Month: October 2020

23.10.2020. Last Wednesday, october 21st, 2020,  the last webinar of the Iberian Center for Research and Fight Against Forest Fires (CILIFO) was held within the framework of #EUGreenWeek and the only ‘side event’ of the project at #EURegionsWeek . The event, which dealt with European Union funding for innovative projects to combat forest fires and the protection of biodiversity, was organized by the Finnova Foundation, in collaboration with the University of Córdoba (CILIFO beneficiary entities) and the Provincial Council of Córdoba, collaborating entity.

During the event several topics were discussed: in the first block, some project beneficiaries talked about prevention, extinction of forest fires and protection of biodiversity; and the second block revolved around entrepreneurship, financing and community training. In the next block, a conference was held with the press, in which various media specializing in the environment, sustainability and climate change explained how they collaborate to protect, restore and promote sustainability and how they collaborate to fight against climate change. The day ended with the last block, which focused on the transfer of good practices, some of the companies annexed to the Firefighting Open Innovation Lab – CILIFO accelerator presented themselves.

According to the data collected, it is estimated a total of 87 people were able to view the CILIFO webinar in the framework of #EUGreenWeek and #EURegionsWeek  (67 people registered to access Zoom and 20 people watched the event live on YouTube) . On this occasion, 27 speakers participated: 3.7% from Mexico; 29.6% from Portugal; and 66.7% from Spain.

You can watch the webinar again at the following link: https://youtu.be/0qC_KJnju5E

Below, you can read some of the statements of the speakers who participated in the third CILIFO webinar in the framework of #EUGreenWeek and #EURegionsWeek:

Maria de Lurdes Carvalho , Director of Regional Development Services at the Algarve Regional Development and Coordination Commission (CCDR), spoke about the Algarve fire research group.

“The mission of CCDR Algarve, in its geographic area, is to implement policies for the environment, urban and spatial planning, regional development and incentives for social communication and to provide technical support to local authorities and their associations.

Inmaculada Vázquez , from the Andalusian Environment and Water Agency (AMAYA) of the Junta de Andalucía, presented the CILIFO project.

“Among the results of the Project, we mainly highlight the creation of the Iberian Center for Research and Fight against Forest Fires (CILIFO), the design of a training plan, through which skills are acquired and the operations that make up will be accredited. those extinguishing devices both in the area of ​​Spain and Portugal; the design of a joint awareness plan on forest fires; and the launch of a joint investigation in the fight against forest fires ”.

Download the presentation here

Víctor Manuel Montoro Caba , deputy for European Programs and Electronic Administration of the Diputación de Córdoba, said that one of their objectives is for Córdoba to become the first province with 100% sustainable electric mobility.

“We are in a position to be the first province in Spain in which we can have an infrastructure network of electric vehicle recharging points in which at least each of the municipalities that make up the province of Córdoba has at least a charging point of municipal public ownership. “

Francisco Rodríguez y Silva, head of the Forest Fire Defense Laboratory ETS of Agronomic and Forest Engineering at the University of Córdoba, explained some of the lines of research that they are dealing with.

“One of the most recent achievements has been to know the possibility of graduating the extinction difficulty index, that is, a tool designed to be able to make an evaluation before and during the time of the emergency. In context with the CILIFO Project, we are working to make a version along the same lines, to know in the provinces that are the object of the project how we can have a dynamic knowledge of the danger in terms of energy behavior, which means the difficulty to be able to work extinction ”.

Nuno Guiomar, researcher at the University of Évora at the Mediterranean Institute of Agriculture, Environment and Development spoke about the evolution of the work carried out by the University of Évora for CILIFO and the tools such as Copernicus to fight fires from the scientific-academic sphere.

“The evaluation of the severity of the fire is a fundamental instrument in the paradigm shift: initially we only considered the determination of the classical spectral indicators (dNBR and RdNBR), at this moment we add more of them (BAI2 and RBR). Regarding the RBR, we have introduced an innovation in compensation proposed by Sean Parks. We are considering including temporal variations in the combined Ludar / Radar data… ”.

