The project is an Industrial Research and Experimental Development initiative under the Italian PNR 2015-2020 framework, focusing on sustainable agriculture and digital technologies. It integrates advanced IT solutions, geomatics, predictive, diagnostic, metabolomics, and sensing technologies to enhance plant health surveillance and crop protection. The project promotes environmentally friendly and safe agricultural production.
The overall objective of the project is the development of an innovative IoT system for plant and animal health surveillance and management, which integrates advanced information technology, geomorphological, forecasting, diagnostic and metabolomic technologies, while respecting the environment, safety and health of fruit and vegetable production. The integrated platform AGREED is multi-disciplinary, multi-source and multi-actor. It does not only provide a DSS for plant protection services and manufacturers, but it also incorporates tools and technical means for activating precise plant protection interventions.

The specific objectives are:

• Detection/prevention of outbreaks of infection;
• Real-time availability of reliable information on the presence and spread of infection (spatial and temporal);
• Implementation of possible containment/control measures, including through precise and eco-friendly phytosanitary interventions

The system will include the integrated development of the following products/processes/services/systems/technologies/applications within the individual.

WBSs:

• Deep contextualization of the "problem to be solved" in terms of: - Phytosanitary management protocols; - More advanced technologies available; - High level architecture of the AGREED system;
• Multi-Source Detection and Multiple Source Detection System Design on Target Pathogens: - WSNs (Wireless sensor networks) for microclimate and eco-physiological (TreeTalker) systems: - Selection of wavelengths based on molecular and metabolomic analyzes for diagnostic sensor; - Diagnostic prototype sensor for selective detection of target phytopathologies; - Prototype diagnostic "Real-Time PCR" device for field molecular diagnostics;
• Design of the Smart Diagnostic Systems and Plant Protection: - AppFito (developed in Multitrace PON MISE) integrated with new target pathogens modules; - Prototype computer tool for automatic recognition of the main photographic disease pathologies; - Prototype of a biological liquid dispersion platform (electrolyzed water) for drone plant protection treatments; - IoT plant for the treatment of microbial irradiation by means of irrigation system micro 28; - Phytosanitary protocols for drone and micro 28;
• Development of quantitative algorithms for remote sensing, epidemiological modeling of target and agro-environmental pathogens: - Sentinel-1 Classification Algorithms, Sentinel-2, and Drone Images to Support Territorial Monitors; - Prediction models of target pathogens, phenological phenotypic phenomena and water footprint of plant protection interventions; - Predictive epidemiological models of target infections (plant varieties, climatic conditions in southern Italy); - High resolution time monitoring system for identifying relationships between biotic and abiotic stress vulnerabilities, and response to pesticides at different environmental and climatic conditions; - Water-soil-plant interaction models to quantify the qualitative impact of pesticides on water resources;
• IoT platform development that provides real-time analysis of large volumes of data: - Monitoring platform, remote control and customization of IoT devices and data collection; - Monitoring platform management dashboard, remote control and customization of IoT devices and data collection;
• Design and development of data lakes and large data analytics based on open source technologies, standards and interoperable interfaces: Validated data analytics platform;
• Development of advanced analytics platform AGREED: - Geospatial data warehousing modeling areas of experimentation; - Advanced analysis tool for prediction and containment of phytopathologies on target species; - Targeted intervention tool for dampers and diagnostic drums; - Phytosanitary chain management blockchain system; - Blockchain results and data presentation dashboards;
• Experimenting prototypes and disseminating results: - Business Plan; - Project Web Site; - Disclosure material; - Public Disclosure Meetings.

The development of the project will have secure and substantial employment implications. In the future exploitation of the platform, new skills and professional skills will be needed to use and manage the many features and data flows made available by AGREED. Improved crop management provided by integrated monitoring and forecasting systems will help to increase quality, food security and product sustainability in the regions of the South, by re-evaluating the areas of agriculture and specific crops in the regions of interest.
The goals pursued go in the direction of the development of ICT and Industry 4.0 technologies. This topic currently has a great strategic interest and a possible reappraisal of the agricultural areas linked to the use of AGREED, that will attract new investments as well as skills related to the potential of ICT tools applied to crop management. Drone platform monitoring systems and forward-looking modeling can increase the competitiveness of the proposing subjects in providing plant-protection solutions and crop management in the viewpoint of a smart agriculture climate.

<p>&nbsp;BLUECIRCLE 'Boosting Circular Economy Solutions for Marine Litter Collection and Recycling in the Adriatic-Ionian Regions' aims to test the feasibility of a science-based circular management system for marine litter treatment, through the implementation of a mobile recovery plant and recycling chains.</p>

<p>The project will implement a demostrative action in two different regions to test the feasibility of this system for marine litter recycling. The focus is on addressing common problems in these regions, like high levels of marine pollution and the lack of effective recycling systems.</p>

<p>Throughout the project, the scientific partner will develop a prototype mobile recycling plant on a small scale, capable of separating different types of marine litter materials based on their characteristics. Moreover, methods for recovering and making the most of these materials will be developed.</p>

<p>Partners involved in the project will receive training on collecting marine litter along their coasts, improving their understanding of the issue. This collection will provide samples for the demonstration activities. Successfully carrying out these actions will lead to better management systems and improved capacity for dealing with marine litter in these areas.</p>

<p>Additionally, BLUECIRCLE aims to raise awareness and promote sustainable practices related to marine litter and sustainability. This includes hosting recycling workshops, technical sessions, and a final conference. By involving citizens, stakeholders, and partners, we aim to increase awareness and foster international collaboration.</p>

<p>One of the strong points of the project is the transnational cooperation. Through the cooperation of different territories from the Adriatic-Ionian area, partners can share valuable insights, collaborate effectively, and coordinate joint actions. This collaborative effort not only fosters knowledge exchange but also contributes to a more sustainable approach to managing marine litter. Once the project is complete, partners will commit to continuing their work in the field of marine recycling.</p>

