By turning climate and environmental challenges into opportunities, Europe is striving to be the first climate-neutral continent by 2050. In this light, the European Innovation Council gave all EIC-beneficiaries the opportunity to participate in the very first European ‘Greenathon’: an ideation hackathon which allowed EIC-innovators to co-create and pose solutions to real-life challenges from corporates like Henkel dx Ventures, Saint-Gobain, Danfoss and ENGIE. What did all these challenges have in common? All were related to the goals set out in the EU Green Deal.
Climate change and environmental degradation are an existential threat to Europe and the world. To overcome these challenges, Europe needs a new growth strategy that transforms the Union into a modern, resource-efficient and competitive economy. The European Green Deal is the European Commission’s roadmap to fulfil this transformation and innovative and eco-friendly SMEs are crucial to make a successful green transition in Europe. To help contribute to these goals the European Innovation Council gave all EIC-beneficiaries the opportunity to participate in the very first European ‘Greenathon’.
The EIC Greenathon was a virtual event dedicated to innovators funded by the EIC, which took place over four mornings from Tuesday, 27 October 2020 to Friday, 30 October 2020.
Dozens of SMEs and researchers teamed up with large European Business players like Henkel dx Ventures, Saint-Gobain, Danfoss and Engie and the city of Logroño to solve tangible challenges and construct new solutions for sustainability and business growth. The SMEs started off the event with several ideation workshops, where they were able to submit their ideas, discuss them and eventually form dedicated teams. In total, the EIC Greenathon gathered 8 teams, consisting out of 25 different EIC-beneficiaries. During the event, they worked on refining their idea, creating viable business solutions and, in the end, pitching their joint proposals to the corporate and city representatives.
In just four days’ time, the innovators came up with high-level innovations to address challenges in areas of energy performances and life management of ceramic-based industrial furnaces, sustainable packaging for biotech and temperature management on electrified machinery. The composition of the teams was as followed:
Saint Gobain
Two teams worked on the challenges from Saint-Gobain on Energy Performance and End of life management of ceramic-based industrial furances’. In total, they gathered 4 EIC Companies.
Henkel dx Ventures
Four teams worked on the challenges from Henkel dx Ventures, with two Teams proposing solutions on the challenge of the Sustainable Marketplace. These two teams consisted of 10 EIC beneficiaries in total.
The team focused on the ‘Biotech from Sustainable Packaging’-challenge, combined an EIC-company with a Pathfinder-project. Another, consisting of two different EIC-innovators, focused on a Plastic Matchmaking Platform.
Danfoss
Danfoss had one team working on their challenge of ‘managing temperatures across different subsystems on board of electrified vehicles and machinery’. This team was formed by 3 EIC companies.
The city of Logroño
The City of Logroño, from Spain, had one team working on their IoT- challenge. This team was formed by 4 EIC Companies.
The 8 teams will now explore potential opportunities with the corporates through several in-depth meetings and follow-ups. Stay tuned for more articles, interviews and features about the EIC Greenathon!
DISCLAIMER: This information is provided in the interest of knowledge sharing and should not be interpreted as the official view of the European Commission, or any other organisation.