“S-MOVING Zero Emissions Smart and Sustainable Mobility Alliance” webinar addresses urban mobility and sustainable transport on the occasion of #EUGreenWeek

•  This online event was held by FYCMA and Finnova on June 3 as we celebrate the European Green Week and the World Environment Day

•  The goal of this event was to form new alliances in order to devise a plan for green and efficient urban transport

•  This event is a preview of the Foro S-MOVING, Movilidad Inteligente y Sostenible forum, which will be held in Malaga on September 29 and 30, 2021

S-MOVING Zero Emissions Smart and Sustainable Mobility Alliance banner, an online event held during EU Green Week

Brussels, 04.06.2021 – On June 3, FYCMA (Palacio de Ferias y Congresos de Málaga) and Fundación Finnova held the “S-MOVING Zero Emissions Smart and Sustainable Mobility Alliance” webinar on the occasion of the World Environment Day (June 5) and the European Green Week 2021 #EUGreenWeek in order to discuss sustainable mobility in cities.

The European Green Week 2021  #EUGreenWeek, held by the Directorate-General for Environment from May 31 to June 4 under the slogan “Zero Pollution”, is a great opportunity to discuss EU environmental policies in online events held by member countries.

Participants at the “S-MOVING Zero Emissions Smart and Sustainable Mobility Alliance” conference, which covers 5 out of 17 UN SDGs, i.e. 3, 7, 9, 11 and 13, discussed sustainable and efficient mobility and transports. Participants focused mainly on the innovation, development and application of new technologies aimed at furthering disruptive changes in infrastructures and energy, urban mobility, zero pollution and electric transports.

This webinar was split into three different parts – governments, European funds and companies. Juanma Revuelta, Fundación Finnova – LIFE ECOdigestion 2.0’s CEO, chaired the event and encouraged participants to seek LIFE funding for their projects.

The LIFE programme is the EU’s funding instrument for the environment. The call for new pilot projects will start in half June and will have a financial envelope of up to €5.4 billion. Revuelta presented two LIFE projects where Finnova has had enormous success – LIFE Ecobus and LIFE Ecodigestion 2.0. LIFE Ecobus (Valencia) aims to turn vegetable oil used in hotels, bars and restaurants into biodiesel and glycerin, which in turn can be used to fuel public buses. On the other hand, LIFE Ecodigestion 2.0 allows transforming organic waste in the HORECA sector (leftovers, etc.) into biogas in every wastewater treatment plant, which then can be used as fuel for tourist buses or food-delivery vehicles. Finnova held a specific webinar on LIFE Ecodigestion 2.0 during #EUGreenWeek.

EIT Urban Mobility Director Daniel Serra kicked off the event in a video explaining the challenges cities must face in order to become sustainable in the upcoming years. “We have identified three strategic plans cities will implement after the pandemic, which include mobility in suburban areas; intermodal mobility and new additional systems combining all mobility services, and redesigning public spaces, including more green areas in cities.

MEP and Committee on Transport and Tourism member Isabel García Muñoz stressed that EU institutions are committed to achieving sustainable mobility through different mechanisms. “Due to last year’s economic downturn and pandemic, some people have wondered whether the European Green Deal should still be in force. The recovery and reactivation of our economies and societies need to be green, fair and inclusive. We are convinced that the European Green Deal is the path we must follow, as it ensures asustainable and resilient recovery and it will make us more competitive and stronger on a global scale. The European Green Deal has never been this necessary”.

Raul García Brink, Technical Coordinator in the Economic Development, Energetic Sovereignty, Climate and Knowledge Department at the Cabildo de Gran Canaria, pointed out that governments are important in reaching greener means of transport. García mentioned some projects under construction in Gran Canaria, one of them being the installation of an island-wide network of recharging points for electric vehicles. “We must do everything we can as an institution to bolster sustainable mobility”.

Adrián Noheda, Innovation and Entrepreneurship Coordinator in Fundación Finnova, presented the European Innovation Council (EIC) programme, which offers funding up to €15 million in investments and €2.5 million in grants to entrepreneurs and SMEs having a workforce of 1 to 250 employees and less than €50 million revenue.

According to Urban Resilience partner Mariano Sydney Rubio, “shared mobility has come to stay”. During his talk, he emphasized the advantages of using electromobility as a public service.

T-Box Delivery Solutions CEO Alberto Moreno urged participants to find new solutions from a logistic point of view. “We need to define processes with the most convenient technologies in order to render transport and mobility operations more efficient, including food delivery, which has experienced a boom since the first lockdown”.

According to Antonio Pérez Vázquez, Industrial Technical Engineer at Madel, we are now living a historic transformation. In Pérez’s words, we need to foresee potential events and start building recharging pointsfor electric vehicles in houses and living spaces.

On the other hand, Business Development Director at Albufera Energy Storage Cristina Domínguez said that citizens need to take part in this process. In her opinion, longer battery life in electric vehicles and lower prices are crucial for such purpose. “If we manage to have sustainable batteries at a reasonable price, this transition towards a clean electric mobility will be more affordable”.

Similarly, Arturo Pérez de Lucía, Director at Asociación Empresarial para el Desarrollo e Impulso de la Movilidad Eléctrica (AEDIVE), pointed out that “there is currently being an industrial, technological and automotive and mobility services revolution centered on shared, connected and autonomous electric vehicles. He said that consumption will quickly rise as soon as Spanish autonomous communities speed up their recovery plans.