<p>Overall, the objective of the BLUECIRCLE project is to improve marine litter management in the inolved regions, while also promoting circular economy principles. By implementing the project</p>

<p>activities, the project will contribute to cleaner coastlines, reducing marine pollution, and the adoption of sustainable waste management practices based on circular economy.</p>

<p>The PREBIODUNES project (PREserving&nbsp;BIOdiversity in coastal&nbsp;DUNEs&nbsp;from tourism pressure) will contribute to the general protection of coastal dune environments of the whole Adriatic-Ionian area, focusing on the threats posed to several natural elements mostly by uncontrolled conventional tourism, whose consequences affect natural landscapes, habitat biodiversity and ecosystems. PREBIODUNES will implement advanced and experimentally tested planning tools and indices to monitor the vulnerability of coastal dune systems and Joint Action Plan (JAP) for dune restoration and biodiversity protection.</p>

<p>Specific objectives of the project:</p>

<ul>
<li>Providing a deep Cognitive Analysis (A cognitive analysis regarding the existing fauna and flora under Directive 92/43/EEC and individuation of the areas of most concern and Habitat mapping. Knowledge on risk’s condition through a detailed sedimentological and marine-coastal dynamics analysis);</li>
<li>Implementing Pilot Actions (Testing different tools and different advanced solutions for dune restoration and dune biodiversity protection);</li>
<li>Implementing the Joint Action Plan for cooperation area (Building a quadruple Helix network with stakeholders owning them management plans and Decision Support systems for conservation and restoration of coastal dunes ecosystems);</li>
<li>Ensure the Transferability of project results (Building solid basis for transferability of the results, stimulating a continuous increase demand for preservation and restoration measures in the ADRION area).</li>
</ul>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>Main expected results:</p>

<p>Improvement of short and long term effectiveness of joint strategies and action plans at ADRION level for dune protection and increase the number of organization taking up the advanced solutions proposed.</p>

<p>Specific results:</p>

<ul>
<li>Increase the capacity of authorities and the community to observe, assess, and address environmental risks;</li>
<li>Foster access to and use of existing information and joint project products;</li>
<li>Increase in the level of awareness of the local population and stakeholders of the importance of dune habitats, and their role in climate change adaptation;</li>
<li>Enhance capacity building by training local actors in the planning and management of coastal sand dunes in the participating Countries;</li>
<li>Capitalize the best practice ad EU level for assessing and addressing environmental risks of the Ionian and Adriatic dune habit.</li>
</ul>

<p>The project addresses the common challenge of marine pollution in the Adriatic-Ionian region. This challenge is exacerbated by climatic changes and poses a significant threat to the region’s ecosystems, communities, and economies. The project aims to develop innovative tools and methods for early detection, prevention, and management of marine litter, ultimately establishing a robust network of stakeholders and delivering three significant joint strategies for marine litter prevention and management.</p>

<p>The overall objective of the project is to enhance the resilience of the Adriatic-Ionian region to climate change and man-made disasters by effectively combating marine pollution. By implementing science-based solutions, fostering collaboration among key stakeholders, and promoting knowledge exchange, the pr</p>

<p>The main challenge of the Project FENESTRAE is to create and strengthen cross-border cooperation between EU member States and Western Balkans, within the challenging framework of energy transition, the transformational opportunity offered by the European Green Deal, aiming at carbon neutrality within 2050. In fact, research and development, clean energy, buildings and renovations - which are some of the pivotal elements of the European Green Deal -, will be a significant part of this proposal. On the other hand, FENESTRAE will be in line with the IPA ADRION programme, designed with an approach based on the sustainable development principle. This project can be considered a joint measure to improve innovation capabilities of the area, exploiting digital, scientific and innovation skills of partners and enabling potential economic transformation processes. The experience of partners in the field of innovative technologies for smart buildings (University of Ljubljana, University of Patras and Polytechnic University of Bari), especially devoted to the design of innovative envelopes (transparent and opaque), from design to energy and visual comfort assessments, ensure a critical mass with a focus on areas of mutual interest like energy, sustainable environment, innovative production technologies and advanced materials. On the other side, the other project partners have significant experience in development initiatives.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The initial activities of the FENESTRAE Project would deal with an accurate investigation on existing regulations and technical standards in the field of energy uses in the building sector and their mitigation and is expected to produce relevant proposals of actions contributing to the harmonization of standards in such a relevant field, in view of the energy transition and decarbonization, within 2050. The involvement of partners skilled in communications and dissemination will boost the multi-level governance of the proposal as well as the cooperation between Adriatic and Ionian partners, reaching a heterogeneous range of stakeholders that could be interested in the outputs of this virtuous innovation network, according to the horizontal principle of the quadruple helix (research, public and business sectors and civil society). Training and exchange activities among the partners will complete the first part of the Project activities, after intense interactions.</p>

<p>Promotion and development of innovative technologies (commercially and non-commercially available yet) on which the expertise of the partners involved is already significant, like electrochromic, photo(electro)chromic, thermochromic materials and devices, and materials enabling the smart behaviour of building envelopes, together with ICT technologies devoted to their effective control, will be a relevant part of the partnership interaction during the project. A dedicated activity in this common area of specialization would exploit the skills acquired over the years. For each technology proposed, full awareness of potential benefits deriving from building integration will be achieved by means of numerical simulations on specific buildings, selected by partners and stakeholders. Data obtained, technology features and beneficial effects on indoor comfort, energy savings would be reported and publicly available, through workshops, public seminars in schools and municipalities and other dissemination opportunities created ad hoc by partners in each country.</p>

<p>The final part of the Project activities will aim at a scale-up of advanced technologies at the basis of the proposed solutions, in pilot actions including installation of several prototypes of materials and devices, to easily demonstrate the impact of such systems on users’ comfort and mitigation of energy use as well, also including applications to non-conventional buildings like greenhouses that largely rely on glass performance and are equally demanding in energy terms. &nbsp;The main objectives of this initiative would include: Increased skills of local operators; Increased awareness about available technologies to promote a mitigation of energy use; increase of cooperation to address challenges in common areas of specialization; the creation of a transnational partnership and a permanent network to promote innovations and upscaling from lab to market; long-term employment of young people involved in the project; boost green and digital innovation among partners with novel cooperation models.</p>

The project Open GLASSroom will allow to set up and launch an online platform for education on glass design & engineering, freely accessible to all. 

