The SICAPERMA project recently concluded an intense and highly productive series of activities in Brussels, filled with high-impact events focused on building resilient, circular, and strategically autonomous European value chains for rare earths and permanent magnets. From our internal consortium alignment to an open interregional networking event and high-level summits, these activities shifted the lens toward addressing Europe’s permanent magnet crisis and highlighting the importance of strong interregional collaboration.

Focus on consortium alignment: 3rd Consortium Meeting at EISMEA

The first of these activities took place on 18 May in Brussels, with our 3rd in-person Consortium Meeting hosted at the European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency (EISMEA). This gathering brought together all 14 project partners to align our strategic efforts, share our milestones, and to dive deep into our technical progress across the project’s main areas of work. The meeting was officially opened with speeches by Maja Ferlinc, Project Advisor at EISMEA, and the SICAPERMA project coordinator, Sebastián García Galán from University of Jaén.

During the meeting, partners focused on SICAPERMA’s three core demonstration pathways: the multi-stream dismantling and processing of permanent magnets, the production of sintered and bonded magnets from recycled materials, and the integration of these recycled magnets into strategic applications like motors and sensors. The consortium also addressed value chain structuring, aiming to replicate circular capabilities in less developed regions and among SMEs.

In the afternoon, the consortium split into dedicated working groups to maximise productivity. One group focused on connecting the technical pilots and coordinating activities, while the other dedicated its efforts to ecosystem management, value chain structuring, and outreach, ensuring that our circular capabilities can be effectively replicated in less developed regions and among SMEs.