The Iberian Centre for Research and Fight against Forest Fires (CILIFO) project, funded by the Interreg POCTEP Programme (2014-2020), through its Firefighting Open Innovation Lab, and supporting the initiatives of entrepreneurs and enterprises in the field of forest fire prevention and control, has been shortlisted for the European Enterprise Promotion Awards in Category 4: Supporting the Internationalisation of Business. The winners will be announced on Tuesday 16th November, at the SME Assembly in Slovenia.

Forest fires are a hazard that we see with alarming frequency in Europe, and Spain has been particularly hard hit. To build the country’s and Europe’s firefighting capacity, the Firefighting Open Innovation Lab-CILIFO accelerator, managed by the Finnova Foundation within the framework of the Iberian Centre for Research and Fight against Forest Fires, has been supporting entrepreneurs, technologies, companies and start-ups in the sector of forest fire prevention and extinction and forest management.

The project offers companies the opportunity to test innovative technology in a real environment, helps them find international partners to replicate their results, and provides legal advice and support in accessing European funding with the help of specialised mentors. To date, 25 companies from up to 10 countries are benefiting from the services offered by the accelerator, which is the first of its kind in the sector.

The European Enterprise Promotion Awards reward those who promote entrepreneurship and small business at the national, regional and local level. Initiatives from all EU countries and COSME countries can take part in the competition. Since 2006, over 4,000 projects have entered the awards and together they have supported the creation of well over 10,000 new companies.

The other shortlisted project in this category is an Irish aerospace project that aims to develop the aerospace business in the Republic of Ireland.

More information on the project here.

More information on the European Enterprise Promotion Awards here.