Category: News

• The city of Thessaloniki, Greece, will host the next activity of the project promoting gender equality and the presence of women in the labour market.

• With a consolidated budget of 137,435 euros, WomenEquity, a project of the Networks of Cities call of the Citizenship, Equality, Rights and Values Programme (CERV) is led by the Benaguasil City Council, together with partners from Italy, Portugal, Greece, Romania, Slovenia and Belgium.

• The Finnova Foundation, which is part of the consortium, will organise the last of the events in Brussels.

On Monday 22nd and Tuesday 23rd April 2024, Thessaloniki city, in Greece, will host the fifth activity of the European WomenEquity project, focusing on gender mainstreaming at local level. This meeting will bring the consortium partners to the Greek city to further strengthen cooperation in the European Union.

Under the title “More EU in local context”, the event will highlight the importance of adapting European gender policies to local realities, sharing gender policy innovations and measures taken at European level, through discussions, debates and activities on the future of gender policy in Europe.

The activity in Greece is part of a series of seven events scheduled over the 18 months of the project, which aims to organise resources to improve women’s representation in the labour market.

The main objective of the project, thanks to the collaboration of seven European organisations from Belgium, Spain, Italy, Greece, Portugal, Romania and Slovenia, is to develop audiovisual materials and a good practice guide that show the reality of women’s employment and compile successful local initiatives. These resources, as well as serving as a means of communication with citizens, will provide practical examples that other municipalities can adopt or use as inspiration to improve gender mainstreaming in the workplace.

Final event in Brussels

Finnova will again play a key role in bringing its essential European dimension to the project. The Spanish-Belgian Foundation will be preparing the final event in Brussels, the fruit of a public-private partnership that aims to raise awareness, reduce barriers, and find solutions.

About WomenEquity

With a budget of €137,435EUR, the project is led by Benaguasil Town Council togehter with a consortium of six other organisations from Italy, Portugal, Greece, Romania, Slovenia and Belgium.

WomenEquity is part of the Networks of Cities call of the Citizenship, Equality, Rights and Values Programme (CERV), and seeks to address women’s access to the labour market from a European perspective, thanks to the collaboration between municipalities such as Benaguasil, Botosani, Lourinha or Guardistalo in cooperation with private entities such as Finnova or Fifty-Fifty. Through this public-private partnership, the aim is to raise awareness and seek solutions to reduce these barriers and improve their conditions. The project also aims to raise awareness and involve all citizens in this reality, as well as public and private entities, offering work tools based on equality to achieve greater inclusion of women in the labour market.

About the Finnova Foundation

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 for European projects is combined with a proven track record in business creation and entrepreneurship support programmes, such as accelerators, incubators and events, as well as its commitment to training and employability of young people.

About the Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values programme

The Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values programme funds citizens’ engagement, equality for all and the implementation of EU rights and values. The programme brings together the former Rights, Equality and Citizenship programme and the former Europe for Citizens programme. It thus promotes exchanges between people from different countries, strengthens mutual understanding and tolerance, and provides the opportunity to broaden perspectives and develop a sense of European belonging and identity through twinning and town networks. The programme follows a bottom-up approach while offering, in particular to town networks, the opportunity to focus on EU priorities.

•  Finnova is hosting the third meeting of the Smart and Digital Agriculture project from 12 to 16 April at its offices in Brussels. 
• The consortium will meet with decision-makers from the European institutions and visit the Lavender Your Life lavender fields on 15-16 April. 

Brussels, 11/04/2024. The Smart and Digital Agriculture (SDA) project financed by the European Commission through the Erasmus + programme is meeting in Brussels from 11 to 16 April to analyse the progress of the project and to finalise the final stretch of the project. Finnova has organised an agenda in line with SDA’s objectives to support youth employment in the agricultural sector through medicinal and aromatic plants with high value in agriculture and to reduce rural-urban migration.

From the consortium side, Turkish, Bulgarian, Spanish and of course Belgian partners will be represented, as Finnova will host this meeting. From the Turkish side, institutions from the Sarıcakaya district, representatives from Anadolu and Kocatepe University and the Turkish Cosmetics Manufacturers and Research Association will be welcomed. This event will also host representatives from Bulgaria, coming from the Department of Water Treatment Technologies of the University of Burgas and researchers from the Bulgarian Institute of Agricultural Economics. Finally, the Spanish sector of the consortium will be present at the conference through the Benaguasil City Council (Comunitat Valenciana). 