Pedro Arala Chaves, florestal technician in the Algarve Intermunicipal Community (AMAL), made his presentation on the creation of forest brigades and forest technical cabinets to combat forest fires.

“The Intermunicipal Forestry Technical Cabinet (GTFI) and the Sapadores Florestais Brigade (bSF) have the purpose of increasing the resilience of the territory by promoting a new intervention logic in the forest territory, through the creation of forest brigades and technical forest offices between municipalities ”.

Margarida Jesus, technician of the Cabinet of Candidacies for Community Functions of the Municipal Chamber of Tavira, explained the management of aerial means for fire prevention in the Cachopo area and how it helps prevent forest fires.

“The Tavira Air Media Center will provide support in the event of a disaster, not only in this area, but also throughout the Algarve, Alentejo and Andalusia, also serving as a strategic base for the development of specific awareness and training campaigns for the Civil Protection agents and for the general population ”.

Download the presentation here

Victor Rosa, councilor of the Municipal Chamber of Castro Marim, explained that they have a project for a school to fight and fight forest fires on the Guadiana border.

“The municipality intends to participate in a joint strategy for the prevention and fight against forest fires, one of the great challenges of the Iberian Peninsula.”

José Chaparro, councilor of the Municipal Chamber of Monchique, spoke about the projects they had in the field of forest fire prevention in the municipality.

“Monchique has several competences at the level of civil protection and the defense of the forest against forest fires, there is a small municipal heliport in the municipality with the aim of hosting aerial means of combat and first intervention of forest fires”

Víctor Salgado, technician of the CILIFO Project at Fundación ONCE, gave a presentation on attention to diversity in the prevention and extinction of forest fires.

“In the development and innovation department we are improving a progressive web application, we will create accessible fire alerts in Portuguese and Spanish with shortcuts to ICT applications of accessible contact with 112 and as well as reporting other low-impact hazards such as rockfall , tree falls, flooded paths, etc. ”.

Juan Viesca , director of European Funds at the Finnova Foundation, presented some of the European calls open in the forestry field.

“Within the H2020 program, specifically within the Green Deal, the fight and prevention against forest fires is mentioned, this type of calls finances 100% non-profit organizations such as public administrations, which can allow collaboration with other countries such as the United States , Canada, and many others. “

Beatriz Camacho Ávila, Director of Ecosystems of the Southern Europe Regional Innovation Plan – EIT Climate-KIC.

“EIT Climate-KIC is a European community of knowledge and innovation that works to achieve a prosperous, inclusive and resilient community to climate change, based on a circular economy of zero emissions.”

Download the presentation here

Beatriz Toro , head of the Institutional Relations Department, presented the EuroAAA Bulletin of the Junta de Andalucía.

“The Euroregion newsletter is bilingual, digital and designed to report on news of cross-border cooperation, European initiatives, territorial cooperation in the Euroregion, place the AAA Euroregion cooperation agent in the CTE, cross-border cooperation projects are managed with partners From both sides”.

Download the presentation here

Antonio Villarreal , journalist for El Confidencial.

“I want to invite the CILIFO consortium and its collaborators to send me the progress that is being developed in the project to try to inform the community in a much more direct, easy and clear way about current or historical cases of incidents with fire.”

Gustavo Gómez , CEO of Acento Comunicación.

“We have begun to hold a congress of shepherds that has had a lot of impact and that we have begun to organize together with another foundation, the Mil Caminos Foundation, and its objective is that the rural world serves as a job destination for many young people.”

Download the presentation here

Ismael Muñoz , director of OSBO Digital.

“The objectives we have are; connect the various actors involved in the fight against fires, share knowledge, experience and good practices; and disseminate to society the problem of forest fires, the existence of qualified professionals who avoid and fight them and generate a change of consciousness that helps prevent fires ”.

