The second edition of the GI Goes Business Award is over. We would like to thank everyone who applied for the award and wish them every success in their future work. It was a pleasure to accompany our amazing winners for a short while on their way and to support the development of their exciting business models with our coaching.
Review Awarding Ceremony and Networking Session
On 4 May 2023, the GI Goes Business Community met for the Awarding Ceremony at the Munich Urban Colab. A total of 8 winning teams (see below) presented their business models and projects and received loud applause. They were presented with a certificate and an apple tree seedling by Robert Winkler (Bavarian State Ministry of the Environment and Consumer Protection) and Ulrich Santa (Agency for Energy South Tyrol - CasaClima). The seedlings were grown by the StMUV itself and represent a symbol for the topic of green infrastructure and the growing community.
In addition to this year's winners, two 2022 award winners were also present (Stadtpflanzen and Transition Woods). Many members of the EUSALP Action Group 7 'Green Infrastructure' were on site, who initiated the Award and provide individual jury members. The team from Macra, a village in western Piedmont, had the longest journey of almost 12 hours. The 60 participants from all the Alpine countries created a great international spirit and an atmosphere of optimism.
It was emphasised how urgent the issue of climate change and the loss of biodiversity are and therefore the development, implementation and scaling of good ideas and business models should be accelerated. Entrepreneurial solutions help to build sustainable bridges between the economy and natural resources. The GI goes business award has established itself as a format for this. The exchange between the winners and participants from EUSALP and other organisations was very fruitful and the Alpine-wide networking was advanced. The goal of building and expanding a community on Green Infrastructure and business met with great interest. The exchange of good entrepreneurial solutions makes us want to do more.
Photos © StMUV
Winners 2023
Almost 40 start-ups, established enterprises and creative minds from Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Slovenia and Switzerland submitted their products, services and ideas to the second Green Infrastructure Goes Business Award.
The international jury has selected six winning teams and two projects with special recognition. CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL!
Winners
Grün statt Grau - Begleitung zum naturnah gestalteten Betriebsgelände (Austria)
Helix Pflanzensysteme (Germany)
MACRA DEVELOPMENT 2030 Project (Italy)
Un cercle immense / the great circle (France)
VAIA (Italy)
Valorization of wetlands “wastes” for fertilizing soils and improving carbon sequestration (Switzerland)
Special Recognition
The FunDAMental Change (Slovenia)
More information about the winners is available below.
Grün statt Grau - Begleitung zum naturnah gestalteten Betriebsgelände
The market town of Rankweil is a pioneer in biodiversity-oriented design in public spaces. Now this knowledge is about to be professionally conveyed to companies within the framework of a pilot project in order to jointly shape a green and livable future.
Helix Pflanzensysteme
Helix provides and maintains “Nature based solutions“ for dense urban areas. Helix works hard to reduce its eco-footprints. The services deliver and the maintenance secures ecosystem services. R&D together with Universities and other SME partners helps Helix to grow and learn.
MACRA DEVELOPMENT 2030 Project
The population of the small municipality called Macra dropped dramatically. This is why they have developped an innovative model for demographic growth based on the enhancement of naturalistic territory with rearrangement of old vineyard terraces and other measures.
Un cercle immense / the great circle
We are transforming the exceptional UNESCO site “Saline royale d’Arc-et-Senans” into an island of biodiversity dedicated to training in landscaping professions, inspired by the ideal city of the architect Ledoux.
VAIA
Recovering waste materials in specific places by giving them new dignity and life by transforming them into unique, iconic objects that can inspire people by generating a positive impact in the ecosystem.
Valorization of wetlands “wastes” for fertilizing soils
While restoring, we remove organic materials and create a virtuous circle making these “wastes” useful. It’s a + for nature by increasing biodiversity, for agriculture by naturally fertilizing soils and for climate change by avoiding CO2 release and increasing C- sequestration.
Special Recognition
b*coop. Citizens Create Community
b*coop is a cooperative of citizens for citizens. We pursue local sustainable and common good goals, seek solutions to environmental and social challenges and bring ideas to life, with an entrepreneurial approach and with communities.
The FunDAMental Change
This project is focused on developing a positive, long-term framework that provides a solution and opportunity to reverse current management practices applied to man-made water reservoirs and the potential uses of their surroundings. It envisions a connection between the reservoir, the community, and the landscape.