Inside the SEISMEC General Assembly Meeting in Cork
From April 7th to 8th, 2025, the SEISMEC consortium partners gathered in the city of Cork, Ireland, for the project’s second General Assembly meeting, hosted by University College Cork. The two-day event provided a valuable opportunity to reflect on our progress, share results, and strategically chart the next steps for the project.
Day 1 – Pilots, Solutions Directions and Human-Centricity
The meeting started with a warm welcome from Jason Pridmore of Erasmus University Rotterdam, SEISMEC’s project coordinator. He set the tone for two dynamic days of collaboration, discussion and engaging sessions. Ken Brown from University College Cork then introduced the objectives of Milestone 9, “Initial analysis of transversal themes across all pilots”, a significant step in understanding cross-cutting insights emerging from our diverse project activities.
TNO followed with a presentation, Solution Directions & Guidelines Design, diving into the core considerations shaping Industry 5.0. The session included a mini workshop where partners divided into teams and discussed the work packages’ relation and content. The day also included presentations on core project themes such as Tools and Methods Towards Human-Centrism, Pilots in Real Working Environments and Transversal Pilot Analyses.
Key issues regarding the pilot’s implementation were raised, while the tools and methods for human-centricity were also in-depth analysed, shaping our work for the future.
The first day was highly productive with brainstorming sessions, strategy planning and physical collaboration, which allowed us to engage and shape our future activities.
Day 2 – Ethics, Outreach and More Human Centricity
The second day opened with a critical look at Ethics Requirements, ensuring that our work remains impactful and people-centred. These include pressing themes such as cybersecurity, privacy, human trust and understanding, inclusion, and the ongoing development of in-work learning and skills. This discussion laid the groundwork for how SEISMEC will be shaping tools and guidelines, many of which are expected to be publicly available in the coming months.
Following Human-Centrism for Strengthening Industrial Competitiveness, initiate a discussion on key planning activities for the upcoming stakeholder conference in Leuven (June 17, 2025). The discussion addressed task progress, stakeholder interviews, socio-economic mapping, policy paper drafting, and the coordination of reports and workshops. Preparations for sustained stakeholder engagement through meetings, webinars, and interviews were also outlined. And Outreach, Ecosystem Building, and Exploitation of Results, focused on spreading the project’s work and results, growing our network, and ensuring lasting impact.
Across both days, there was a strong emphasis on planning co-design sessions, deployment strategies, and evaluation processes. These discussions are essential to ensuring SEISMEC’s outputs are effective, but also inclusive and accessible.
As we look ahead, we observed that the meeting was a powerful reminder of what we can achieve through collaboration, thoughtful design, and a shared vision for a more human-centric Industry 5.0.
We would like to thank University College Cork for their outstanding hospitality and all SEISMEC partners for their continued passion and dedication.
