Author: administrador

• It is a date that tries to raise awareness and sensitise people about the need to conserve the environment.
• The Finnova Foundation is an environmentally conscious organisation and a partner in LIFE projects and the HORIZON RES4City project.

02/11/2023, Brussels. Yesterday, Wednesday 1 November, was World Ecology Day, a very significant event that seeks to raise awareness and sensitise people to the need to conserve the environment and encourage the practice of ecological actions that contribute to the biodiversity of the planet. The celebration of this world day pays tribute to ecology as a scientific discipline and recognises the work of professional ecologists.

Ecology studies the relationships between living beings and the environment that surrounds them, although it does not focus exclusively on the study of green areas. It carries out activities and actions that contribute to the sustainability of the environment and the planet, aimed at improving the quality of life for human beings and their environment.

Ecology promotes the importance of developing actions in harmony with the environment that favour the planet’s biodiversity. Some of these examples are the optimisation of production, consumption and services under ecological criteria, the management of waste generated, and the conservation of water, among other actions.

The Finnova Foundation, as an entity committed to sustainable development and water and waste management, joins the commemoration of this day in which it is intended to remember the importance and application of ecology in our daily lives to combat climate change. As part of this commitment, Finnova is currently a partner in three LIFE projects, the European Union’s funding instrument for the environment and climate action, and in a HORIZON projecto, the EU’s funding programme for financing and innovation.

LIFE ECOdigestión 2.0, with a budget of €970,000, aims to use biogas as a reliable and green energy source to meet industrial energy demand. The initiative, which will run until February 2024, is a consortium led by Global Omnium (Spain), in partnership with Águas do Centro Litoral (Portugal) and the Finnova Foundation (Belgium).

LIFE NextFUMIGREEN develops natural fumigants from plant extracts to control pests in intensive horticultural crops under glass. The project has a budget of €2,758,921.01, and is led by the Spanish company FumiHogar, with five other partners: the Foundation for Agricultural Auxiliary Technologies (TECNOVA); the Finnova Foundation; B&B Asesores Auditores Ambientales; Comercial Quimica Masso; and BrioAgro Tech.

The main objective of LIFE COSTAdapta is to address the adaptation of the coast of Gran Canaria to sea level rise by designing a tidal pool-reef system. The project, which has a duration of 7 years and a total budget of 3,409,864 €, is coordinated by the Gran Canaria Island Energy Council (CIEGC) of the Cabildo de Gran Canaria with the support of 7 partners: University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ULPGC); University of Cantabria (UC); INGECID S. L.; Raley Estudios Costeros S.C.P.; ECOncrete AQUA; Fundación Canaria para el Reciclaje y Desarrollo Sostenible (FCR) and Fundación Finnova.

RES4CITY is an innovative €2.5 million educational project 100% funded by the European Commission through the Horizon Europe programme. The RES4CITY education programme has the main objective of bridging the skills gap that is slowing down the transition to sustainable energy. The programme will be designed by a multidisciplinary group of partners from academia, industry and European NGOs with expertise in energy management, renewable energy systems, renewable fuel technologies and the development and implementation of sustainability strategy design.

About the Finnova Foundation

Finnova is a foundation working for the promotion and development of innovation and entrepreneurship at EU level. Based in Brussels, it operates through collaborations and partnerships in all EU countries. Finnova’s expertise in leading European project communication and dissemination activities is combined with a strong proven track record in start-ups and business support programmes, such as accelerators, incubators and ceremonial event selection and awarding.

• The DESTINE project is committed to diversity and inclusion in distance education
• The Entrenaranjos International School leads in Valencia the promotion of diversity, tolerance and inclusion in virtual spaces

Finnova Foundation has presented this morning at Entrenaranjos International School the final event of the European project DESTINE, a project that advocates the preservation of inclusion, tolerance and diversity in virtual education spaces. In this event, the results of two years of work have been presented, with the presentation of the DESTINE MOOC platform as the main initiative.

The event was welcomed by María Arias, co-director of Entrenaranjos International School. In this welcome, Arias was pleased to host this final event of the DESTINE project, as it is a space that allows to broaden the school’s vision.

Next, Juanma Revuelta, CEO of the Finnova Foundation, presented the bases of the Erasmus + program, a fund from which DESTINE receives financing, and the Next Talent Generation initiative, a platform for finding European training internships promoted by the foundation, which helps young people to work in Europe. “I always recommend to all those young people who are starting their careers this type of mobilities, it is very important to take advantage of these opportunities,” concluded Revuelta.