Download the presentation here

Pedro Pablo García , attached to the management of EFFE Verde

“EFE Verde is a global platform for news and environmental journalism of the EFE Agency, the project was presented in November 2019 and officially started on March 21, 2010 with the launch of the website www.efeverde.es . It is an informative reference but also a meeting point for companies, NGOs, institutions and all those entities and people interested in Spain in everything related to green information. “

Download the presentation here

Lola Bordás , Marketing Director at the Finnova Foundation, presented the 2nd edition – Firefighting StartUp Europe Awards (SEUA-CILIFO) 2020.

StartUp Europe Awards (SEUA) are a highly useful open innovation tool to promote the exchange of experiences, add value to the business ecosystem and help start-ups to grow and position themselves in the market. The Finnova Foundation – beneficiary entity of the CILIFO Project – supported by the Committee of the Regions and the European Commission, specifically by the Directorate General for Communication and New Technologies (DG CONNECT), has already held and successfully launched several editions of these awards; and is organizing the 2nd Edition Firefighting StartUp Europe Awards (SEUA-CILIFO). “StartUp Europe Awards, since 2016 is an initiative promoted by the European Commission and implemented by Finnova, supporting entrepreneurship throughout Europe. The prize is an acceleration ticket for the winning project.

Download the presentation here

Alexander Pereda Rodríguez , founder of La GIStería, exposed the Potential of GIS in the fight against fires.

“The real-time fire map was created in 2017 due to the increase in fires, and I was based on data provided by NASA from its VIIRS sensor, which captures high temperatures on the ground, but does not discriminate if those temperatures are forest fires or other reasons. This map meant a before and after since the burning of the Atlantic Corniche and after this disaster many maps similar to the one we had designed in La GIStería appeared ”.

Pedro Ruíz , Director of Innovation at Integrasys SA.

“We developed an application for tracking (positioning) and communication when facing fire, combining various technologies, such as the new European positioning system for the Galileo Satellite. We also mix new communication technologies to ensure that we always have communication at all times and in adverse situations. Thanks to these characteristics the firefighters will be able to face the fire as well informed and positioned as possible, without a doubt a great approach ”.

Download the presentation here

Leonardo Rico Fernández , CEO of Solid Rain.

“Solid rain is a technology that retains water up to 400 times its weight in water, and we place it at the root, thanks to this the plant will stay hydrated for weeks without the need for water or rain, after that period it returns to its original state of granulate and rehydrates with the next irrigation or rain, reducing the frequency of irrigations. As for the fight against fire, what we do is throw the already hydrated granules at a safe distance towards the fire, creating a stream of solid water, leaving the fire to extinguish itself, and after these fires it is reforested with solid water again and around 70% and 80% of the reforested areas can be saved ”.

Download the presentation here

Irene Carrasco Abad , Sustainable Innovation strategist and general director of Diagnosis Sistémica.

“Faced with the environmental problems of forest fires in Andalusia and the Algarve, we propose a holistic proposal.” This proposal is based on acting with a medium and long-term approach, focusing on prevention, early detection and regeneration, evaluating and optimizing applications on the ground where the implementation of know-how of specific parameters is key to achieving results. reliable.

Information of interest:

 #EURegionsWeek: 

 The European Week of Regions and Cities is the largest annual Brussels-based event dedicated to cohesion policy. The event has grown into a unique communication and networking platform, bringing together regions and cities from across Europe, including their political representatives, officials, experts and academics. Over the past 17 years, you have done a lot to promote policy learning and the exchange of good practices.

https://europa.eu/regions-and-cities

 #EUGreenWeek: 

EU Green Week 2020 will be held on October 19-22, 2020 and will address

on nature and biodiversity. Following the adoption of a new EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 in May, Green Week will highlight the contribution that biodiversity can make to society and the economy, and the role it can play in supporting and stimulating recovery in the world after the pandemic, creating jobs and sustainable development. The European Green Week is an event organized by the Directorate General of the European Commission.

https://www.eugreenweek.eu/es

2nd EDITION OF THE CILIFO – FIREFIGHTING STARTUP EUROPE Accelerathon (SEUA – CILIFO) 2020 

 StartUp Europe Awards (SEUA) is an initiative promoted by the European Commission, supported by the Committee of the Regions and the European Parliament; and implemented by the Finnova Foundation in collaboration with StartUp Europe.