The reception will be held today, Thursday 11 April, with a welcome dinner where Juanma Revuelta, CEO of Finnovaregio, will receive the aforementioned attendees. On Friday 12th, the progress made so far will be reviewed and next steps will be discussed at Finnova’s offices. 

During the morning, the partners will visit the Committee of the Regions to discuss strategies for involving young people in digital farming, which is essential for the sustainable future of the agricultural sector. During the afternoon session, project representatives will present to the European Commission the results achieved so far and seek support for future phases of the project. Likewise, the political staff of the European Commission will present the work of the institution in the field of agriculture, rural development and youth. 

The stay in Brussels will end with a visit on Tuesday 16 April to lavender fields in Sint-Gillis-Waas (Belgium). SDA members will have the opportunity to learn first-hand about the sustainable agricultural practices carried out by “Lavender Your Life” as a representation of the natural cosmetics industry in Belgium. This experience will provide valuable insights for implementing digital solutions in agriculture and an exchange of knowledge and sustainable best practices between different countries.

The meeting in Brussels represents a unique opportunity to assess the progress of the project that supports digitalization in agriculture and develops smart and virtual farming practices through the creation of a virtual laboratory. It will run a training programme, launch a virtual platform for e-learning, create the “Smart Greenhouse” application and develop a help guide to support the production of medicinal and aromatic plant raw materials. 

 About Smart and Digital Agriculture  The European project Smart and Digital Agriculture is actively promoting digitalisation in the agricultural sector to address current and future challenges. Through innovative solutions, SDA aims to improve efficiency, sustainability and food production. With the leadership of Eskişehir Provincial Directorate of National Education (Turkey) and with the collaboration of Prof dr asen zlatarov university (Bulgaria) , Institute of agricultural economics (Bulgaria) , Finnovaregio (Belgium) , Benaguasil City Council (Spain) , Rural coalition kumanovo (Republic of North Macedonia), Anadolu University (Turkey), Saricakaya municipality (Turkey), Saricakaya District Directorate of Agriculture (Turkey), Association of cosmetic manufacturers and researchers (Turkey), the project has a total budget of 198.198,830 euros, funded by the Erasmus+ programme, and has a duration of 2 years.

• The European capital hosts the event ”Building tomorrow’s Europe with today’s women”.
• The event, which will be held from 14h30 to 16h30 at Av. des Arts 56, 1000 Brussels, aims to promote female entrepreneurship and foster innovation.
• The need for more support for equality will be addressed.

Brussels 11 April 2024. Women and girls will take over Brussels next Tuesday 7 May. The European capital will host ‘Building tomorrow’s Europe with today’s Women’, an event that aims to promote female entrepreneurship and foster innovation.

Women’s entrepreneurship in the European Union is an area of growing importance and attention. The EU recognises the crucial role that women play in the economy and has implemented various initiatives and policies to encourage and support female entrepreneurship in the region. The meeting will address different initiatives aimed at supporting female entrepreneurship and innovation from STEM careers.

A day in which synergies will be created between participants through workshops, round tables, networking and exchange of experiences and ideas between entrepreneurs, companies, young people, administrations and business associations.

The main objective of this event held in the European capital is to make visible and promote the role of women in the economy, business, science and innovation. It aims to address a number of specific needs such as greater support for equity, boosting women’s leadership and entrepreneurship, fostering cultural understanding and, above all, embracing the diversity of women’s entrepreneurship.

If you are interested in attending the event, which will be held from 14h30 to 16h30 at Av. des Arts 56, 1000 Brussels, you can register at the following link: click here. If you are unable to attend in person, it will also be streamed online: Online registration.

About Finnova Foundation

Finnova is a Spanish-Belgian non-profit 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 European capital will host an online workshop to discuss the future of the tourism sector on Tuesday April 9 from 10:00 to 12:00.
• The event, Building Tourism Ecosystems in Belgium, is part of the European FU-TOURISM project.
• Experts will analyze the opportunities offered by a sector that must adapt to the new reality of sustainability and digitalization.

This Tuesday 9 April, from 10:00 to 12:00 CEST, the Finnova Foundation, from Brussels, will present the online workshop Building Touristic Ecosystems in Belgium, the second workshop organized as part of the European FU-TOURISM project. The event aims to build a local ecosystem and explore the potential and challenges of the Belgian tourism sector, sharing best practices focused on sustainability and digitalization.