The next presentation was given by Consuelo Cáceres, European projects technician & Quality Manager at the Finnova Foundation, who presented the results of the DESTINE project. Among these, the launch of the open platform DESTINE MOOC, an online platform designed for teachers, students and staff of educational institutions. The aim of this platform lies in enabling and empowering vocational education professionals to promote diversity, tolerance and, therefore, inclusion within an online and distance learning environment. “Thanks to DESTINE, we have been able to cover a problem that surfaced due to the COVID-19 pandemic: the improvement of virtual education,” Cáceres has qualified.

Lola Bordás, CMO of Finnova, presented the GIRLS4TECH initiative and Javier Fernández, CTO of Talent Growth Management,, presented the Technovation Girls challenges. Both initiatives aim to boost the participation of women in STEAM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) careers, and specifically, the project focuses on motivating girls and teenagers to become entrepreneurs and leaders in the technology field.

The next speaker was Petra María Pérez Alonsogeta, Emeritus Professor of the Faculty of Philosophy and Education at the University of Valencia, who focused her presentation on the importance of innovation, “a value that can be learned and for which it is key to create new and valuable things”. In addition, Pérez explained the Wrapped in Colors project, whose objective is focused on emotional well-being, using the relationship between colors and emotions.

The event was closed by María Arias, the co-director of Entrenaranjos International School, who also pointed out the benefits of being part of the Wrapped in Colors initiative for the school’s students. “This project has been tremendously enriching, and we like to host this type of event that brings together initiatives from which we can learn and experience,” concluded Arias.

The Finnova Foundation, organizer of this final event of the DESTINE project, celebrates its success and the launch of the DESTINE MOOC platform, which crystallizes the achievement of the project’s objectives. In turn, the Finnova Foundation thanks Entrenaranjos International School for hosting this event, an entity that has almost half a century of experience and is committed to an education based on universal values and the formation of autonomous learning based on study habits and cooperation.

About DESTINE

The Erasmus + DESTINE (DivErSity and Tolerance IN E-Environment) project was created with the aim of promoting online vocational training that ensures support for diversity, inclusion and tolerance, providing the necessary tools for all professionals and students to adapt to the e-learning methodology. DESTINE focuses especially on those vocational training students who need a learning environment adapted to their needs.

About FINNOVA

Finnova is the Spanish-Belgian non-profit foundation based in Brussels and Spain, working for the promotion and development of innovation and entrepreneurship in the EU. Finnova’s experience in leading communication and dissemination activities of European projects is combined with a solid proven track record in business creation and entrepreneurship support programs, such as accelerators, incubators and events, as well as its commitment to training and employability of young people.

• The forum was attended by Víctor Rubio Gómez, director of strategy and innovation at Masergrup and former member of the Finnova team
• The presentation was focused on his professional career and the opportunities that his time at Finnova brought him

26/10/2023, Brussels. Last Tuesday, October 24, the Finnova Foundation headquarters in Brussels hosted the VI Next Talent Generation Forum. This sixth edition counted with the participation of Víctor Rubio Gómez, Director of Strategy and Innovation at Masergrup and former member of the Finnova team in Brussels.

During the talk, Rubio explained to the Brussels team details of his successful career, which began as an intern at Finnova between 2011 and 2012. About those beginnings, Rubio highlighted the opportunity that Finnova provided for his career at a time when “the outlook was very bad” due to the Spanish property bubble crisis.

Thanks to his training at Finnova, Rubio began to become a professional in the field of European funds, “an area in those years in which there was a general lack of knowledge about,” he said. His specialization in European funds and his passion for innovation led him to continue his career focused on R&D, maintaining his link with European funding through the promotion of Horizon 2020 funds. On this aspect, Rubio stressed the importance of “not being mere fund-raisers, but having a business vision, conscientiously reviewing the calls, knowing how to add value and how to ensure that the grant ends up having an impact on the real economy”.

Since 2021, Rubio has held the position of Director of Strategy and Innovation at Masergrup, a business group from Reus that integrates reference companies such as Global Fruselva (baby food), Vermuts Miró (spirits), and TQ Tecnol (professional products for industry). It is a business group with more than 25 years of history that has production plants in Spain, Colombia and Chile; representative offices in the same countries as well as in the USA, Mexico and China and presence in more than 53 countries with presence in the professional, health, food and service industries.