Despite its popularity, glass is still considered a highly specialised material, rarely taught at technical universities and certainly not at the same level as more commonly applied materials, such as steel, concrete and timber. By developing a common future-oriented glass curriculum based on contributions from a diverse international community of glass experts, this Erasmus+ project will consolidate existing knowledge and create synergies between students, educators, researchers and practitioners across Europe.

The project consortium includes six European universities - Technische Universität Dresden, Delft University of Technology, Czech Technical University in Prague, University of Rijeka, Universitat de Girona, Politecnico di Bari, supported by industrial partners - Arup, Permasteelisa Group, Octatube, Bellapart Group, ABT bv, Eckersley O’Callaghan and the International Year of Glass 2022. The proposal was developed with the financial support of the Funding Program Internationalization of the TU Dresden.

Partners will be focused to produce high-quality educational materials on glass design & engineering, digitalise and share them as Open Educational Resources (OER) on an open-access online platform – Open GLASSroom. They will address fundamental and emerging topics in research and innovation, including sustainability of glass in construction. The project outputs will be shared beyond our consortium, stimulating active participation of students, lecturers, researchers and practitioners.

The Circular Economy paradigm, accelerated within the context of Industry 4.0, has been increasingly applied both inside and outside the manufacturing domain. The set of new capabilities, skills and competencies developed through I4.0 need to be augmented and enhanced in order to conform to the Triple Bottom Line perspective (profit, people, planet).These enhancements initially affect supply chains management and then expand towards entrepreneurship, business model development, innovation management and societal development.

Research shows that there is a significant potential to address the complex challenges towards a more sustainable and resilient society by cross-fertilizing these disciplines through the CE perspective, via provisioning new courses and practical cases. For this reason, the joint CE-I4.0 evolution needs to be grounded on a new set of knowledge and best practices to be provided through both high education (HE) and vocational education and training, demanding systemic ways for sustainable development. CERES recognizes the need to shift the restricted focus of CE from firms to a more extended and system-level view that considers skills, competences and knowledge needs (provided from various business sectors such as e-waste, textiles, renewable energy, etc) to be supplied to HE and VET. This

would catalyse the embracement of CE under a social development perspective from the preliminary stage of training and education.

In this context, CERES’ new innovation ecosystem, the Circular Economy Digital Innovation Hub (CE-DIH), is aimed to promote connectedness among the stakeholders and to generate a systematised set of services, skills, competences and knowledge able to support

the multi-faceted CE domain. The CE-DIH can be strategic not only to raise awareness but also to provide the most suitable and complete set of services able to support the circular enrichment and transition of both companies on the market and individuals in society.

Coastal zones can be characterized as biodiversity-rich ecosystems and places rich in cultural heritage. They host important economic modern activities either inland or in water, providing opportunities for the generation of renewable energies and tourism. In particular, for Europe, the coastal regions are tremendously significant for its economy, as approximately 40% of the EU's population lives within 50 km of the sea while almost 40% of the EU's GDP is generated in these maritime regions, and a staggering 75% of the volume of the EU's foreign trade is conducted by sea. However, the natural dynamic landscape of the coastal zones and the complexity of interests make many local communities vulnerable to hazards, including climate change effects. These factors create a unique, constantly evolving, and challenging environment, sharing elements from deep-water investigations and dry land surveys. Therefore, novel methodologies have to develop to map and monitor these areas and adjusted for operational use to the specific conditions and socio-economic environment of each case study. The COASTLINE project aspires to promote innovative international, inter-sectoral, and interdisciplinary collaboration in research and innovation aspects dealing with monitoring coastal zone environments through geoscience and remote sensors. It aims to establish new and improved methods and protocols for documenting and analyzing the coastal zones in selected case studies (coastal zones) of Europe. It will bring together partners from the academia /research institutions with the business sector in order to share knowledge, ideas, and infrastructures for delivering novel methodologies regarding the use of remote sensors, such as satellite observations (including the Copernicus Programme with the Sentinels' mission), ground geophysical prospections and Geographical Information Systems along with spatial statistics.

The BRIDGITISE doctoral network will focus on the digitalisation of bridge management across the lifecycle through the development of innovative approaches to information management. The basic idea underlying the project is that the achievement of excellence in this field requires the development and validation onsite of innovative technologies for the cost-effective management of bridge information and their use to support decisions relevant to bridge integrity management across the lifecycle. To this aim, a network of 15+1 PhD projects is structured around three main research and training clusters focused on the development and validation of: -innovative low-cost,

large scale and automatic technologies, to collect bridge information - Artificial Intelligence and IoT technologies specifically tailored to bridges to process and share information, - digital decision support tools able to manage bridges across their lifecycle The project will combine the expertise of six universities, one research center, and seventeen industrial companies and end-users who will provide case studies to apply and validate the project results thereby fostering the technological transfer of the research findings. This powerful combination of expertise from industry and academia will introduce the DCs to the topics of the project and add to their inter-sectoral employability, enabling Europe to build world-class competitive capacity in a strategic market. Deliverables of the BRIDGITISE DN will be technology-enhanced training and dissemination tools, international workshops, and Training Schools. Furthermore, an Open platform for sharing data related to bridge management will be built to develop collaborative and information-sharing skills of the DCs and to increase the impact of the project.