Under the title “The importance of sustainability and digitalization in tourism”, experts and stakeholders from the Belgian tourism sector will discuss the future of a sector in full rush to innovate, and the dual green and digital transition. They will share their projects and best practices in digitalization and/or sustainability in tourism, highlighting the potential and challenges they face. The presentations will be followed by a round table discussion that will enable all stakeholders to generate a dialogue on the challenges of sustainability and digitization in different tourism sectors.

This workshop is part of the European FU-TOURISM project, which supports European tourism SMEs in their transition to a green, digital and inclusive economy, with a focus on applying the principles of the regenerative economy. Funded with 4 million euros from the SMP program (COSME’s predecessor program) and with a duration of 36 months (2023-2026), the European FU-TOURISM project is led by EUPOLIS Group and is composed by a partnership of eight entities from Croatia, Belgium, Spain, Greece, Austria, Poland, and Italy.

“One of the objectives of the program is to enable accelerated SMEs to access European funds through programs such as Interreg, LIFE, Digital Europe and Horizon, enabling their project can benefit from additional funding up to 2 million euros through these programs,” explains Juan Manuel Revuelta, CEO of Finnova, a partner in the project, from Brussels.

LIVING LABS FOR THE TRANSITION OF TOURISM SMES One of the main pillars of the FU-TOURISM project is the development of a platform and network of 4-Helix collaborative clusters, known as Living Labs for the transition of tourism SMEs. These clusters will enable SMEs to be placed at the heart of the tourism ecosystem, adopting a multi-actor approach that considers the broader needs of the destination, visitors and local citizens. “This objective of living labs is strategic, as it aims to generate local actions that can be replicated and have an impact at European and global level,” emphasizes Revuelta.

• An event to reinforce the strategic collaboration between leading industrial regions in Europe
• Juanma Revuelta, CEO of the Foundation, presented the Industrial Water SEUA, to face the challenge of industrial water in Lombardy and Valencia

02/04/2023, Brussels. Finnova Foundation participated in the event “Clusters meet Regions”, which took place in Milan (Italy) on March 26th and 27th, 2024. The event, organized by the European Cluster Collaboration Platform (ECCP) on behalf of the European Commission and in collaboration with Cluster Afil and Regione Lombardia, brought together institutional and regional authorities from Italy and the rest of Europe, cluster managers, entrepreneurs and academics for two days to promote industrial development in the regions and encourage the exchange of knowledge.

The conference, entitled “Twin Transition: Italian ecosystems and the European agenda for sustainability”, aimed to present innovative models and strategic choices adopted by different Italian and European regions, and to establish interregional collaborations.

The role of Finnova Foundation

During the event, Juanma Revuelta, CEO of Finnova Foundation, met with the regional secretary of Industry, Trade and Tourism of the Valencian Community, Felipe Carrasco, and with the secretary of International Relations of the Lombardy region, Raffaele Cattaneo, to deepen cooperation in strategic sectors and industrial partnerships.

He also had the opportunity to present the methodology of the Startup Europe Awards (SEUA), highlighting its role as a crucial tool in fostering public-private collaboration and promoting innovation to boost the success of startups and SMEs. In this line, the event served as a platform for the official launch of the Industrial Waste Water SEUA, a challenge focused on industrial water management in collaboration with the Valencian Community and the Lombardy region. The initiative seeks to attract innovations and offer sustainable solutions to the challenges facing industrialization and water management in both regions, especially in the fields of agri-food, fashion/textile, ceramics and automotive, 4 crucial sectors for both regions.

Finnova’s projects in the Twin Transition framework

During his participation, Juanma Revuelta highlighted the work of Finnova Foundation in different projects that reflect the Foundation’s commitment to green and digital transition in Europe.

RES4CITY, within the framework of the Horizon Europe program, with a budget of 2.5 million euros, aims to promote the development of sustainable renewable energy and fuel technologies in cities. Within this project, the RES4CITY STARTUP EUROPE ACCELERATHON idea accelerator proposes solutions in efficient mobility, land management, green hydrogen production and grey water reuse.

LIFE ECOdigestion 2.0 under the LIFE program, with a budget of 970,000 euros, aims to generate biogas in sewage treatment plant digesters by mixing organic waste, achieving environmental and economic benefits through the optimal use of waste.

