- The Finnova Foundation has presented several projects related to the circular economy and the environment at the SMART AGRIFOOD SUMMIT fair in Seville.
- In addition to presenting the LIFE NextFUMIGREEN, HIBA+ and RES4CITY projects, it has also informed about the dates of the new calls for the Interreg Next Med and SUDOE programmes.
18/03/2024, Brussels. The Finnova Foundation presented the LIFE NextFUMIGREEN project on Friday 15 March, during the 7th edition of the Smart Agrifood Summit that took place on 14 and 15 March in Seville. This is the largest event on innovation and digitisation of the agrifood chain in Europe organised by the European Foundation for Innovation and Technology (INTEC).
The CEO of the Finnova Foundation, Juanma Revuelta, presented the objectives of LIFE NextFUMIGREEN, a European project that seeks to develop natural fumigants from plant extracts to control whitefly populations and fungal outbreaks of botrytis in horticultural greenhouse crops. With a total budget of 2,758,921.01 euros, the LIFE NextFUMIGREEN project has 3 main objectives to align its activity with environmental protection.
The technical objective is based on fine-tuning the methodology for the formulation and development of natural fumigants to combat pest populations.
As for the commercial objective, the idea is to initiate a line of business in the agricultural sector through the introduction of two sustainable products with proven efficacy, which currently do not exist on the market.
And with regard to environmental objectives, the aim is to develop two fumigants with insecticidal and fungicidal efficacy in line with European “zero waste” product policies.
Commitment to the circular economy and the environment
The CEO of the Foundation highlighted Finnova’s commitment to projects related to the circular economy and care for the environment, and gave the example of the HIBA+ and RES4CITY projects, in which the entity participates.
The HIBA+ project, financed by the Interreg VI-A Spain Portugal 2021-2027 Cross-border Cooperation Programme – POCTEP through the ERDF (European Regional Development Fund) with a budget of 2,845,222.77 €, focuses on promoting sustainable growth and innovation in the agri-food sector.
The RES4CITY project, funded by the Horizon Europe programme with a budget of €2.5 million, focuses on training support for the development of sustainable environments in urban areas. In addition, its RES4CITY STARTUP EUROPE ACCELERATHON programme provides solutions to existing challenges in land management and greywater reuse for the urban economy.
The foundation will also use this space to present LIFE ECODIGESTION 2.0, a project that generates biogas by mixing organic waste. This action favours the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and the use of sewage sludge generated in wastewater treatment processes, achieving a positive environmental impact. The initiative is part of the European Union’s LIFE programme and has a budget of €970,000.
Thanks to this technology, it favours the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and the use of sewage sludge generated in wastewater treatment processes, achieving a positive environmental impact. This programme is easily scalable with other funds such as FEDER, NextGenerationEU or Repower EU.
To conclude his presentation, the CEO of the Finnova Foundation wanted to underline the importance of using European funds to support innovative projects that are committed to the ecological transition and the circular economy. At this point, Revuelta took the opportunity to announce the next calls for proposals related to the Interreg Next Med and SUDOE programmes, calls that will allow the financing of innovative European projects.
About LIFE NextFUMIGREEN
The European project LIFE NextFUMIGREEN actively promotes food safety by developing natural fumigants from plant extracts to control pests in intensive horticultural crops under glass. With the leadership of Fumihogar and with the collaboration of the Foundation for Agricultural Auxiliary Technologies, the Finnova Foundation, B&B Asesores Auditores Ambientales, Comercial Quimica Masso and BrioAgro Tech, the project has a total budget of 2,758,921.01 €, 60% subsidised by the LIFE Programme.
About the Finnova Foundation
Finnova is a Spanish-Belgian non-profit foundation based in Brussels, which focuses on promoting innovation and entrepreneurship in the European Union. The foundation works in collaboration with various organizations and partners in the member countries to communicate and spread European projects. In addition, it offers support to start-ups and businesses through programs such as accelerators and incubators, and selection and award ceremonial events.