Although the electric car was viewed as one of the most preferred alternatives during the webinar, Miguel Ruiz, EMT de Málaga’s Director and Asociación de Trasnportes Públicos Urbanos y Metropolitanos (ATUC)’s Chairman, expressed his concern about electric cars in urban areas. “If we all had electric vehicles, surely we would breather better; however, we could not move around since cities cannot get packed with cars”.

In a video, Fernando Ferrero, IDEA’s Strategic Investments Director, encouraged innovation companies to settle in Andalusia. “The main objectives of the Invest in Andalucía programme are to position Andalusia as an appealing region for direct foreign investment both at an international and domestic scale, especially in the Smart areas. Furthermore, we aim to consolidate investments from foreign companies already operating in Andalusia”:

Regarding alternative means of transport, Nightway CEO Fernando Casado presented ultraphotoluminiscent lights created using solid and sustainable materials. These devices emit a much higher degree of light compared to any other existing products for demarcating bicycle lanes. According to Casado, this technology “requires zero consumption or maintenance”.

Finally, Activacar Mobility CEO Eduardo Medina Banderas, who wrapped up the “companies” part of the webinar, advocated for electric carsharing as an added value for businesses and clients, especially for hotels and residential areas”.

In the closing remarks section, Ana Belén Martos, FYCMA’S Greencities and S-Moving Officer thanked all the speakers for their participation and reminded them that the Foro S-MOVING de Movilidad Inteligente y Sostenible forum will be held in Málaga on September 29 and 30, 2021. She also seized the opportunity to talk about last year’s event, which, despite coronavirus, was attended by over 1500 professional visitors, 34 countries, 225 experts, 720 entities, 22 majors and 53 cities.

 “We are committed with this intelligent, sustainable, connected, electric, autonomous and shared mobility, which is no longer a future thing, but a present-day reality, since mobility is constantly evolving and we must make it more sustainable”.

This forum seeks to tackle zero carbon emissions and climate change. Both national and international public and private agents will discuss their proposals and will form alliances focused on intelligent mobility and sustainable transport.

Couldn’t attend the webinar? Don’t worry, click here to watch it.

About FYCMA

FYCMA (Palacio de Ferias y Congresos de Málaga) is one of the most active forum organisers in southern Europe. It specialises in the conceptualization and development of professional events related to innovation, digital transformation and knowledge-building. These forums are highly technical and have an international scope. All of them share one goal – capturing talent and investment. At the same time, they aim to serve as a meeting point for both Spanish companies and researchers. Thanks to these events, economic activity is fostered, new disruptive projects are announced and new opportunities and alliances are formed. The venue enables Málaga and Andalusia to be important figures in especialised sectors, and it also helps strengthen the Spanish marca in an increasingly digital and connected world.

For more info, click on www.fycma.com

About the Finnova Foundation

European Foundation for the financing of innovation. Its objectives are to promote private-public cooperation through the technology transfer of low-cost solutions among the best technologies available to address social challenges such as employment, entrepreneurship, the United Nations SDGs and the circular economy. As a staunch defender of innovation, Finnova has been organising the Startup Europe Awards since 2016. This is an initiative launched by the European Comission’s DG Connect.

Finnova’s HQs are located both in Belgium and across Spain – in the Valencian Community, the Basque Country, Andalusia, Madrid and the Canary Islands. It also has branches in Chile and Panama.

For more info, click on www.finnova.eu

About Greencities y S-MOVING

Greencities, Inteligencia y Sostenibilidad Urbana, and S-MOVING, Movilidad Inteligente y Sostenible, will be held on September 29 and 30, 2021, in FYCMA (Palacio de Ferias y Congresos de Málaga). These events will provide a concise view of challanges faced by the different regions and how they can be managed using innovative concepts. These forums are the first national platform to discurss mechanisms, solutions and ideas for a intelligent, sustainable and connected development of regions. Some of the topics that will be examined at include technology and connectivy as a tool to fight against rural exodus –smart rural-, opportunities in intelligent touristic destinations, collective transport as the key to sustainable mobility, 5G and connected and autonomous mobility or the potential uses of green hydrogen, among many others.

For more info, click on www.greencitiesmalaga.com and www.smovingforum.com

About Startup Europe Awards

Startup Europe Awards is an initiative by DG CONNECT and has been implemented by Finnova Foundation since 2016. Startup Europe Awards are an innovative mechanism aimed at identifying disruptive startups promoting private-public partnership. They also seek to raise awareness on the importance of self-entrepreneurship as a driving force for job creation. In addition to promoting networks to meet the UN SDGs and the European Green Deal objectives, they also contribute to circular economy, sustainable tourism and fighting against climate change.

For more info, click on www.startupeuropeawards.eu

About Startup Europe Accelerathon

Startup Europe Accelerathon seeks to identify innovative ideas eligible for EU funding including LIFE, the Green Deal, Horizon 2020 or NextGenerationEU, among others. Startup Europe Accelerathon aims to contribute to all UN SDGs, and is part of the broader methodology Startup Europe Awards by DG CONNECT. It was set up by DG Research and Development in 2020 with paneuropean campaign Hackthevirus. Startup Europe Accelerathon has had successful results, such as project involving the Valencian Community government dealing with industrial toxic wastewaters or the one involving the Andalusia government dealing with climate change, forests, innovative preventive mechanisms, fight against bushfires and recovery of burnt areas.

For more info, click on www.accelerathon.eu