Another of the projects related to environmental care is ONE-BLUE, from the Horizon Europe program. With a budget of 6.2 million euros, it will improve knowledge about the effects of pollutants in different marine ecosystems.

Finally, MANUFACTURING4ALL, under the Erasmus+ program, with a budget of 60,000 euros, aims to transform small municipalities through digital education and entrepreneurship.

The event served as a space for the promotion of sustainable innovation and interregional and international collaboration, marking a step forward in the green and digital transition in Europe. The initiative reinforces the importance of working together to overcome global challenges, thus supporting the dual green and digital transition to a more sustainable and technologically advanced future.

About Finnova Foundation

Finnova is a Spanish-Belgian non-profit foundation based in Brussels, which focuses on fostering innovation and entrepreneurship in the European Union. The foundation works in collaboration with various organizations and partners in the member countries to communicate and disseminate 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.

• The webinar focused on the ABANCA-ASTROC case, which was the first real estate stock market shock of the collapse of the real estate bubble in 2008
• The webinar was held in the framework of Global Money Week, an event organised by the OECD
  
  

26/03/2024, Brussels. Last Friday 22 March, the webinar “Youth Movement, second chance Directive against toxic banking products: ABANCA-ASTROC case study” took place in the framework of the Global Money Week, organized by OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development). This initiative, which celebrated its twelfth edition during the week of 18-24 March, is an annual global awareness-raising campaign on the importance of ensuring that young people are financially aware and gradually acquire the knowledge, skills, attitudes and behaviours needed to make sound decisions about their finances.

With the aim of contributing to provide a better understanding of financial aspects, the webinar analysed the case of ABANCA-Inmobiliaria ASTROC to understand the legal aspects, tools and resources of the Second Chance Directive 2019/1023. This case is considered the beginning of the collapse of the real estate bubble in Spain, when in April 2007, the real estate company collapsed on the stock market and dragged down other securities in the sector. Precisely, the CEO of the Finnova Foundation and lawyer in the field of lobbying and advocacy Juanma Revuelta welcomed the 60 people attending the webinar, stressing the importance of this case for businessmen, entrepreneurs and young people. The Second Chance Directive is a tool that gives bona fide bankrupts the opportunity to get a fresh start.

The seminar was followed by the participation of the lawyer, economist, mediator and API Salvador Ibañez and the lawyer and Data Protector Officer-GDPO Compliance Paul-Alexandre Janssens, who detailed the scope and legal aspects of the Second Chance Directive 2019/1023 in Spain and Belgium, respectively. Ibáñez pointed out the incorrect and late transposition of this directive by Spain, although he wanted to highlight that it is having positive effects in a short period of time. Janssens, for his part, emphasised the transposition of the Directive in the Belgian legal system.

These interventions served to learn about the reality of this Directive at first hand in both countries and to be able to establish a true comparison between the two cases.

Then, Teresa Ibáñez, a lawyer specialising in insolvency and real estate law, mediator and API, took the floor to talk about the damage caused to people who have gone bankrupt when they find themselves in this situation. Ibáñez focused her speech onthe negative effects that people suffer when they are involved in the situations described above.

This was followed by interventions from the young team of the Finnova Foundation. Social worker, sociologist and political scientist Rocío Muñoz de Viguera spoke about the social impact of insolvency on bona fide bankrupts, stressing the importance of having a good support network. After this analysis, the assistant of the legal department and specialist in sustainable development and global co-governance Roger Bellido and Carla Vizcarro, also a member of the legal department of the foundation and specialised in cases of toxic banking products, detailed the importance for young people of knowing about these types of directives, which provide a safety net for new entrepreneurs.

To conclude the event, Juanma Revuelta took the floor to recap the key points of the webinar and reminded the audience of the need to disseminate and support initiatives that facilitate entrepreneurship, especially young entrepreneurship.

About the Finnova Foundation

Finnova is a Spanish-Belgian non-profit foundation based in Brussels, which focuses on fostering innovation and entrepreneurship in the European Union. The foundation works in collaboration with various organisations and partners in the member countries to communicate and disseminate European projects. In addition, it offers support to start-ups and businesses through programmes such as accelerators and incubators, and selection and award ceremonial events.