The Finnova team in Brussels then inquired about his professional career and the lessons he learned from his time at Finnova. Rubio highlighted the good fortune of working alongside the Foundation’s CEO, Juan Manuel Revuelta, from whom he stressed the importance of hard work, love for the profession “whatever it may be” and team management. “From Juanma I learned how important it is to love the profession and the capacity for sacrifice that you have to have in order for projects to become a reality, since there are many people in the world and if you don’t execute the projects, they will be the ones to do it,” concluded Rubio.

Other aspects discussed at the roundtable included issues such as success, a subject on which Rubio was cautious. “Success is very relative. I understand that many of you are at the beginning of your careers and that, sometimes, you want to achieve everything very quickly, but from my experience, I can tell you that if you work, you will get where you want to go, but step by step,” Rubio said.

Finally, another of the topics that took center stage in the debate between Rubio and the Finnova team was the role of the consumer and the keys to reach him. Rubio stressed the importance of managing to apply innovation to the real economy, but in a way that does not affect the consumer “too much”. “Many times, the consumer is blamed for the failure of the products, when in reality, the failure lies in not having listened to their needs; it is a simple task of listening to the consumer; to the whole environment and giving the person who is going to pay for your products what they don’t know they want but need at a price they are willing to pay,” concluded Rubio.

Res4City Project

From Finnova Foundation, we thank Rubio for his intervention in the VI Next Talent Generation Forum, which serves as an example for our workers who are starting and orienting their professional careers. During this talk, Rubio explained how he started in the field of innovation thanks to Finnova, a European foundation that supports the financing of innovation in companies, regions and municipalities. Finnova is currently a partner in the European project RES4CITY, an innovative 2.5 million euro educational project 100% funded by the European Commission through the Horizon Europe program. The RES4CITY education program, whose main objective is to bridge the skills gap that is slowing our transition to sustainable energy, will be designed by a multidisciplinary group of partners from academia, industry and European NGOs with expertise in energy management, renewable energy systems, renewable fuel technologies and the development and implementation of sustainability strategy design.

About the Finnova Foundation

Finnova is a foundation working for the promotion and development of innovation and entrepreneurship at the EU level. Based in Brussels, it operates through collaborations and partnerships in all countries of the European Union. Finnova’s experience in leading European project communication and dissemination activities is combined with a strong proven expertise in start-ups and business support programs, such as accelerators, incubators and ceremonial event selection and awarding.

• This day aims to alert the worldwide community about the harmful and devastating effects of climate change on the planet
• Finnova joins the commemoration of this day as a partner in three LIFE projects, the European Union’s funding instrument for the environment and climate action

Today, Tuesday October 24th, is the International Day against Climate Change, to alert the world community about the harmful and devastating effects of climate change on the planet. This ephemeris is supported by the United Nations (UN), an initiative that advocates the generation of actions to counteract climate change and is aligned with Sustainable Development Goal number 13: Climate Action.

Climate change is the global variation of the planet’s climate and temperature, generated over the long term by natural causes. During the last century, pollution generated by human activity has accelerated this process at an alarming rate due to the emission of greenhouse gases generated by factors such as the burning of fossil fuels, land use, energy use and industrial activities.

These gases cause an increase in temperatures, generating the phenomenon of global warming, which is the cause of climate change. Some of the global effects are the increase in average temperatures and sea levels, melting ice in the Arctic or the increase in extreme weather events (droughts, fires, water shortages and floods, among others).

Finnova Foundation, as an entity committed to sustainable development, circular economy and water and waste management, joins the commemoration of this day in which it is intended to remember the importance of fighting against climate change. As part of this commitment, Finnova is currently a partner in three LIFE projects, the European Union’s funding instrument for the environment and climate action.

With a budget of €970,000, the LIFE ECOdigestion 2.0 project aims to make use of biogas as a reliable and green energy source to meet industrial energy demand. The initiative, which will run until February 2024, is led by a consortium led by Global Omnium (Spain), in partnership with Águas do Centro Litoral (Portugal) and the Finnova Foundation (Belgium).

The European LIFE NextFUMIGREEN project is actively promoting food safety by developing natural fumigants from plant extracts to control pests in intensive greenhouse horticultural crops. The project, which will have positive effects on biodiversity and climate change, has a budget of €2,758,921.01, and is led by the Spanish company FumiHogar, with five other partners: the Foundation for Agricultural Auxiliary Technologies (TECNOVA); the Finnova Foundation; B&B Asesores Auditores Ambientales; Comercial Quimica Masso, and BrioAgro Tech.