The Quantum Secure Networks Partnership (QSNP) project aims at creating a sustainable European ecosystem in quantum cryptography and communication. A majority of its partners, which include world-leading academic groups, research and technology organizations (RTOs), quantum component and system spin-offs, cybersecurity providers, integrators, and telecommunication operators, were members of the European Quantum Flagship projects CIVIQ, UNIQORN and QRANGE. QSNP thus gathers the know-how and expertise from all technology development phases, ranging from innovative designs to development of prototypes for field trials. QSNP is structured around three main Science and Technology (ST) pillars. The first two pillars, “Next Generation Protocols” and “Integration”, focus on frontier research and innovation, led mostly by academic partners and RTOs. The third ST pillar “Use cases and Applications” aims at expanding the industrial and economic impact of QSN technologies and is mostly driven by companies. In order to achieve the specific objectives within each pillar and ensure that know-how transfer and synergy between them are coherent and effective, QSNP has established ST activities corresponding to the three main layers of the technology value chain, “Components and Systems”, “Networks” and “Cryptography and Security”. This framework will allow achieving the ultimate objective of developing quantum communication technology for critical European infrastructures, such as EuroQCI, as well as for the private information and communication technology

(ICT) sectors. QSNP will contribute to the European sovereignty in quantum technology for cybersecurity. Additionally, it will generate significant economic benefits to the whole society, including training new generations of scientists and engineers, as well as creating high-tech jobs in the rapidly growing quantum industry.

GREENLIFE4SEAS stems from the urgent need to find out sustainable solutions for two strong environmental concerns: the fate of 200 millions of m3 of sediments, often contaminated, dredged in EU every year and the disposal of 490,000 tons/year of shells, as one of the most impacting EU aquaculture wastes. GREENLIFE4SEAS aims at demonstrating the technical feasibility, full safety and commercial viability of breakthrough solutions for in-situ recovery and reuse of dredged harbour sediments and shells, that are used as secondary raw materials for the realisation of sustainable by-products by means of an optimised mixing technology. The project is founded on three main pillars: 1. The realisation, at the real scale, of four innovative by-products (i.e., shell powder, paving blocks, breakwaters, stabilised mass) for the building sector mainly made by the reuse of shells and dredged sediments (after decontamination, if polluted) and produced directly in-situ by an original mixing technology. 2. The development of a sound and viable business model for the in-situ collection and treatment of mussel shell and dredged sediments based on the prototypal technology of a mobile plant (GL4S) producing the new by-products (paving blocks, breakwaters, stabilised mass). 3. The overcome of the regulatory barriers through the definition of a specific authorisation protocol for the reuse of dredged sediments for engineering solutions, as the pilot by-products to be realised throughout GREENLIFE4SEAS. GREENLIFE4SEAS is carried out by a triple-helix model of Consortium, where synergy among research capitalisation, industrial symbiosis and governmental partners as primary stakeholders is the key to innovation and sustainable growth in a knowledge-based economy. GREENLIFE4SEAS results will epitomise a concrete contribution to improve the EU environmental policy for waste management, circular blue economy and aquaculture.

NEUMANN is a pan-European collaborative project involving major players of the EDITB, including key industry, mid-cap, SME and research organization, to address the urgent need for strategic autonomy for the development of building blocks needed for competitive novel propulsion and energy systems for future air dominance. The project studies will address propulsion and energy

systems technologies required for an highly efficient powerplant, able to deliver at the same time increased electrical power generation and increased thrust-to-weight ratio, that are not available today in Europe but will be necessary to cope with the mission requirements and operational needs of the next generation of fighter aircraft. The goal of the NEUMANN project is to develop technologies and perform collaborative system studies for novel energy aircraft domains, with focus on propulsion, and electrical and thermal systems and management, to achieve in 4-year period a proof of system integration functionalities and increased confidence in enabling technology readiness at both subsystems and system level up to TRL 4. Ground demonstrators will be used to assess technology integration and their validation. The project is organised in 9 work packages and coordinated by GE Avio. Besides the broad industry presence, it is of utmost importance that LEONARDO and SAAB as aircraft manufacturers are part of the NEUMANN project, which is fundamental for optimal power integration at platform level. The NEUMANN project will enable strategic autonomy in the defence sector for the power and propulsion systems, in particular for high temperature materials, thermal management enhanced by additive manufacturing technologies, energy generation and management and control systems. The NEUMANN project will fertilize knowledge transfer and implementation of new technologies in the EU, establish important new cross-border collaborations with SME and mid-caps in the defence sector.

Climate change poses an unprecedented challenge on today’s society. Numerous studies highlight the urgent need to decarbonize global industry and to drastically reduce pollutant emissions across all sectors, including aviation. Although, the global environmental impact of aviation is mostly driven by small-medium range market aircraft due to the large volume of operations, the development of disruptive technologies for the power demands such applications require cannot be put in place until progressive maturation of novel enabling technologies has been achieved at lower scale or sizes. The transformation of regional aviation, i.e., aircraft serving distances of 500 to 1000 km at a capacity of up to 100 seats, will thus lead the way towards sustainability and will be of particular importance. Both battery and liquid hydrogen powered fuel cell technology will not be sufficiently matured to allow the realization of a fully electric regional aircraft within the next decade. Instead, an intermediate step will be required to significantly reduce GHG emissions already by 2035. The development of a hybrid-electric propulsion system for regional aircraft with at least 50% hybridization represents this very challenging, yet achievable intermediate step and can allow for a mission fuel burn reduction by at least 50% compared to 2020 state-of-the-art regional aircraft. A thermal engine that allows for usage of 100% sustainable aviation fuel, will allow to reduce lifecycle GHG emissions by 90% and thus close to zero. The proposed project AMBER (innovAtive deMonstrator for hyBrid-Electric Regional application) addresses this aspect and pursues the maturation of hybrid-electric key components and the validation of a product-representative parallel hybridelectric propulsion system architecture, fuel cell based, for next-generation regional aircraft with EIS by 2035 to meet the ambitious environmental goals set out in SRIA and the Clean Aviation topic call.