• Juanma Revuelta, CEO of the Finnova Foundation, will present the SEUA, the Foundation’s own open innovation methodology to boost the success of startups and SMEs
• The event will launch the INDUSTRIAL WATER STARTUP EUROPE AWARDS to promote the challenge of industrial waters in Lombardy and Valencia

03/26/2024, Brussels. Juanma Revuelta, CEO of the Finnova Foundation, will represent the foundation at the “Clusters Meet Regions” event to be held in Milan (Italy) today, Tuesday, March 26, and tomorrow, Wednesday, March 27, 2024. The event is a space that will allow collaboration and knowledge exchange between European regions.

Revuelta will speak tomorrow at the event to explain the details and benefits of the Startup Europe Awards (SEUA) methodology, promoted by the European Commission and Finnova Foundation itself. The SEUA methodology, used since 2016 in various entrepreneurship initiatives, has a proven track record in fostering public-private collaboration and promoting innovation to boost the success of startups and SMEs facing challenges. This methodology is designed to address current challenges and promote innovative solutions aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Water SEUA: The Industrial Water Challenge

The focus of the presentation will be the launch of the second edition of the Water Startup Europe Awards, this time centered on collaboration between the Valencian Community and the Lombardy region (Italy), and focused on the management of industrial waters.

The new edition, supported by the Finnova Foundation, IVACE (Valencian Institute for Business Competitiveness), the Lombardy Region, and Wex Global, seeks to attract innovation and offer sustainable solutions to the challenges faced by industrialization in both regions. This initiative comes at a particularly sensitive time due to the impact of increasingly frequent droughts, affecting mainly four critical sectors: the agri-food industry, the fashion and textile industry, the ceramics industry, and the automotive industry. Lombardy and Valencia are emerging as the ideal regions to host an Accelerathon (idea acceleration contest) focused on the management of wastewater and industrial waters in these areas, especially because of their strengths in innovation, sustainability, and water management.

The challenge launch aims to invite entrepreneurs, startups, SMEs, universities, and corporations to participate and contribute innovative solutions. Participants will have the opportunity to win a European Acceleration Ticket, which will allow them access to significant European programs and develop projects with funds of up to 5 million euros.

Success cases

The Finnova Foundation partners in various European projects that bet on international cooperation and water management.

RES4CITY is a European project aimed at enhancing the development of sustainable renewable energies and fuel technologies in cities through the joint design of an educational program and the promotion of sustainability and circularity. It also includes an Accelerathon that proposes solutions focused on the revalorization of greywaters. The project, funded by the Horizon program, has a budget of 2.5 million euros.

Another project funded by the Horizon program is ONE-BLUE, which focuses on researching emerging pollutants and the effects of climate change on marine biodiversity and biota. With a budget of 6.2 million euros, ONE-BLUE will collect samples in the Atlantic Ocean, the Arctic, and the Mediterranean Sea to understand this harmful impact on marine biodiversity and biota.

LIFE ECOdigestion 2.0 aims to become the most versatile digestion control tool on the market, achieving environmental and economic benefits through the production of biogas by optimizing the use of organic waste. The project is financed by the LIFE program and has a budget of more than 970,000 euros, betting on biogas generation in sewage treatment plant digesters through the mixture of putrescible organic wastes (manure, poultry, organic fractions, MSW, HORECA, etc.).

Lastly, the MANUFACTURING4ALL project, with a budget of 60,000 euros and financed by the Erasmus+ program, is dedicated to implementing good practices based on digital competencies and transforming towards Industry 4.0.

Water SEUA aims to highlight the importance of international collaboration and sustainable innovation in water management, thus supporting the ecological and digital transition in Europe within the framework of the green and digital transition. The Finnova Foundation aims to demonstrate with this new initiative its commitment to those projects that promote sustainable practices, key to understanding the challenges we face.

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.

FU-TOURISM presents the first workshop of the cycle of 6 workshops that it will offer in the coming months. The workshop took place on Thursday 21 March at the Transfiere fair, the leading R&D&I forum in southern Europe.

Finnova is co-organiser of this workshop, which is also part of the Startup Europe Week SEW24.

Finnova Foundation has been in charge of presenting the workshop “FU-TOURISM STAKEHOLDER WORKSHOP: €4M for Sustainable Innovation and Green Entrepreneurship in the Spanish tourism ecosystem“ at the Transfiere fair, held in FYCMA, Malaga, from 20 to 22 March. The meeting brought together various agents from the Spanish tourism ecosystem to discuss issues such as digital development and the green transition within the sector.