LIFE COSTAdapta has the main objective of addressing the adaptation of the coast of Gran Canaria to sea level rise through an innovative methodology. To this end, the objective is to design and test an innovative and progressive Tidal pool-reef system, which uses, partially, the traditional technique of tidal pool construction, common elements in the Canary Islands and the rest of Macaronesia, for the coastal adaptation of Gran Canaria to climate change. The project, which has a duration of 7 years and a total budget of 3,409,864 €, is coordinated by the Consejo Insular de Energía de Gran Canaria (CIEGC) of the Cabildo de Gran Canaria with the support of 7 partners: Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ULPGC); Universidad de Cantabria (UC); INGECID S.L.; Raley Estudios Costeros S.C.P.; ECOncrete AQUA; Fundación Canar.

About Finnova Foundation

Finnova is a foundation working for the promotion and development of innovation and entrepreneurship at EU level. Based in Brussels, it operates through collaborations and partnerships in all countries of the European Union. Finnova’s experience in leading European project communication and dissemination activities is combined with a strong proven expertise in start-ups and business support programs, such as accelerators, incubators and ceremonial event selection and awarding.

• The forum was attended by Dr. Rafael Escamilla, Director of External Relations of the Instituto Valenciano de Competitividad Empresarial (Valencian Institute of Business Competitiveness).

• The event covered topics such as the work of development agencies, the promotion of innovation and the challenges faced by SMEs.

13/10/2023, Brussels. Yesterday, Thursday October 12th, Finnova’s offices in Brussels hosted the V. Next Talent Generation Forum, with the participation of Dr. Rafael Escamilla Domínguez, Director of External Relations of the Instituto Valenciano de Competitividad Empresarial (IVACE). This space was used to explain the work of development agencies and to put his experience at the service of our team in Brussels.

The first part of the forum focused on the role of the regions within the European Union and the internationalization and innovation as a factor of European development. Rafael Escamilla highlighted the importance of regional development agencies, regional programs to support business competitiveness and business incubators, the implementation of technology center networks, the digitization of SMEs, and business sustainability policies, among others.

On development agencies, the speaker drew on his extensive experience as a member of the executive committee of EURADA (European Association of Development Agencies) and secretary general of the ADR forum (Spanish Association of Regional Development Agencies) to explain the work of these large networks of development agencies and their importance for the competitiveness and growth of SMEs. “We are in charge of coordinating the participation of companies, we guide regional policies that support business support programs in R&D&I, sustainability or entrepreneurship. We provide interlocutors to entities and companies when embarking on projects, we look for research centers to create consortiums,… in short, we are dynamizers”.

In the second part of the forum, our team put on the table several issues that were discussed in this space. The first of the issues to be addressed was the textile sector and its adaptation to the 2030 Agenda and the European Union’s sustainability objectives. Rafael Escamilla stressed the importance of this sector, as well as mature industrial sectors, being able to adapt to these new guidelines, remarking that beyond the speed at which they meet the objectives, “the importance is to be on the way”. He also added the need to show SMEs in the sector the tools they have to be more competitive, such as technology centers or the use of European funds.

Precisely, European funds were the next topic on the table. Escamilla took the opportunity to highlight some of the problems that are occurring in order for this aid to reach the real economy, given the sometimes overly complex regulatory situation.

The last topic of the forum focused on the business skills most in demand when it comes to entrepreneurship, and Escamilla drew on his experience in the sector to advise our team in this area. First, he stressed the importance of knowing the context in which one intends to undertake (knowing the state of the situation, the real needs of the market, market niches, ways to differentiate oneself from competitors, etc.). Secondly, he emphasized the interest that the entrepreneur must put in structuring an adequate, realistic financial plan that is adjusted to the company’s capabilities. As a last piece of advice on this area, Rafael Escamilla added that the most recent SMEs are adapting to the spaces where their activity is located, implementing local raw materials and linking innovation to the territories. “This is a very important step, taking into account the territorial imbalance that Spain has in innovation. The new economy marks us stronger poles focused on cities, and we must bet on innovation in uninhabited areas to curb depopulation, using the new environments of digitization or sustainability through proximity economies,” concluded Escamilla.

About Finnova:

Finnova is a Brussels-based organization dedicated to promoting innovation, research and investment in Europe. Its commitment to collaboration and training of young researchers fits perfectly with the EDGE project and its employability objectives.