The environment is one of the most crucial determinants of health. The Global Burden of Disease report estimates an emerging impact in terms of disability and reducing the quality of life worldwide, particularly for the aging populations. One of the root causes of this decline is likely to derive from the interaction of socio-environmental risk factors and sub-clinical conditions and the consequent increase of the primary non-communicable disease (dementia, COPD, cerebrovascular and chronic ischemic heart diseases). The multi-dimensional nature causal pathways of these interactions are still mostly unknown. In this complex scenario, where the relationship between exposure and outcomes is so different and multifaceted, the Health Impact Assessment (HIA) process is the standard tool that provides an overview of the matter, from the screening of health risk factors to the introduction of new health policies and the monitoring of effects. A complete digital approach for HIA that could dynamically adapt to the variability of the determinants and their interaction is still poorly investigated.

Artificial Intelligence algorithms offer innovative and high-performance possibilities for HIA implementations, improving elaboration and resizing of complex information and data. This proposal aims to develop a technological toolkit for dynamic, intelligent HIA toolkit to predict the health impact of health-related features, forecasting the trajectories of disability and quality of life reduction. This method will use environmental, socio-economic, geographical, and clinical characteristics, managed and elaborated with a federated learning architecture. The generated models will be adjusted for lifestyle and individual conditions data sourced from large population-based digital surveys. The models will be trained and validated on three different exposures to the steel plants' pollution: Taranto in southern Italy, Rybnik in Poland, and Flanders in Belgium

IN2CCAM consortium, according to the vision of Horizon Europe framework programme from 2021-2027 that aims to accelerate the implementation of innovative CCAM technologies and systems for passengers and goods, intends develop, implement and demonstrate innovative services for connected and automated vehicles, infrastructures and users. The goal is providing benefits to all citizens by implementing a full integration of CCAM services in the transport system. The main expected positive impacts for society are: i) safety (i.e., reducing the number of road accidents caused by human error; ii) environment (i.e., reducing transport emissions and congestion by smoothening traffic flow and avoiding unnecessary trips); iii) inclusiveness (i.e., ensuring inclusive mobility and good access for all).

To this aim the approach is based on the implementation and integration of enhanced Physical, Digital and Operational Infrastructures to enrich CCAM services and increase safety and traffic efficiency. A set of physical, digital and operational solutions will be proposed

and implemented in 4 Lead Living Labs (LLs): Tampere (Finland), Trikala (Greece), Turin (Italy) and Vigo (Spain). Moreover, two Follower LLs will collaborate in the design phase by providing ideas and data assessed by simulation test and validation: Bari (Italy) and Quadrilatero (Portugal).

HARTU will provide the necessary tools to implement three basic stages of parts handling, i.e., grasping, assembly and releasing.

These tools aim to address the key challenges for creating handling applications by means of innovative technical approaches: (1) selfsupervised grasp and release planning policies identification and control; (2) to learn and control contact-rich assembly skills from human demonstrations; (3) to develop an AI-based multi-modal perception for visual-servoing and continuous monitoring in handling operations, supported by virtual and continuous learning; and (4) to develop versatile and dexterous soft grippers with electro-active fingertips. HARTU is an industry-driven research project that includes the deployment of technologies in 5 industrially relevant scenarios: 4 manufacturing lines in different sectors: automotive, household appliances, hand tool manufacturing and food processing, and 1 in logistics to validate that the technologies can be transferred to other sectors. They offer an enormous variability of products in terms of shape, material and sizes. This approach contributes to the (1) industrial objective of HARTU, i.e., to increase the flexibility, reconfigurability and efficiency of manufacturing lines through easy to integrate and configure, safe and reliable handling systems, supported by tools for application development and a reference architecture. It also contributes to the (2) social objective: to contribute to user acceptance and adoption, identification of skills development needs and compliance with the liability/legal and ethic aspects

Realizzazione di un sistema socio-eco-tecnico in grado di abilitare comunità resilienti attraverso lo sviluppo di tecnologie, metodologie e modelli innovativi integrati che favoriscano la sostenibilità ambientale, sociale ed economica delle comunità, e che permettano di far fronte a situazioni di crisi impreviste

The Naval Industry, Shipbuilding and the related supply chain in Adriatic-Ionian region are facing great challenges, looking toward the significant transformation of manufacturing industry, the Fourth Industrial Revolution, that involves the entire value chain process with effects on production, intercompany relations and human capital development and requires a new technology brush-ups. The FUTURE 4.0 project developed an experimental methodology of knowledge transfer addressed to the companies operating in the sector, with the aim to support their transition toward Industry 4.0 and break barriers to innovation between university, center of research and enterprises. Tools and models were designed and tested to strengthen competences, raise the awareness on technology needs and trends, and rethink the set of skills and abilities enabling the industrial transformation. Now it is time to effectively share them and contribute in this way to the competitiveness of the shipbuilding and logistics sectors and to their resilience in dealing with the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. In order to maximize the visibility of the project achievements, the new FUTURE 4.0 PLUS will implement actions for the valorization of the knowledge capital produced, making it widely available, particularly for companies and training institutions that are approaching the transition to a more green and digital dimension. Looking towards the Factory of the Future concept, targeted workshops and events will be organized to address the issue of Industry 4.0 transformation from different perspectives, sharing research results, introducing further applications of learning tools, and reinforcing the Network established between academic and enterprises active in the Adriatic – Ionian region. New communication content such as tutorial videos will be designed to illustrate the main aspects of the FUTURE 4.0 project and the practical and effective application of its knowledge transfer methodology. In addition, the relevant contents relating to the Technological Map developed will be highlighted. The most inspiring contributions and experiences emerged from the implementation of the Pilot Actions will be shared in a dedicated web area, where also the project analysis and researches, duly reviewed, will be at disposal for consultation

