of the conference brings Gina Domanig of Emerald Technology Ventures on stage. Gina is a real pioneer in the European Cleantech Venture Capital scene as she raised her first Cleantech Fund back in 2000 and will document her Decade of Lessons Learned. Next Shimpei Yamashita (Sumitomo Corporation) will take us to Japan and report from the Cleantech Economy in Japan. As I am a big fan of Japan, this will be a personal highlight for me and I am sure we can learn a lot from the Japanese in the Smart Green Economy, too.

Utilities play the key role in transforming our energy system to 100% Renewable Energy. That’s why we have organised a knowledgeable expert panel to envision the Smart Green Utility of the Future. Dr. Joerg Fabri (Kienbaum Management Consultants), Rolf Adam (Cisco), Andre Shortell (GP Bullhound) and Robert Werner (Greenpeace Energy) debate who the Apple, Facebook and Google of the energy market will be and how incumbents should defend against innovative startups selling new green electricity services with transparent tariffs and smart meters that proactively help their customer base save energy.

So these are some of my ECO11 highlights. I did not mention all the great startups looking for investors and the other wonderful speakers that also step onto our green stage. To get the full picture you are invited to browse the full congress agenda. I hope that you are motivated to participate in ECO11 and buy your ECO11 Ticket soon. We cannot wait to be your hosts and to throw a big party for the sake of the Smart Green Economy Transformation. Welcome to ECO11 and welcome to Berlin on 24-25 March 2011!

Tags: Agenda, Cleantech, ECO11, Ecosummit 2011, Future Mobility, Smart Green City, Smart Green Economy, Smart Green Economy Congress