The objective of the hybrid workshop, which was broadcast live from the Transfiere fair, was to analyse the opportunities and challenges of the Spanish tourism sector through the exchange of best practices focused on the digitalisation and sustainability of the ecosystem. The speakers presented examples and best practices in digitalisation and sustainability in tourism, highlighting the opportunities and challenges. The event was developed around a stakeholder panel and a round table after the presentations that allowed all the speakers to discuss the challenges of sustainability and digitalisation in various tourism sectors.

The stakeholder panel of the workshop was divided into three blocks. The first focused on sustainability and the environment, with the participation of experts in the sector such as the director of Tourism and Business Development Costa del Sol Malaga, Pedro Barrionuevo Gener and the CEO of Stemy Energy, Álvaro Sánchez Miralles. In the second block, focused on digitalisation and twin transition, the Founder of the Ibero-American Forum of Sustainable Tourism #TuriSOS, Alex Che, the Director of the Chair of Innovation of the Gandía Campus of the UPV, Jose Marín-Roig Ramón and the director of ASICOTOUR, Ana Belén Fernández Seijas, took part. Finally, the Design Lead, Regenerative Transformation and Eco-social Ecosystems, Sharam Yalda, addressed Market Intelligence, showing how to use this term for the development of sustainable tourism.

The workshop concluded with a panel discussion moderated by Patricia Cavanillas, Director of Communication and Institutional Relations at Finnova. Throughout the debate, the speakers presented their opinions on various topics related to the current situation and the short-term future of the Spanish tourism industry. 

The panelists wanted to underline the challenge faced by tourism in aligning itself with innovation; the need to connect existing entrepreneurial initiatives with tourism. When it came to defining the situation of tourism in Spain, most of the speakers agreed on the complex situation it is going through, with a large number of micro-destinations to promote, but they also highlighted the positive note in the evolution of the use of digital tools, which favours entrepreneurship. On the other hand, another aspect on which the round table agreed was the virtues that the union of public and private entities can bring to tourism and the creation of systems so that small agents can contribute value to the sector. 

Juanma Revuelta, CEO of the Finnova Foundation, wanted to highlight two other topics discussed at the table: the opportunities that tourism can offer in depopulated Spain and the need to align the ecological transition with the sector.  On the other hand, Revuelta also highlighted the current tools provided by the European Union in terms of tourism promotion to help repopulate uninhabited areas.

With this workshop, the Finnova Foundation also became co-organiser of Startup Europe Week (SEW24), an initiative that is present in more than 300 cities in almost 50 countries, making it the largest regional entrepreneurship event in the world.

FU-TOURISM project: support network for tourism SMEs  

The workshop is part of a cycle of 6 workshops showcased by the European project FU-TOURISM, which is funded by the COSME programme with 4 million euros. The project aims to assist small and medium-sized tourism enterprises in Europe in their transition towards a green, digital and inclusive economy, with a focus on implementing the principles of the regenerative economy.  The project will have a duration of 36 months (2023-2026), is composed of entities from Croatia, Belgium, Spain, Greece, Austria, Poland and Italy and is led by EUPOLIS Group. The Finnova Foundation is leading the transferability, replication and communication of the project, considering the innovation methods used by Startup Europe Awards (SEUA), a strategy promoted by Startup Europe and supported by the European Commission. SEUAs are a tool to identify disruptive SMEs and startups that foster public-private collaboration and promote self-employment as a driver of job creation.

• Finnova Foundation joins this celebration that focuses on the importance of water, a vital agent for the preservation of the environment and biodiversity.
• ONE-BLUE, LIFE ECOdigestion and RES4CITY, projects committed to water care and management

22/03/2024, Brussels. Today marks World Water Day, an emblematic date that reminds us of the importance of preserving and responsibly managing our water resources for future generations. In this context, Finnova Foundation focuses on water as a vital agent for the preservation of the environment and biodiversity. Finnova is a partner in several European projects that focus on the protection of water from pollutants, the protection of coasts from rising seas and the sustainable use of water.

One of the outstanding projects in which the Finnova Foundation is involved is ONE-BLUE, a research initiative funded by the Horizon Europe program of the European Union. With a budget of more than €6,200,000, ONE-BLUE focuses on research into the impact of emerging pollutants and the effects of climate change on marine biodiversity, thus contributing to the understanding and preservation of our aquatic ecosystems.