Asia is, by far, the continent which has registered the steepest growth in population and goods consumption in the last decades. It is a matter of fact that, however - similarly as other part of the World - the capability of the socio-economic system to address the need to dispose the corresponding generated waste is not as much rapid. The problem connected to the lack of dedicated professionals for solid waste management is pressing in many Asian countries and, in this sense, creating dedicated workforce and building knowledge by fostering specialization can be achieved only if specialised courses are offered at different educational levels and if targeted capacity building, governance models, educational and training programmes are conducted. New academic and TVET educational products (the latter to be addressed to informal workers as well) on sustainable solid waste management, health and environmental risks related to improper waste treatment, and business operation will encounter the needs of teachers and trainers, therefore indirectly of their students and trainees, educating them on the most critical areas of waste management. In this framework, the project will also provide them with the chance of a more concrete and practical experience in the Training Hubs to be established in during the SWAP Project. Therefore, the general aim of SWAP project is to contribute and support in building capacity at tertiary level as well as to support training addressed to the vulnerable group of informal waste practitioners. In this sense, the project has the purpose of improving entrepreneurship as well as the employability of university graduates of the HEIs from Southeast Asia in the sector of sustainable solid waste management, thanks to a close cooperation among all the actors of the “Quadruple-helix”. Thanks to this holistic structure, SWAP Project will pave the way to support relevant policies, providing with high quality educational products, strategies and tools.

ERN-Apulia3 targets to continue bringing Apulian population closer to researchers and viceversa. Apulia is an Italian region with about 4.1 million inhabitants and 4 public universities having a total of about 2800 permanent researchers in addition to those in Public and Private Research Institutions. The large capacity of beneficiaries was already demonstrated in the past EU-funded project for 2018, 2019 and 2020 Nights. ERN-Apulia3 further enlarged the network of partners in order to overpass its previous achievements. Main objectives are: - to implement preparatory events and the 2021 ERN, with particular attention to students, industrial and professional organizations, municipalities and public administrations, already actively involved in the past editions; - to increase public awareness and recognition of the importance and impact of research in daily life, with specific examples from ICT to health and life sciences, from elementary particle to cultural heritage, etc with a special emphasis on societal challenges for the 2021 edition; - to stimulate curiosity and interest and explain the fascinating world and the opportunities in research, especially to the youngest as a mean to encourage them to embark scientific careers; - to establish a tight connection among population/institutions and researcher to continue during the year; - to prepare and publicize dissemination materials along with scientific games and site visits (including laboratories and sites of cultural interest) to be available during the whole year for the general public; - to explain the spirit and opportunities of the European Research Area, the Marie Sklodowska-Curie actions and the principles of The European Charter for Researchers; - to reach a number of Facebook Impressions >1.5M and Reach >400k, Youtube Views > 30k and watch time > 1000h, followers close to 200k, participants > 100k (among all the various initiatives) and a participants to the ERN > 50k

Macroscopic adhesion is of utmost importance in key technologies such as soft and climbing robots, aerospace grasping technologies, human-robot interactions, pick-and-place manipulators. Commonly, bioinspired adhesives interfaces have been characterized from a quasi-static perspective, neglecting the effect of dynamic excitations. Nevertheless, recent observations suggest that added microvibrations may be exploited to strongly enhance and rapidly tune macroscopic adhesion. By exploiting the multiplicative coupling between geometric- and viscoelastic vibration-induced enhancements of macroscopic adhesion, SURFACE aims at designing future soft interfaces with unprecedented and tuneable adhesion strength. To this end, I aim to: (i) develop highly efficient numerical tools for studying adhesion of patterned soft surfaces under micro-vibration excitation, (ii) unveil the coupling effect between topography and viscoelasticity that determine the interfacial strength and toughness (iii) design optimal surface topography and excitation for macroscopic adhesion tuning, by exploiting artificial intelligence models to unveil new mechanisms for adhesion enhancement, (iv) prove the adhesive performance reached, by experimentally testing high-resolution 3D printed interfaces with the desired topography and superposed microvibrations. So far, the adhesive performance of bioinspired patterned interfaces has been limited by manufacturing capabilities at the micro/nanoscale. SURFACE ground-breaking approach aims at exploiting dynamics excitation to outperform state-of-the-art adhesive interfaces. By exploiting artificial intelligence models, SURFACE aims at revealing new mechanisms for adhesion enhancement, which lay beyond our intuition. Rapidly tuneable strong adhesive interfaces have the potential to revolutionize cutting-edge technologies based on soft adhesive interfaces that require to move and place objects quickly and with accuracy.

The project aim is to create an Italian-Albanian-Montenegrin network to support the valorisation of agricultural waste derived from the in-filed and industrial agro-processing and promote their usage within the framework of the European Directives for rational use of energy, with particular reference to public buildings.

The reuse of waste allows to avoid the open-air burning, frequent and hazardous practice from a public health viewpoint. As matter of fact, it is estimated that burning biomass releases in the environment high percentages of carbon dioxide (CO2), carbon monoxide (CO), particulate matter (PM), and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Thus, currently, this practice is forbidden by the law in the most countries.

