The LIFE ECODIGESTION 2.0 project presented at the final Technovation Girls CV through the Finnova Challenges 2023

  • LIFE ECODIGESTION was presented as an example and success story in the final of Technovation Girls CV, held at the Universitat Politécnica de València.
  • Julissa Reynoso, US Ambassador to Spain, and José Esteban Capilla, Rector of the Polytechnic University of Valencia, participated in the Technovation Girls Comunidad Valenciana awards ceremony.
  • For the 2021 edition of the awards, the winners of Comen 2.0 were inspired by the European LIFE ECODIGESTION 2.0 project for their app.

24/05/2023, Valencia. Last Saturday, 20th May, Finnova Foundation participated in the final Technovation Girls CV, held at the Universitat Politécnica de València, through the Finnova Challenges. The European project LIFE ECODIGESTION 2.0 was presented as an example of a challenge in this edition. These awards aim to bring European institutions closer to young people and link current innovative projects funded by the EU in which the Foundation participates as a partner.

The awards ceremony was presided over by Julissa Reynoso, US Ambassador to Spain, and José Esteban Capilla, Rector of the Universitat Politécnicca de València, who presented the Technovation Girls Comunitat Valenciana. From the FINNOVA CHALLENGES the winning team was FIREPOINT, a fire detection app that allows users to send a photo of a smoke plume with coordinates to firefighters, and the other winning teams of the Technovation Girls CV competition: The Three Minions, The Leaders of Tomorrow, Mavajuma Power, Technoamigas, Spoonful of Sugar.

“The Finnova Foundation’s commitment to innovation and sustainability is evident in these challenges that we are launching to encourage young people, and girls, to work for a more sustainable world, using new technologies. We are very proud to be part of this initiative that seeks to train girls in STEAM through Technovation Girls Finnova Challenges and motivate girls and teenagers between 10 and 18 years old to become entrepreneurs and leaders in the technological field”, said Juanma Revuelta, CEO of Finnova.

This is the third year of Finnova Foundation’s participation in the awards, which are supported by the Startup Europe Awards, an initiative promoted by the European Commission and launched by Finnova Foundation in collaboration with Startup Europe, to promote startups and scaleups across Europe.

The edition has presented quality projects, where the young contestants have put all their creativity and innovation to come up with ideas capable of solving the most current challenges in the area of technology. Although this year no team has solved the water and sustainable energy challenge, in 2021 the winners of Technovation Girls were inspired by the European project LIFE ECODIGESTION 2.0 to create the app Comen 2.0, which linked the HORECA sector with the water treatment plants for the reuse of organic waste.

About Technovation Girls

Technovation Girls is an entrepreneurship and technology programme that aims to inspire girls and young women between the ages of 10 and 18 to become leaders and innovators. Led in Valencia by María José Valero, CEO of Talent Growth Management and ambassador of Technovation Girls Comunidad Valenciana, the programme aims to reduce the technological gender gap that currently exists. The aim of this competition is to create groups of girls and young women who, with the help of a mentor, develop a mobile application (app) that helps to solve a social problem that is in line with the Sustainable Development Goals. In this way, in a fun and didactic way, the girls learn about programming concepts, app development, the development of a marketing plan and market research, in addition to learning about the social problems that affect their communities.

The initiative started in 2009, and since then, more than 15,000 girls from 100 countries have taken part in it. Technovation Girls Comunitat Valenciana 2023 is sponsored by the Area of Innovative Development of Economic Sectors, Employment and Finance of the City Council of Valencia, with the collaboration of València Activa, American Space Valencia, Escola Tècnica Superior d’Enginyeria Informàtica, Escola Tècnica Superior d’Enginyeria Agronòmica i del Medi Natural de la Universitat Politècnica de València, as well as the Mesa de la Ingeniería Valenciana and Las Naves Centre d’Innovació, among other entities and companies. GFT España, NTT DATA España, Ford España, Grupo Tragsa, Edicom, Schneider Electric, Mesa de la Ingeniería Valenciana, Cogiti and Citop CV also collaborated in the event.

About LIFE ECODIGESTION 2.0

This is a pilot demonstration project, funded by the LIFE programme and with a budget of more than 970,000 euros, which generates biogas in sewage treatment plant digesters by mixing putrescible organic waste (slurry, poultry, organic fractions, MSW, horeca, etc.), thus transforming sewage sludge into green energy through technology. The initiative led by Global Omnium, (Spain), in collaboration with the Finnova Foundation (Belgium) and Águas do Centro Litoral (Portugal) aims to become the most versatile digestion control tool on the market, achieving environmental and economic benefits through the production of biogas by making optimal use of waste. Thanks to this technology, it favours the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and the use of sewage sludge generated in wastewater treatment processes, thus achieving a positive impact on the environment. This programme is easily scalable with other funds such as FEDER, NextGenerationEU or Repower EU.

About Startup Europe Awards 

The Startup Europe Awards (SEUA) is an initiative promoted by the European Commission, launched by the Finnova Foundation in collaboration with StartUp Europe. It is an open innovation tool that allows companies to identify talented startups capable of solving today’s challenges in multiple areas. Its mission is to help Startups and Scaleups become more efficient, smarter and more successful. These awards are a useful tool to promote knowledge sharing, add value to the entrepreneurial ecosystem and help startups to grow and position themselves in the market.

About 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.

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