The SETOFF consortium travelled to the Belgian capital for the fourth and last transversal project meeting. During the stay, the partners benefited from the visit and participated in several activities that were part of the NEXT FOREST GENERATION forum organised by the Finnova Foundation at its headquarters. The aim of the forum was to bring together the European projects SETOFF and Interreg FIREPOCTEP+, two initiatives related to forest fire prevention and safety, creating new synergies with the ultimate goal of laying the foundations for future projects.
On the first day, the partners of both consortia attended the launch of the “Waste Forest” PropTech Start-up Europe Award challenge by the European PropTech Association for the use of forest mass and forest fire residues for construction and building materials. The mission of the PropTech Association is to support a sustainable European market and to create a positive impact on the European living environment and beyond. In terms of objectives, the entity seeks to increase cross-border collaborations, standardise European PropTech markets, create a legal framework adapted to PropTech, foster innovation in the real estate sector and facilitate access to finance.
In the same space, the winners of the Finnova – Technovation Girls CV Challenge presented their app Firepoint, created with the intention of providing a solution to the challenge of firefighting. The app focuses on the possibility of being able to send a photo in real time with the exact coordinates to the fire brigade and thus promote rapid action. In addition, with the prevention function, users will be able to assess an area to keep it clean and share risk assessments with environmental experts. 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. The aim of this particular 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.
ABOUT FIREPOCTEP+
FIREPOCTEP+ (Resilient landscape in the face of large forest fires: emergency response, improved interoperability and operational and social capacity building in the face of climate change) aims to strengthen forest fire prevention and suppression systems in the cross-border region between Spain and Portugal known as La Raya. This project is co-financed by the European Union through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) in the framework of the Interreg VI-A Spain-Portugal Cross-Border Cooperation Programme 2021-2027 (POCTEP). Led by the University of Vigo, FIREPOCTEP+ has a total budget of 3.3 million euros, a duration of three years (01/01/2024-31/12/2026) and a total of 15 beneficiaries from Spain and Portugal, as well as 2 unfunded partners.