- The project took part in the event “Innovation in Green Cities through European Funds”, organised by Finnova
- During the event, the simulation game Serious Game and the project accelerator Accelerathon were presented
Brussels, 21/09/2023. Yesterday, Wednesday 20 September 2023, the RES4CITY project was presented at the event “Innovation in Green Cities through European Funds” organised by Finnova. This activity was part of the Greencities and S-Moving Fair held at the Trade Fairs and Congress Centre of Malaga and its main objective was to promote the development of renewable energy and fuel technologies in urban environments.
The event started with the welcome given by Juanma Revuelta, CEO of Finnova, and with the presentation of the project by Patricia Tejada, EU Project Officer at Finnova. Tejada stressed the importance of this project, a consortium of 18 partners from 9 countries that stands as a crucial initiative to promote sustainability and circularity in the urban environment. RES4CITY aims to implement an innovative educational programme, promoting the use of renewable energy sources and sustainable fuel technologies in cities.
Julio Andrade, director of the International Centre for Training of Authorities and Leaders CIFAL, then opened the round of presentations. Andrade sent a message of awareness about climate change, picking up on the latest UN warnings of a two-degree increase in global temperatures. “This warning worsens the already negative prediction of a 1.5 degree increase, so it is key that cities become sustainable spaces, in line with the eleventh Sustainable Development Goal,” Andrade concluded.
Next to take the floor was Cirlet Bando, representing Kunak Technologies. The aim of this company is to measure pollution in cities, creating greener and cleaner cities. Kunak Technologies uses a network of sensor stations to collect pollution data, allowing street-by-street monitoring, with real-time information and evaluation of the impact of the actions implemented by the institutions. “In addition, this system is able to identify patterns and hotspots, so we can offer new strategies in the fight to reduce pollution,” Bando concluded.
John David Babyack, Smart Cities Sales Manager at Libelium, focused his speech on the application of technologies that contribute to the environment in people’s daily lives. “Our intention is that the administration invests with knowledge, and we have the information that serves and should improve people’s quality of life,” said Babyack. Libelium, a company with 17 years of experience and with headquarters on all continents, has applied Smartcities technology in those places where it has a presence. Among the projects managed by the company from Zaragoza, the environmental corridor installed in Vizcaya stands out, a network of 20 air quality devices that sends information on pollution, the influx of cars and noise levels to a platform managed by the Provincial Council of Vizcaya.
To close the block of talks, Juanma Revuelta spoke about the synergies between European projects. To this end, Revuelta gave as an example the LIFE ECOdigestion 2.0 project, a consortium between Finnova, Global Omnium and Águas do Centro Litoral, which is committed to innovation aimed at ecological transformation, by focusing its scope of work on the production of biogas through efficient waste management.
After the presentations, Laura Velasco, EU Project Officer at Finnova, presented the Serious Game simulation, a role-playing game that simulates a specific business scenario related to renewable energy and fuel technologies. Playing the main character, the player must make decisions, organise work, manage information and solve problems related to sustainability, circular economy and renewable energies.
The event concluded with Patricia Tejada’s presentation of the Accelerathon, a methodology for accelerating innovative projects promoted by Finnova, which aims to find solutions and funding. It is carried out through an open and applied innovation competition that brings together the innovative ecosystem of the circular economy sector. The next call will be launched between November 2023 and January 2024.
Startup Europe Awards Greencities
With the organisation of this event, the Finnova Foundation reaffirms its commitment to sustainable development and the circular economy. The RES4CITY project, in which Finnova Foundation is a partner, is another example that confirms Finnova’s good work in this area.
About RES4CITY
The RES4CITY project, funded by Horizon Europe, aims to boost the development of sustainable renewable energy and fuel technologies in cities. This objective will be achieved through the promotion of sustainability and circularity, as well as through the implementation of an innovative educational programme designed in collaboration with stakeholders. This programme aims to train highly skilled professionals, enabling the replicability of results in various educational systems. The project is led by Maynooth University in a consortium of 18 organisations from the European Union and Switzerland, including Finnova.
About Startup Europe Awards
Startup Europe Awards (SEUA) is the open innovation methodology of public-private collaboration that was created in 2016 with the support of the current Vice-President of the European Commission Mariya Gabriel and the Finnova Foundation and that promotes the identification of innovative solutions by entrepreneurs to SDG and EU challenges. The process fosters collaboration between the different actors in the entrepreneurial ecosystem and aims to accelerate companies through the tools and mechanisms offered by the EU: networking and access to investors, training in EU legislation and funds and mentoring to turn the idea into a real demonstration project such as Horizon Europe or Life, subsidised by the EU with up to 5 million euros per project. Startups awarded in other competitions have obtained subsidies for their internationalisation – up to 2.5 million through the EIC programme – or access to grants such as Erasmus entrepreneurs or registration of trademarks and patents. SEUA also creates a network of contacts that will inspire and give visibility to all local startups so that, through this network, they can scale their services and products globally. The Startup Europe Awards will accelerate the creation or consolidation and internationalisation of companies with funding from the European Union as well as offering legal advice, networking, and international communication, among other benefits.
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 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.