The project responds to the requirement of promoting the circular economy design process for a regenerative economy, converting waste, provided by local agricultural companies, into a resource usable as a new raw material for the production of sustainable building components and contribute to obtain greener and “low impact” nearly-zero energy buildings.

The final goal of the project is to disseminate the knowledge on the potential use of the agro-waste as building materials also using the self-building practice, demonstrating their practical advantages.

The main goal is to enable schools, in particular teachers, parents and pupils, to participate in high quality citizen science projects in both curricular and extracurricular contexts.

Citizen Science (CS) has raised a lot of attention in the last years. Its main goal is to involve citizens in different types of science projects, in particular to 1) improve engagement and

2) to increase research capacities, e.g. by shared data collection. Many projects have incorporated citizen science approaches. Whereas citizen science works well for educational

purposes (e.g. in inquiry-based science education), the acceptance of CS on a scientific level ranges from low to questionable. Even though the European Association for Citizen

Science has clear guidelines and support mechanisms, many CS projects are not taken seriously. This is the main starting point for the FabCitizen project: We aim at providing tools to

increase the quality of CS projects, in particular in schools. For this purpose, we will integrate FabLabs as the main educational environment as they can provide both, technological as

well as methodological expertise.

We base our project on clearly defined requirements, amongst them

• In schools, CS projects need to be embedded in the curriculum
• To ease the implementation, teachers need high quality (open) scenarios and learning materials
• CS projects need support in terms of methodological and technological expertise.

In the project, we will achieve the following main results:

• A Citizen Science competency framework describing knowledge, skills and attitudes to successfully engage in high quality CS projects incorporating the key skill of data handling (such analytics,
• security, ethics)
• A pedagogical concept incorporating aspects of inquiry and service learning
• A guide for FabLabs as the key infrastructure to educate and train schools and citizens.
• At least 200 Open learning scenarios to train teachers, pupils and parents in early secondary school
• A collection of Open Educational Resources supporting the approach
• A good practice guide for schools and FabLabs across Europe.

ERN-Apulia2 targets to continue bringing Apulian population closer to the research and viceversa. Apulia is an Italian region with about 4.1 million inhabitants and 4 public universities having a total of about 2800 permanent researchers in addition to those in Public and Private Research Institutions. The large capacity of beneficiaries was already demonstrated in the past EU-funded project for 2018 and 2019 Nights.

ERN-Apulia2 further enlarged the network of partners in order to overpass its previous achievements. Main objectives are:

- to implement preparatory events and the 2020 ERN, with particular attention to students, industrial and professional organizations, municipalities and public administrations, already actively involved in the past editions;

- to increase public awareness and recognition of the importance and impact of research in daily life, with specific examples from ICT to health and life sciences, from elementary particle to the preservation of cultural heritage, etc with a special emphasis on sustainability for the 2020 edition;

- to stimulate curiosity and interest and explain the fascinating world and the opportunities in research, especially to the youngest as a mean to encourage them to embark scientific careers;

- to establish a tight connection among population/institutions and researcher to continue during the year;

- to prepare and publicize dissemination materials along with scientific games and site visits (including laboratories and sites of cultural interest) to be available during the whole year for the general public;

- to explain the spirit and opportunities of the European Research Area, the H2020 agenda, the Marie SkłodowskaCurie actions and the principles of “The European Charter for Researchers”;

- to reach a number of followers close to 200,000, a number of participants larger than 100,000 (among all the various initiatives) and a number of participants to the ERN larger than 50,000.

Air pollution in terms of toxic gas molecules and particulate matter is a major cause of morbidity and premature mortality, resulting in an estimated 4.2 million deaths per year. Real time pollution monitoring with high spatial resolution and public alerts is vital to minimise the exposure of the population, particularly the vulnerable, to air pollution. Direct access to high quality, trustworthy data will allow optimisation of daily schedules to reduce exposure. The availability of actionable data, which will, if necessary, stand up in court and with government, will drive long term changes in the behaviour of both the public and industry.

Ambient pollutant reference detectors are impractical for widespread or mobile deployment. Miniature, low cost electrochemical generally are still not stable or sensitive enough for monitoring ambient pollutants reliably. PASSEPARTOUT will advance the development and deployment of miniature, hyperspectral optical based sensors based on Quartz Enhanced Photo-acoustic Spectroscopy and Photo-Thermal Interferometry for a wide range of ambient pollutants.

The PASSEPARTOUT optical sensors operate in the mid-IR or NIR spectral range and allow calibration free methodologies as quantification is based on the well-known optical constants of the target analytes and will be compatible with the rigorous certification process. PASSEPARTOUT will realise the first 3D mobile optical gas analyser network capable of operating in an urban area. Innovative and high-performance technologies for high accuracy and flexible environmental air quality monitoring will be built into robust drone-mounted, low-cost vehicle-mounted and stationary sensors. The network will provide real-time information about the concentration of polluting gases (NOx, SO2, NH3, CH4, CO, CO2) and black carbon within urban areas, around landfills and seaports with extremely high precision and excellent spatial resolution.

Collaboration is a concept that carries heavy weight when discussing multimodal trips of passengers. For Transport Service Providers (TSPs), it is a method to facilitate a door-to-door (D2D) journey, which is a basic goal set out by the EU in the 2011 Transport White Paper. However, collaboration is a very generic concept that is hard to define. For SYN+AIR, collaboration among modes relates to data sharing among TSPs in the scope of facilitating a seamless D2D journey.

