- The Spanish-Belgian foundation will lead an International Meeting on April 22 in Ibagué to connect the opportunities of the European Green Deal with the Latin American agri-food ecosystem
- Finnova’s management team will outline pathways to access cooperation programmes like AL-INVEST Verde and present the success of the ECOFFEE project (Horizon Europe) as a transferable innovation model
- The event, part of the Glocal Circular Economy Summit, will serve to build bridges between European technologists, Colombian institutions, and local entrepreneurs
Brussels, April 17, 2026. Exporting the European circular economy model and facilitating access to international cooperation funds. With this dual mission, the Finnova Foundation lands in Colombia next week to spearhead the “EU-LAC International Meeting on Bioeconomy and Coffee”. The event will take place on Wednesday, April 22, from 14:30 to 17:30 (local time) in Ibagué (Tolima) and is positioned as one of the strategic sessions of the Glocal Circular Economy Summit – Nova Next Summit.
With its extensive experience in European affairs, Finnova takes the lead in this session to demonstrate how technological innovation, backed by appropriate funding, can transform environmental challenges into profitable business opportunities on both sides of the Atlantic.
Finnova’s key role: funding and alliances
The meeting will pivot on the need to structure solid projects to access international funding. To this end, Finnova has deployed its management team with the aim of sharing its know-how with the Latin American ecosystem.
The institutional opening and general moderation of the event will be led by Juanma Revuelta, General Director of Finnova, who will outline the opportunities offered by the European Green Deal for producing territories. In the strictly financial sphere, Juan Viesca, Director of European Funds at the Foundation, will break down the tools for structuring cooperation projects, with a specific focus on the advantages of the AL-INVEST Verde Sustainable Coffee European programme.
ECOFFEE: A European success story ready for export
As a practical demonstration of the application of these funds, Finnova will present the success story of ECOFFEE (funded by Horizon Europe), a consortium in which the Foundation itself is a key partner for communication and the exploitation of results.
This European project has succeeded in transforming coffee grounds into natural biocides and animal feed. To detail the impact of this innovation, the meeting will feature the technical intervention of Carlos Ramos, Operations Manager at FumiHogar (an ECOFFEE partner company), who will explain the application of dry micro-dispersion technology and the synergies with other programmes such as LIFE NextFUMIGREEN.
Integration with the local fabric
True to its philosophy of creating multidisciplinary consortia, Finnova has designed a panel that perfectly integrates the European vision with the territorial reality. The strategic debate will feature Luis Betancourt, Director of the Technical Agency for Investment and Cooperation of Ibagué; Viviana Narváez, Social Innovation Lead at Tecnicafé; and Lorena Rodríguez, professor at the Amazon Regional University of Ecuador (IKIAM).
This in-person event reaffirms the Finnova Foundation’s commitment to creating bi-regional working networks (networking), connecting city councils, waste managers, cooperatives, and Agrotech entrepreneurs to drive the global ecological transition.
About the Finnova Foundation
Finnova is a Spanish-Belgian non-profit foundation based in Brussels, specialized in promoting and developing innovation and entrepreneurship at a European and international level. With a solid network of contacts, Finnova supports public and private institutions in attracting European funds, communication, and structuring consortia, operating in strategic areas such as the environment, sustainable development, the circular economy, and ICTs.
More information: https://www.finnova.eu/