In an exciting milestone for LIFE IP Peatlands and People, the launch of Pillar 2’s accelerator programme took place on Monday 11th October 2021, attended by Minister for State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Robert Troy.
Peatlands and People is a 7-year LIFE Integrated project with three pillars – an ecological pillar (Peatlands Excellence), an economic pillar (the Just Transition Accelerator) and an education pillar (the People’s Discovery Attraction). The restored and rehabilitated peatlands are expected to store more carbon, protect biodiversity, improve water quality and support other benefits, while the Accelerator and Discovery Attraction aim to support economic growth and create space for social action. ERINN Innovation is one of the five key project partners.
The Accelerator will provide a range of supports to SMEs to encourage the development of ideas into new products, services and enterprises. It will aspire to evolve so as to provide an incubator infrastructure to help businesses to test and adopt ideas and technologies for a Just Transition – ensuring the transition to a climate-neutral economy happens in a fair way.
The Just Transition Accelerator is led by project partners Bord na Móna and ERINN Innovation who, following a tender process, appointed Resolve Partners to run the first accelerator programme.
The programme – Accelerate Green – is the first Irish accelerator dedicated to scaling companies leading the response to climate action and sustainability by developing products and services based on green innovation. It will be located at Bord na Móna’s existing office complex in Boora, Offaly.
The accelerator programme is currently accepting applications from the following:
- Established Scaling Climate Tech Companies
- High-growth SMEs pivoting to the climate change economy
- Earlier Stage Innovation-Driven Enterprises
- Technology, Engineering Science
- Renewables/Carbon reduction, Waste/Circular, AgTech
Applications close on 10th December with the programme due to begin on 1st February 2022.
Potential applicants are encouraged to register their interest and book office hours to discuss the programme. For more information, please visit: accelerategreen.ie.
For more information on LIFE IP Peatlands and People, please visit: www.peatlandsandpeople.ie
Image from the Accelerate Green launch event (L-R): Rebecca Doyle of ERINN Innovation, LIFE IP Peatlands and People Project Manager; David Murphy CEO of ERINN Innovation; Robert Troy, Minister for State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment; Declan Clarke of ERINN Innovation, LIFE IP Peatlands and People Pillar 2 Just Transition Accelerator Lead; John MacNamara of Bord na Móna, LIFE IP Peatlands and People Project Coordinator; Dr Christine Domegan of the Whitaker Institute NUI Galway, LIFE IP Peatlands and People Pillar 3 People’s Discovery Attraction Lead; Tom Donnellan, Bord na Móna CEO; and Suzanne Nally of the NPWS, LIFE IP Peatlands and People project partner rehabilitating peatlands under Pillar 1 Peatlands Excellence.