Projects supported by ACTIVA-CATIE win INNOVAMBIENTE 2022 contest

• The event was organized by the Costa Rican Chamber of Forestry, Wood and Industry and the awards ceremony was held on October 31 at the Entrepreneurship Auditorium of the National University in Heredia.

November 02, 2022. The entrepreneurs Quercus and Baby Wood, both supported during 2021 by the technology and incubation laboratory of CATIE (Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center): ACTIVA, were winners of the contest INNOVAMBIENTE 2022: Nature-based entrepreneurship in Costa Rica, where their innovation proposals for the manufacture of wood products stood out.

The Costa Rican Chamber of Forestry, Wood and Industry (CFMI) has been a promoter of actions and agendas for the reactivation of the productive forestry sector in the country through initiatives such as INNOVAMBIENTE, which provides first-hand knowledge of the financing, advisory and formalization needs of the enterprises, as well as selecting the best ideas or businesses that stand out for their innovative component, high social and environmental impact, relevance and scalability.

For this occasion, ACTIVA-CATIE participated as jury of the contest through Juan José Serrano and Ricardo Padrón, together with the Development Banking System (SBD, its Spanish acronym), the SINERGIA agency of the Foundation for the Development of the Central Volcanic Cordillera (FUNDECOR, its Spanish acronym) and the organization Reforestamos, from Mexico.

During the awards ceremony, Vladimir Valera, director of ACTIVA-CATIE, had the opportunity to present the work that the laboratory has been doing for three years, in which more than 50 Costa Rican entrepreneurs have been supported not only with seed capital provided by the SBD, but also with technical and business support, as well as the generation of networking opportunities for the strengthening and scaling of their businesses.

"I welcome the CFMI's initiative, as it provides a motivational and supportive message to Costa Rican forestry entrepreneurs, while contributing directly to the country's decarbonization and bioeconomy policies by promoting the use of wood and the generation of jobs with an inclusive approach," Valera said.

He also indicated that it is of great satisfaction to know that two of the six winning projects of the contest were supported by ACTIVA-CATIE, which is a clear evidence of the good work done with each of the projects.

If you would like to learn more about ACTIVA-CATIE's work and the ventures with which it has collaborated, we invite you to visit its official website: activa.catie.ac.cr