Gulbenkian is back to the Websummit
The Gulbenkian Foundation shall once again be present at the Web Summit, the largest entrepreneurial, technology and innovation event in Europe. Seeking evidence of the role of technologies to solve social and environmental problems, the Foundation stand is totally dedicated to Impact Technologies.
Thus, on 5 to 7 November, the Gulbenkian Foundation facilities are hosting three programs interrelated with Impact Technologies: the accelerated blue bio-economy program Blue Bio Value, the social and environmental impact start-up acceleration program Maze X and Hack for Good, a program for generating ideas for impacts through the hackathon format.
Blue Bio Value is represented at the Web Summit by 15 start-ups (from Portugal, Spain, Denmark, Switzerland, Italy, Canada, Brazil, the United Kingdom and India) selected for the second edition that began on 8 October. These 15 teams shall be presenting their projects – which range from bioremediation for the treatment of wastewaters through to cosmetics produced from seaweed in the Azores, to bio-fertilisers for agriculture and natural and biodegradable glitter.
Maze X is also making a presentation of the European start-ups receiving support from the first edition of this acceleration program that began last May. The nine teams are to present visitors with their projects including the reusable shopping bag that provides consumers with exclusive discounts and enabling them to get a tree planted for every time they use the bag, a sharing economy based marketplace with a platform that, through the reutilisation of textile fabrics seeks to counter the trend towards fast fashion or a system that defines the best irrigation plans for different environments and crops while enabling significant savings in water and energy.
Finally, Hack for Good – which in 2019 backed 7 hackathons in different locations across Portugal with the objective of finding technological solutions to the Sustainable Development Objectives – is to display a tool kit able to help other organisations set up their own impact hackathons.
The Gulbenkian Foundation stand is located in pavilion 2 dedicated to Future Societies and Planet Tec and correspondingly bringing together many organisations, academics and other thought leaders who are responding to the challenges the world faces through technology.