It is an open innovation tool to identify innovative start-ups with potential, capable of solving current challenges in the area of ​​forest fire management. The objective is to locate those that offer products, services or methodologies that address the three phases in fire fighting 1) Prevention 2) Action 3) Regeneration. They must contribute to an improvement in the efficiency of resources in action against fires; Technological tools; social awareness; fire behavior; spatial and temporal patterns of fire; fire meteorology and fire hazard classification; fire fighting techniques; ground, air and space detection; restoration; etc.

Recipients: entrepreneurs and start-ups with ideas / projects related to fighting forest fires in the 3 areas of action framed in the CILIFO project: Prevention, Action and Regeneration. More information regarding these awards will be communicated shortly.

https://startupeuropeawards.eu/

Accelerathon: 

Accelerathon is an acceleration program for innovative projects promoted by the Finnova Foundation. This methodology of the Finnova Foundation aims to find solutions and funding, through an online system of applied open innovation that brings together the innovative ecosystem in the environmental sector, in which the European Commission works within the framework of the LIFE program.

http://accelerathon.eu/

THE CILIFO PROJECT 

The project ” Iberian Center for Research and Fight Against Forest Fires ” (CILIFO) focuses on the fight against forest fires and their consequences for the adaptation and mitigation of climate change; within a framework of cross-border cooperation for the prevention of risks and the improvement of the management of the natural resources of Spain and Portugal in the Alentejo – Algarve – Andalusia Euroregion area. CILIFO is part of the Thematic Objective 5 of the POCTEP Program: Promote adaptation to climate change in all sectors; and responds to the investment priority, with respect to the POCTEP Program, 5B: Promotion of investment to address specific risks and the guarantee of adaptation to disasters and development of disaster management systems.

With a duration of three years (2019 to 2021), it seeks, through the expected results of its activities, to establish itself as a permanent Center for the promotion and development of training, awareness, development and innovation, and cooperation interregional in the fight against forest fires. CILIFO is being developed thanks to the collaboration of a public-private partnership, led by the Junta de Andalucía and made up of public research organizations, non-profit public interest entities, and public administrations; and all with the common goal of fighting forest fires.

FINNOVA FOUNDATION

FINNOVA is a European non-profit foundation, with headquarters in Belgium-Brussels, and offices and antennas in Spain (Seville, Valencia, Tenerife, Madrid and Vitoria), whose main purpose is to search for international financing related to the transfer of new technology, modernization, training, innovation for regional or local public administrations. Its main objective is to promote international and interregional cooperation through networks and events, its main fields of work being the environment, energy, climate change, innovation and improvement of the quality of life.

www.finnova.eu

CONTACT:

Beatriz Martínez Muñoz
European projects and communication officer at the Finnova Foundation
Beatriz.martinez@finnova.eu

21.10.2020. European Green Week (#EUGreenWeek), organised by the European Commission, focuses this year on nature and biodiversity. The Finnova Foundation, the entity which will benefit from the INTERREG-CILIFO project, prepared a localised event to form part of a week which will act as a milestone on the way to the Conference of the Parties (COP 15) to the Convention on Biological Diversity, in collaboration with the University of Cadiz, which is also part of the CILIFO project partnership.

Last Monday, 19 October 2020, the Iberian Centre for Research and Fight Against Forest Fires (CILIFO) held the third event of the CILIFO Project within the framework of #EUGreenWeek – it has planned another in Córdoba, on European Union funding for innovative projects to fight forest fires and protect biodiversity. The event was partially focused on the applications of unmanned aerial vehicles for the extinction and prevention of forest fires.

