Ecodesign is the great cornestone in the circular economy.
IVACE and the Finnova Foundation support this project that seeks innovation and the reduction of the negative environmental impact in the life cycle of a product.
On Wednesday 7 October, the Valencian Institute of Business Competitiveness (IVACE) and the Finnova Foundation organised, in collaboration with REDIT and EEN-Seimed, the Ecodesign Industrial Startup Europe Accelerathon webinar, in the framework of the European Green Week.
The event was opened by the director of IVACE, Julia Company, and the director of the Finnova Foundation, Juan Manuel Revuelta presenting the challenges of the industrial ecodesign in relation to the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations and European funds. This first block was attended by representatives of European politics. The Vice-President of the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy and MEP, Lina Gálvez, stressed the European Union’s green commitment to promoting the circular economy and achieving long-term competitiveness: “Europe wants to be a leader in the regulatory framework and its companies to be leaders in circular processes”. The former MEP and now head of IVACE External Relations, Jordi Sebastiá spoke about how industrial ecodesign has gone from being an alternative to a necessity and the work of IVACE in this regard: “We work with SMEs to improve their competitiveness: reducing costs, improving their image, commitment to environmental legality, promoting a sustainable economy and fighting against climate change”.
The director of the Network of Technological Institutes (REDIT) of the Valencian Community, Gonzalo Belenguer was responsible for moderating the second block on the keys to the industrial ecoseason. To this end, he presented real experiences from various Valencian technology centres, which together with IVACE have developed innovative projects promoting circular economy to create more competitive products on the market. AIDIMME (Metal-Mechanical Technology Institute, Furniture, Wood, Packaging and Similar), AITEX (Textile Institute and Laboratories), AIJU (Children’s and Leisure Products Technology Institute) and ITC-AICE (Ceramics Technology Institute) showed their proposals in eco-design and circular economy in sectors such as furniture, textiles, toys and ceramics, respectively. For his part, the deputy director of entrepreneurship of the City Council of Valencia, Javier Mateo, spoke of the importance of the approach to product design from the outset to reduce environmental impact.
During the third block, the opportunities for European funding for industrial eco-design were discussed, with the Director of European Funds of the Finnova Foundation, Juan Viesca, and the Head of the European Programmes and Services Area of IVACE, Rafael Escamillas, taking the floor: “The role of IVACE is to stimulate the strategy of companies in relation to European funds through SEIMED”. The director of EURADA, Estaba Pelayo, also took part in this block, pointing to the common single market and the European funds as a great opportunity to formulate and develop projects based on green economy.
To conclude the event, the Ecodesign Industrial Startup Europe Accelerathon was launched by Massimiliano Dragoni as the representative of the European Commission and the Startup Europe Awards and Lola Bordás, Director of Marketing and Communication at Finnova.
This webinar opens registration for the Ecodesign Industrial Startup Europe Acceleratahon, an open innovation programme promoted by the Finnova Foundation within the framework of the European Commission’s Startup Europe Awards, which encourages public-private collaboration and the application of a multidisciplinary approach to the challenges set out in the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This methodology combines the Hackaton with the principle of acceleration; it aims to find solutions and European funding through an applied open innovation online system that brings together different actors of the innovative ecosystem. The roadmap for the competition begins with the registration of participants, which will be open until December 2020. In January 2021 the different teams will compete with the support of mentors and training in European funds offered by Finnova. After various qualifying rounds, a final will be held in which the winning team will obtain a fast-track ticket consisting of legal support, lobbying, and support to finally submit the project to a European funding programme, such as Life, a pilot project up to 2 million euros.
If you could not see the webinar, now you can do it through the following link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pLFKFgCCUU&feature=youtu.be
The European Green Week 2020:
EU Green Week 2020 will take place from 19 to 22 October 2020 and will focus on nature and biodiversity. Following the adoption of a new EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 in May, the Green Week will emphasise the contribution that biodiversity can make to society and the economy, and the role it can play in supporting and stimulating global recovery from the pandemic, creating jobs and sustainable development. The European Green Week is an event convened by the European Commission’s DG.
Accelerathon:
Accelerathon is an innovative project acceleration programme promoted by the Finnova Foundation. This methodology of the Finnova Foundation aims to find solutions and funding, through an applied open innovation online system that brings together the innovative ecosystem in the environmental sector, in which the European Commission works in the framework of the LIFE programme.
This will involve training, mentoring, jury work and very special prizes including the possibility of the winning project being eligible for validation under the LIFE programme: a project of up to 2 million over three years.
IVACE:
The Valencian Institute of Business Competitiveness (IVACE) is a public body belonging to the Generalitat Valenciana, attached to the Ministry of Sustainable Economy, Productive Sectors, Trade and Labour of the Generalitat Valenciana.
IVACE is responsible for promoting policies to encourage innovation and offering support to industrial SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) in the Region of Valencia. It provides aid to companies and non-profit organisations that collaborate with SMEs in different areas such as: technology and R&D, quality and the environment, training and technological cooperation or the development and creation of companies.
Finnova Foundation:
European Foundation for the Financing of Innovation. Based in Brussels, Madrid, Ca-taluña, the Basque Country, Valencia, Andalusia and the Canary Islands. Its objectives are to promote public-private cooperation through innovation in order to tackle social challenges such as employment, training, entrepreneurship, the United Nations’ SDGs, water, waste, fire-fighting, the circular economy, etc.
SEIMED:
Consortium for the Valencian Community of the Enterprise Europe Network – EEN -, of which CEEI Valencia is a member. The EEN is the largest support network for the internationalisation of SMEs at a commercial, technological and financial level.
The objective of SEIMED is to promote the internationalisation, technology transfer and access to financing of our companies, which will allow them to increase their competitiveness by generating business opportunities by establishing contacts with potential clients and strategic partners through a simple internationalisation process.
REDIT. The Network of Technology Institutes of the Valencian Community
The Network of Technology Institutes of the Valencian Community (REDIT) is a private nonprofit association that integrates and represents the 11 technology centres of the region.
The Technology Institutes of the Valencian Community are private non-profit research bodies whose aim is to support companies, especially SMEs, in boosting their competitiveness through R&D&I.
To this end, they provide the industrial fabric with a wide range of R&D and innovation capabilities, advanced services, laboratory tests and specialised training.