Brussels, 5 July 2023. The Tarragona Provincial Council and the Chair of Entrepreneurship of the Rovira i Virgili University held the final ceremony of the Next Challenges CatSud programme on Wednesday, 5 July, in person and online, with the aim of publicising the results of the programme in solving corporate challenges. They also intended to highlight the key role played by open innovation and co-creation to promote an innovative and competitive entrepreneurial ecosystem. Lola Bordás, Finnova’s CMO, presented the LIFE Ecodigestion 2.0 project, in which Finnova is a partner.
Lola Bordás shared information about the innovative entrepreneurial ecosystem in Brussels and presented the LIFE ECOdigestion 2.0 project. This project belongs to the European LIFE programme, and it includes an automatic control system for the dosing of organic waste in anaerobic digesters of WWTPs to maximise the production of biogas on demand as renewable energy. Led by Global Omnium, with the participation of the Finnova Foundation and Aguas do Centro Litoral as partners, LIFE Ecodigestion 2.0 has a budget of more than 970,000 euros. Bordás highlighted the importance of sustainable innovation in building the entrepreneurial ecosystem and presented two initiatives that are carried out within the framework of LIFE ECOdigestion 2.0: the Startup Europe Awards and GIRLS4TECH, whose aim is to publicise the project and attract talent. Bordás invited attendees to participate in these open initiatives.
Leading experts in different areas took part during the event. Alexander Phimister, author of the book ‘The Book of Innovation: A practical guide to innovate in your company’ and head of Lab3040 of the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce, highlighted the importance of cultivating values of humility to drive improvements in business innovation, both in incremental, adjacent and transformational terms.
Xavier Càmara, Director of the Chair of Entrepreneurship at the URV, highlighted the role of the Hub Emprèn CatSud in Tarragona’s entrepreneurial ecosystem and the prospects for expansion and growth that can be seen in this context.
Anna Busquets, CEO of Muutos Consulting, emphasised the power of co-creation and collaboration between synergies, based on trust and open communication, as an effective method for tackling the corporate challenges present in the Next Challenges CatSud programme.
Another round table discussion entitled ‘Open innovation in business’ was held with the participation of key representatives of companies participating in the programme: Julio Rodrigo, Director of the Innovation and Sustainability Department of AMBIT Cluster; Mar Pàmies, Director of Innovation at Grup Gomà-Camps; Marín Garrido, CEO of eAgora; and Sergi Novo, Director of Clúster TIC Catalunya Sud. This debate provided a space for discussion and exchange of ideas on the implementation of open innovation in their respective organisations. Other collaborating companies are Grupo Pintaluba, Kellogg’s, Kriskadecor, and Techma Business School.
The conference was part of the operation ‘Aulaplus, comprehensive training service for the territory’, co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) of the European Union, within the framework of the Operational Programme ERDF Catalonia 2014-2020, objective of investment in growth and employment, axis 4; and ended with a visit to the Digital Manufacturing Laboratory and the CIF Boca de la Mina.
About Next Challenges CatSud
In 2021, the Tarragona Provincial Council and the Chair of Entrepreneurship at Rovira i Virgili University created the Emprèn CatSud Hub, an online space for consolidated companies and startups in the region to facilitate collaboration, joint project development and the resolution of challenges based on innovation. https://www.dipta.cat/empren/hub
To strengthen this community, the Next Challenges CatSud programme was launched, through which companies and startups are accompanied for 10 months in solving challenges. This includes defining the challenges, providing support in the creation of the project and, finally, implementing solutions previously tested and prototyped in the Digital Manufacturing Laboratory of the Tarragona Provincial Council in Reus. https://www.dipta.cat/empren/sites/empren/files/info_next_challenges_catsud.pdf
About Tarragona Provincial Council
The Tarragona Provincial Council is the governing and administrative body of the Spanish province of Tarragona, belonging to the autonomous community of Catalonia. The Tarragona Provincial Council focuses mainly on improving the quality of life of the citizens of the regions of Camp de Tarragona and Terres de l’Ebre. http://www.dipta.cat/es
About the Finnova Foundation
Finnova is a European foundation dedicated to the financing of innovation. Its objectives are to promote public-private cooperation through the transfer of cost-efficient technological solutions. It aims to address societal challenges such as employment, entrepreneurship, the UN SDGs, the circular economy, waste recovery, sustainable tourism and the fight against climate change. The Finnova Foundation promotes green jobs, economic revitalisation, training and youth employment. http://finnova.eu/
About Next Talent Generation
Finnova´s online platform to promote youth employment in Europe that is made possible thanks to the funding that the European Union allocates to programmes that fight youth unemployment. https://nextalentgeneration.eu/
About LIFE ECOdigestion 2.0
This is a pilot demonstration project, financed by the LIFE programme. With a budget of more than 970,000 euros, it 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. Environmental and economic benefits shall be achieved through the production of biogas by making optimal use of waste. This technology 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 ERDF, NextGenerationEU or Repower EU. https://www.lifecodigestion.com/