The highest number of visitors at Zoom was 60, however, the total number of people registered at Zoom for the event was 107 (but not all were connected at the same time).

During the session on Community financial sources for projects with innovative solutions in the prevention and extinction of forest fires and the protection of biodiversity, public entities intervened, such as the Directorate General of European Funds of the Ministry of Finance of the Government of Spain or the Agency for the Environment and Water of Andalusia (AMAYA) – Government of Andalusia. In addition, several initiatives were presented, such as the implementation of drones with thermal cameras to control the dead zones of the fires; or materials that hydrate and when thrown into the fire manage to extinguish a fire by themselves and at the same time increase the percentage of reforestation of the area after the fire has passed.

Below you can read some of the statements of the speakers who participated in the third CILIFO webinar in the framework of #EUGreenWeek:

Adrián Vecino Varela, technical advisor to the Ministry of Finance – Directorate General of European Funds.

“So far we have obtained these data with the aid we have received: 546,430 hectares are receiving conservation aid; 320,142.50 square metres of space in urban areas have been created or rehabilitated; 14,604.39 tonnes more of waste recycling capacity; more than 1.5 million people have benefited from protection against forest fires; and more than 1.5 million people have benefited from flood prevention measures”.

CILIFO_EUGW_2020_POCTEP

Inmaculada Vázquez, from the Andalusian Environment and Water Agency (AMAYA) – Andalusian Regional Government.

“Among the objectives that CILIFO has, we can highlight the strengthening and pooling of cooperation, working procedures and training in the prevention and extinction of forest fires, promoting innovation to prevent large forest fires and improving the response capacity to forest fires on the part of the administrations and authorities involved in fighting them in the three participating regions”.

“In order to give continuity to CILIFO, a new application called FIREPOCTEP has been submitted under the same heading, with the aim of strengthening cross-border systems for preventing and extinguishing forest fires and improving resources for generating rural employment, acting in the development, protection and promotion of the natural heritage, researching and innovating in the environmental field and improving the institutional capacity of administrations and the public sector”.

Luis Carlos Barbero González, Professor of Petrology and Geochemistry and Director of the Department of Earth Sciences – Campus of International Excellence CEI-MAR of the University of Cadiz

On the realistic application of the drones on the ground in fire crisis situations: “the thermal cameras guided the firefighters very reliably to manage the fires by guiding them through the smoke, they should be used in fires that are not very large and in which the economic resources are rather high, in addition the monitoring and control tasks that the drones would have during rainy conditions should be improved”.

Lourdes González, technical coordinator of the CILIFO project at the ONCE Foundation and technology and accessibility expert at the ONCE Foundation

“Through training and the employability of people with disabilities, getting involved in a project in which we promote universal accessibility, in which people with disabilities have no physical barriers to communication and technology. In addition, they carry out training so that if a professional meets a person with a disability he or she can evacuate them in the correct way, communicate with them, etc. And from November (2020), a 15-hour course will begin on what to do when interacting with someone with a disability”.

Juan Viesca, Director of European Funds at the Finnova Foundation.

“The European Commission announced a new programme with 750,000 million euros to replace the crisis and propose new solutions, within which there is the REACT UE programme, a programme that could complement the structural funds with 50,000 million euros. In addition, there is a specific call for the fight and prevention of forest fires as part of the Green Deal call for innovative proposals that ends in January 21, which is a very good opportunity for the speakers at this webinar to be financed by this type of programme”.

Alberto Navarro, Director of Projects, Human Resources and Training at the Finnova Foundation.

Alberto presented two E-learning platforms available within the CILIFO Project to the attendees, with innovations such as gamification processes, encouraging interaction through the website with the students, with mini-games and as the course progresses: “a city is created, comparing the construction of a city with the training that is gradually taking place in each of the students”.