• The GIVE project aims to reduce the environmental impact of digital learning by supporting VET providers’ green digital competences
• Finnova attended the event as a partner of the Erasmus + DESTINE project, to keep up to date with the latest trends in the field of VET

19/10/2023, Brussels. On Tuesday, September 17, the offices of the European Vocational Training Association (EVTA) in Brussels hosted the final event of the European GIVE project, in order to disseminate and extend among stakeholders the scope of the results of this Erasmus+ project. The event marked the completion of two years of fruitful cooperation between the partners and the implementation of the GIVE project, which helps VET providers to participate in the green and digital transitions. Finnova attended the event as a partner of the DESTINE project to keep abreast of the latest developments in VET.

The introductory speech was given by Tatjana Babrauskiené, member of the European Economic and Social Committee, who stressed the importance of these initiatives to support VET and education. “The latest crisis has shown us that education is always one of the hardest hit sectors when resources are cut,” concluded Babrauskiené. Another of the facts that Babrauskiené emphasized from the event was the link that this project was making between digital skills and green skills, as the digital transition will be “a value that all sectors will have to incorporate”.

Susanne Nielsen, leader of the European Training Foundation’s (ETF) GRETA (Greening Responses to Excellence Through Thematic Actions) project, then took the floor. Nielsen explained the ETF’s main tasks, which focus on helping the EU’s neighboring countries to reform their education and training systems, contributing to the social and economic development and long-term stability of these territories. Nielsen also gave some hints about GRETA, which addresses the challenges related to the delivery of green skills as a response to the dual challenge of ecological and digital transformations, achieved by incorporating green principles into VET.

The next part of the event consisted of a panel discussion on the importance of promoting digital and green habits in schools, companies and institutions and ways to do so. Giovanni Manisi (ENAIP FVG) agreed on the fact of the new paradigm raised by the COVID-19 pandemic. “After COVID, we worked on sustainability and digitization and ways to achieve a greener digitization.”

The next panelist was Léa Ichikawa, project manager at The Digital Collective, who introduced the Digital Competence Development System Methodology (DCDS). The methodology was part of an Erasmus + pilot project tested in 5 countries, in which the learning outcomes consisted in the identification of places to deposit obsolete and/or worn out ICT elements and measures to save energy and environmental resources).

Mathieu Rama, programme manager at ECOS, took the floor to talk about the work of this international NGO with a network of members and experts who advocate for environmentally friendly technical standards, policies and laws. In this case, Maza insisted on the need to use sustainable electronic products and batteries, as this is the fastest growing waste stream in the world, in addition to the possibility of triggering conflicts, human rights violations, chemical contamination and environmental degradation.

The event concluded with a presentation of the context, results and challenges of the GIVE project by the partners. Melisa Özdilek, project manager at My Green Training Box, presented the platform launched by the consortium, a digital training course to introduce sustainable ITIs to VET providers.

David Ekchajzer, co-founder of Hubblo, pointed out the main findings of the project, focusing on the impact of education on the carbon footprint. In this case, the project concludes that, for vocational education and training, travel to attend a course has a greater impact than course-related household energy, even though this increases household energy consumption. Other important findings were the impact of equipment lifetime and the value of reducing the energy consumption of educational buildings.

Diogo Morais, researcher and professor at Universidade Lusófona, highlighted some of the recommendations made by GIVE, such as avoiding duplication, extending the useful life of objects, promoting low-carbon modes of transport and controlling energy use.

Finnova attended the event as a partner of the Erasmus + DESTINE project, to keep abreast of the latest trends in the VET environment. Finnova celebrates the advances that are taking place in distance VET, advances that are aligned with values that the foundation champions such as access to education or sustainable development.

About DESTINE

The Erasmus + DESTINE (DivErSity and Tolerance IN E-Environment) project was created with the aim of promoting online vocational training that ensures support for diversity, inclusion and tolerance, providing the necessary tools for all professionals and students to adapt to the e-learning methodology. DESTINE focuses especially on those vocational training students who need a learning environment adapted to their needs.

About FINNOVA

Finnova is the Spanish-Belgian non-profit foundation based in Brussels and Spain, working for the promotion and development of innovation and entrepreneurship in the EU. Finnova’s experience in leading communication and dissemination activities of European projects is combined with a solid proven track record in business creation and entrepreneurship support programs, such as accelerators, incubators and events, as well as its commitment to training and employability of young people.