The other project with funding from the Horizon program in which Finnova participates is RES4CITY, focused on the development of sustainable urban environments. With a budget of 2.5 million euros, RES4CITY promotes the use of renewable technologies and fuels in cities, thus boosting sustainability and circularity in the urban environment. Within the RES4CITY STARTUP EUROPE ACCELERATHON initiative, framed within the project, solutions will be proposed for the reuse of gray water, practices that contribute to saving drinking water and reducing the impact of climate change.

LIFE ECOdigestion 2.0 generates biogas from mixed organic waste, transforming sewage sludge into green energy and helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The project has a budget of €970,000 and is funded by the LIFE program , the European Union’s instrument for the environment and climate action.

The main objective of the LIFE COSTAdapta project is to address the adaptation of the coast of Gran Canaria to sea level rise through an innovative and progressivetidal pool-reef system. This project is also supported by the LIFE program, and is budgeted at 3,409,864 €.

From the Finnova Foundation we are committed to building a more sustainable and environmentally friendly future, World Water Day is an opportunity to reflect on the importance of this resource and to collaborate to preserve it for future generations. Finnova reaffirms its commitment to continue working on projects that promote sustainability and water conservation, thus contributing to a more prosperous and equitable future for all.

About the Finnova Foundation

Finnova is a Spanish-Belgian non-profit foundation based in Brussels, which focuses on fostering innovation and entrepreneurship in the European Union. The foundation works in collaboration with various organizations and partners in the member countries to communicate and disseminate 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.

– On March 15, the European Commission organized a hybrid event to reflect on the past, present and future of the tourism ecosystem.

– The Finnova Foundation, partner of the European project FU-TOURISM, attended the event where this project was presented.

Last Friday, March 15th, Finnova Foundation was present at the event “2-year anniversary of the Transition Pathway for Tourism”, organized by the Directorate General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs of the European Commission (DG GROW). The FU-TOURISM project, in which Finnova Foundation is a partner, was presented at the event.

The event was the setting for unveiling some of the projects of the COSME Program for the competitiveness of enterprises and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which finances numerous initiatives that help small companies to access new markets. Among them was FU-TOURISM, which seeks to create a supportive environment for small and medium-sized tourism companies, encouraging greater collaboration in innovation between them and the sector’s incubators and accelerators. The Finnova Foundation attended the event with the aim of creating synergies, networking and exchanging ideas that serve to produce future developments within the ecosystem.

The event, which celebrated two years of the Transition Pathway for Tourism, brought together stakeholders to reflect on the past, present and future of the tourism ecosystem. Attendees took stock of the progress made since the publication of this document, exchanged best practices and created networks to reflect on the future evolution of the tourism ecosystem.

Ecosystem of support for tourism SMEs

Funded by the COSME program with 4 million euros and with a duration of 36 months (2023-2026), the European project FU-TOURISM is led by EUPOLIS Group and integrated by a partnership of eight entities from Croatia, Belgium, Spain, Greece, Austria, Poland and Italy. FU-TOURISM will develop a support ecosystem for tourism SMEs, promoting greater cooperation in innovation between these companies and incubators and accelerators in the sector.

To this end, it will launch an acceleration program that will identify and support a total of 102 tourism SMEs in the six European countries that are part of the project through support services for sustainability, digitalization, inclusive business models and direct financial assistance.

During the acceleration program, 10 SMEs from each country will be selected in a transparent and open manner to receive a 5-month support and a grant of 20,000 euros each. In addition, the Scaling Up program will select 42 SME consortia (7 per-country) to receive a grant of 30,000 euros each and corresponding business support.

Living Labs for the transition of SMEs in tourism

One of the key pillars of the FU-TOURISM project is the development of a platform and network of collaborative 4-Helix Clusters, known as Tourism SME Transition Living Labs. These clusters will enable SMEs to be placed at the center of the tourism ecosystem, adopting a multi-stakeholder approach that takes into account the broader needs of the destination, visitors and local citizens.

Transition Pathway for Tourism

In February 2022, the European Commission published the Transition Pathway for Tourism, a strategy created jointly with stakeholders that sets out concrete actions for the coming years. Through an online call for commitments, tourism stakeholders are invited to contribute to this process, supporting the green and digital transition of the tourism ecosystem, ultimately increasing the resilience of the sector. 4 sets of commitments and pledges have been published since then, and the call remains open for a continuous expansion of the stakeholder community.