CILIFO_GW2020_Formación.pdf

Yolanda Marín, European Projects Technician at the Finnova Foundation

“Within the Firefighting Open Innovation Lab – CILIFO accelerator, we offer a working space, pilot tests, European funding, European projects, partner search and legal advice. In addition, work is currently underway on a catalogue to include an article by each company on how to fight forest fires and to provide information on companies if interested”.

CILIFO_EUGW_FFOIL.pdf

José María Gómez, Chief Financial Officer of Drone Hopper

“Our mission is to develop all the aeronautical platforms and aircraft so that we can consolidate ourselves as a reference in this field and, above all, we want to solve the problem of fire and fire-fighting. Our solution is to offer our services to work 24/7 and try to minimize risks regarding fire fighting”.

CILIFO_EUGW_Drone_Hopper.pdf

Jacobus Benedik, representative of Scodev

“Scodev’s idea is a device by which conventional aircraft could assist in fire-fighting, allowing a common aircraft to collect water from the sea, a river or a lake at a height of 50 feet and pour it over the affected area up to 5 times per hour. This method will expand the resources of any municipality in using fire-fighting tools.

Pedro Ruíz, Director of Innovation at Integrasys SA

“We developed an application for tracking (positioning) and communication when facing fire, combining several technologies, such as the new European satellite positioning system Galileo. We are also mixing new communication technologies to ensure that we always have communication at all times and in adverse situations”.  Thanks to these features, firefighters will be able to face the fire as well informed and positioned as possible, which is certainly a great approach.

Leonardo Rico Fernández, General Manager of Lluvia Sólida.

“Lluvia Sólida” is a technology that retains water up to 400 times its weight in water, and we place it at the root, thanks to this the plant will remain hydrated for weeks without the need for water or rain, after which it returns to its original granulated state and is rehydrated with the next watering or rain, reducing the frequency of watering. As far as fire fighting is concerned, what we do is throw the already hydrated granulate at a prudent distance from the fire, creating a stream of solid water, leaving the fire to go out by itself, and after these fires it is reforested with solid water again and can be saved in around 70% to 80% of the reforested areas”.

Alberto López Casillas technician from the Department of European Affairs, Energy and Tourism of Ávila Provincial Council.

“The aim of the GEFRECON project is to reduce the risk of forest fires in the POCTEP territory by developing and implementing joint plans to raise awareness among other types of actors, so that this type of case can be managed jointly and damage can be minimised. The first of these tools is a GIS (Geographical Information System) in which a landowner or municipality can select an area in which they intend to analyse the potential for use of biomass and the cost of extracting this biomass and taking it to a transformation centre”.

CILIFO_GW2020_DipuAvila.pdf

Lola Bordás Marketing Director at the Finnova Foundation.

The StartUp Europe Awards (SEUA) are a very useful open innovation tool to promote the exchange of experiences, add value to the business ecosystem and help start-ups to grow and position themselves in the market. The Finnova Foundation – the beneficiary of the CILIFO Project – supported by the Committee of the Regions and the European Commission, specifically by the Directorate General for Communication and New Technologies (DG CONNECT), has already celebrated and successfully launched several editions of these awards; and is organising the 2nd Edition Firefighitng StartUp Europe Awards (SEUA-CILIFO). “The StartUp Europe Awards, from 2016 onwards, is an initiative promoted by the European Commission and implemented by Finnova, supporting entrepreneurship across Europe. The award is a fast-track ticket for the winning project. “Within the Firefighting StartUp Europe Awards (SEUA-CILIFO) “We encourage and support all those projects that have to do with the prevention, action and regeneration of forest fires”.

The final ceremony of the Firefighting StartUp Europe Awards will be held within the framework of the European Week for Waste Reduction (EWWR), on Monday 23 November 2020:

www.f6s.com/startupeuropeawards 

CILIFO_EUGW_SEUA.pdf

Gilson Batista da Silva, representative of Uffire

“In Uffire we have an extinguishing backpack that feeds back the smoke from the fires, eliminating the oxygen through air expulsion. Right now we are already working on the third prototype of the product, making it more and more powerful. The rucksack, which weighs 9 kg and has an autonomy of 5 hours, can do the same thing as 10-ton fire-fighting equipment, which is a very advantageous ratio for the Uffire product”.

