The Finnish CKAA community came together for our first event in March 2015. It was an opportunity to reconnect and to hear about Climate-KIC’s involvement with Finland. Alumni heard about future Climate-KIC programs, and were encouraged to apply to programs and share information about the programs with their networks.

Presentations were given by the Uusimaa Regional Council (the main organizer of Climate-KIC events in Finland, as well as the president of the CKAA Board, the Hessen RIC, and the Nordic CLC.

Paris well known as the City of Lights was right at the heart of events that marked French history and shaped its present. As the French capital, this cosmopolitan city is also involved in major global issues (cultural, economical, environmental…). Paris has an ambitious vision towards a greener future and is at the head of the ongoing discussions on Climate Issues as it will be hosting the COP21 this year where challenging agreement are awaited.

Interesting start-ups in the region:

A short list of the successful start-ups from e-commerce, software and cleantech
Thermondo (supported by Climate KIC)
Zalando
Delivery hero
Rocket Internet (e.g. food panda)
ImmobilienScout24
Wooga
Soundcloud
Research Gate
Wunderlist

Amount of Alumni: ~ 200
From which Master Label Alumni: ~60
From which Pioneers into Practice Alumni: currently no PiP programme.

Hessen was not only the home of the famous brothers Grimm, it faces also lots of challenges concerning climate change. Due to its location
in the center of Europe and the middle of Germany, congestions on the ground and in the air are quite common and also the industrial sector
emitts lots of GHG. On the other side the goals for climate protection are very ambitious. Frankfurt, famous for its impressive skyscrapers
and center of the financial industry, wants to obtain 100% of its energy from renewable sources till 2050 and has already built lots of passive

Emilia is a region is an important commercial hub well linked to other Italian and European cities. Around città metropolitana of Bologna, the high cultural heritage coexist with the towards carbon resilience mainly in industrial areas. University of Bologna, the oldest one in the world, holds different graduates and practitioners from not only the region but Italy. They are supported by regional centres: ASTER, Università di Bologna or AESS Modena, among other.

Amount of Alumni: more than 80

From which Master Label Alumni: no one

Amount of Alumni: 30

From which Master Label Alumni: only form PiP and The Journey
From which Pioneers into Practice Alumni: 2014

Interesting start-ups in the region:

Valencia as a land of mediterranean contrasts of seafront touristic activities together with the development of the inner cities and new industries around ceramics.

Entrepreneurs, intrapreneurs and students from UV and UPV Valencia are the core target of innovation and education initiatives towards a low carbon transition through new business ventures. Start-UPV and Parc Cientific provide support to entrepreneurs.

Amount of Alumni: 175 alumni
From Journey: 13
From Pioneers into Practice Alumni: 132
Form Accelerator and Clean launchpad 2014: 30

Zurich, the vibrant and dynamic lakeside city is host to the Swiss Alumni. Many are graduates of the ETH Zurich, the leading technical university in continental Europe, and are supported by a number of incubation centres such as such as BlueLion, ImpactHUB Zurich and Startzentrum. The Alumni in Zurich are active in many projects and start-ups such as the HiLo, Electric Feel, and WeACT.

Amount of Alumni: 50
From which Master Label Alumni:10
From which Pioneers into Practice Alumni:0