CILIFO_EUGEW_PitchUFFire.pdf

CONTACT:

Beatriz Martínez Muñoz
European projects and communication officer at the Finnova Foundation
Beatriz.martinez@finnova.eu

01.10.2020. Organised by the European Commission, the EU Green Week (#EUGreenWeek) will focus this year on Nature and Biodiversity. Finnova Foundation, one of the beneficiaries of the INTERREG-CILIFO Project, has organised a side event in order to take part of a week that will set a milestone towards the Conferences of the Parties (COP 15) to the Convention on Biological Biodiversity.

On Monday, 28 September 2020, the Iberian Centre for Research and Forest Firefighting (CILIFO) has held the second side event for the CILIFO Project in the framework of the #EUGreenWeek in collaboration with GoHub, the open innovation hub of Global Omnium.

The person charged of the opening of the event was Juan Sánchez Ruiz, director of the Regional Operational Centre (INFOCA) of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Sustainable Development (Regional Government of Andalusia). He emphasized the importance of the reinforcement of infrastructures jointly used for fighting against forest fires.

In this second event of CILIFO during the EU Green Week, the vice-president of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety and Member of the European Parliament, César Luena, participated talking about the project that is going to be submitted to the European Commission to combat forest fires and preserve biodiversity. Among the measures, Luena talked about the post-fire recovery of the affected areas, the protection of freshwater ecosystems —such as restoring rivers—, the regulation of waters in order to avoid ecological disaster, the legal protection of soils, a specific plan for desertification and a European forest policy. His aim is to create a joint action plan for fighting against climate change and biodiversity.

In the first part of the event about prevention, extinction of forest fires and protection of biodiversity, Ana Lourido from the academic domain (University of Ébora) gave her insight about research and combating forest fires. ‘We have an opportunity to make a qualitative and quantitative leap in the fight against forest fires in order to progress in research.’ Afterwards, Javier Madrigal Olmo, senior scientist of the forest fire lab at the Forest Research Center of INIA spoke about the vulnerability face to forest fires and how science and technology can help prevention. As for Javier Cañas Andreu, director of Innovation Projects at EIT Climate-KIC, pointed that the increase of temperatures, the low rate of rain and the subsequent droughts are some of the causes of forest fires in Andalusia.

The topic of the second part of the event was funding and entrepreneurship. María Gil Cabrera¸ director of GoHub Andalucía, and Juan Viesca, EU Funds director de at Finnova Foundation, talked about financing at the European Union and innovative projects in the forest fire sector. It is worth highlighting that the European Green Deal call is now open for fighting against climate change and making Europe climatically neutral by 2050. Adrián Noheda, director of CILIFO’s Firefighting Open Innovation Lab, and David Páez Rodríguez, director de Business Development at the Technological Corporation of Andalusia, spoke about the opportunities for entrepreneurship at protected forest areas.

The event closed with the intervention of Alejandro García Hernández, deputy director of COR, from the INFOCA Plan (Directorate General for Environmental Management and Protected Areas of the Regional Government of Andalusia), who presented the project FIREPOCTEP. On the other hand, Gustavo Viera Ruiz from GESPLAN talked about the success cases on forest fire management.

COMMON CHALLENGES – SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS (SDGs)

The aim is to address the SDGs 6, 13 and 15 of the UN in order to innovate in the adoption of urgent measures to combat climate change and its effects, as well as to protect, restore and promote the sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, fight against desertification, stop and invert the degradation of soils and stop the biodiversity loss. In addition, the availability and sustainable management of water needs to be guaranteed for fighting climate change.

CONTACT:

Beatriz Martínez Muñoz
European Project Officer and Communication Officer at Finnova Foundation
Beatriz.martinez@finnova.eu