The main objective of SYN+AIR is to generate common goals for TSPs that will justify data sharing, facilitating the user to execute a seamless D2D journey. SYN+AIR employs a partially participatory (in terms of validation) and partially, technology driven approach (in terms of defining data flow among TSPs) that is user-centric; customer journeys will be generated for the entire multimodal chain and SYN+AIR will analyse how those journeys can be facilitated through improved planning and operations activities (following the ATFCM phases: strategic, pre-tactical, tactical) powered by data sharing. For the analysis, air travelling is placed in the epicentre; all multimodal chains consider the usage of air travelling.

Consequently, a “Smart Contracts Framework” will be generated based on a Business Process Model. Smart Contracts are agreements among TSPs that define data sharing criteria (scope, parties’ obligations, contract’s time span and fulfilment criteria). TSPs can use the agreements for structuring a collaboration scheme with another TSP either strategically or tactically. Data generated by Travel Companion apps will also be analysed in the context of enriching the Smart Contracts Framework allowing TSPs to improve their activities and execute informed decisions. Finally, SYN+AIR will determine what additional recommendations can be provided to travellers based on the execution of a Smart Contract.

Progressus supports the European climate targets for 2030 by proposing a next generation smart grid, demonstrated by the application example “smart charging infrastructure” that integrates seamlessly into the already existing concepts of smartgrid architectures keeping additional investments minimal. The expected high-power requirements for ultra fast charging stations lead to special challenges for designing and establishing an intelligent charge-infrastructure. As emission free traffic concepts are a nascent economic topic also the efficient use of charging infrastructure is still in its infancy. Thus, novel sensor types, hardware security modules, inexpensive high bandwidth technologies and block-chain technology as part of an independent, extendable charging energy-management and customer platform are researched for a charging-station energy-microgrid. Research of new efficient high-power voltage converters, which support bidirectional power flow and provide a new type of highly economical charging stations with connected storage and metering platform to locally monitor the grid state complements the activities. The stations are intended to exploit the grid infrastructure via broadband power-line as communication medium, removing the need for costly civil engineering activities and supplying information to the energy management solutions for utilization optimization. Smart-Contracts via block-chain offer a distributed framework for the proposed energy management and services platform. Furthermore hardware security hardens the concept against direct physical attacks such as infiltration of the network by gaining access to the encryption key material even when a charging station is compromised. Progressus solutions are estimated to enable a carbon dioxide saving of 800.000 tons per year for only Germany, will secure the competitiveness of European industry and research by extending the system know how and will thus safeguard employment and production in Europe.

Ladle preheating is a requirement for steelmaking operations. However, standard preheating technology is unfavourable regarding process efficiency, energy consumption and emissions. This project aims at testing the necessities, technical requirements and opportunities of a new ladle preheating procedure using plasma. It will investigate these by combining engineering, numerical modelling, laboratory characterization, industrial trials and pilot testing. A future implementation would lead to flexible preheating procedures (drying, first and all subsequent preheating) with increased refractory lifetime from minimized decarburization and wear, appropriate heating of the different refractory parts, minimized emissions and improved cost efficiency due to less gas consumption and higher heating rates.

ATLAS will build an open, distributed and extensible data platform based on a microservice architecture which will offer a high level of scalability from a single farm to a global community.

The technology developed in ATLAS will be tested and evaluated within pilot studies on a multitude of real agricultural operations across Europe along 4 relevant use cases:

• precision agriculture tasks
• sensor-driven irrigation management
• data-based soil management and
• behavioural analysis of livestock.

ATLAS will involve all actors along the food chain, simplifying and improving the processes from farm to fork.

Through the support of innovative start-ups, SMEs and farmers, ATLAS will enable new business models for and with the farmers and establish sustainable business ecosystems based on innovative data-driven services.

ADE is an H2020 project funded by the European Commission within Strategic Research Cluster on Space Robotics Technologies. ADE brings together the European industrial and research leaders in space robotics autonomy.

The overall objective of the Strategic Research Cluster (SRC) in Space Robotics Technologies is to deliver by 2023/2024 key technologies at a significant scale suitable for two major application domains: orbital and surface exploration. More specifically this 2016 SRC assumes as reference/target scenarios in-orbit servicing and planetary rover autonomous exploration.

ADE shall fulfil, as minimum, the following main objectives:

• Achieve autonomous long range navigation with high reliability: the rover system shall perform long term mapping and path planning and successive motion control over distances in the range of kilometres per sol;
• Guarantee consistent data detection while avoiding un-detection of interesting data along mission path: to maximize the scientific return along it nominal long traverse journey;
• Autonomous decision making capabilities in presence of conflicts.
• Reach a higher TRL level for its future use in space, there must be a clear path for reaching higher levels of TRL (5/6 min) at component and system level.
• Safety: The system must demonstrate that it is capable of keeping the rover in safe conditions in the presence of failures or any unexpected events.
• Achieve a flexible-purpose surface robotic system design.
• Spin-off / ground exploitation and commercialization.
• Dissemination/Communication and Exploitation
• Collaboration/harmonization with other Call 2 OGs consortiums.

BONVOYAGE designed, developed and tested a platform optimizing multimodal door-to-door transport of passengers and goods. The platform integrates travel information, planning and ticketing services, by automatically analyzing non-real-time data from heterogeneous databases (on road, railway and urban transport systems); real-time measured data (traffic, weather forecasts); user profiles; user feedback. The platform is supported by an innovative information-centric communication network that collects and distributes all the data required. The highly heterogeneous, distributed and mobile nature of data, coming from data-centers, sensors, vehicles, goods and people on the move, calls for an innovative networking paradigm. Current networks (e.g. Internet) limit themselves to “just” providing communication channels between hosts. The proposed paradigm, called Internames, allows communications among entities identified by names, without the constraint of a static binding to a particular location. The request of a “user” (be it a person or a parcel) to travel from source to destination is managed by the platform with several tools: Metadata Handler collects and elaborates data related to the request and generates a corresponding Context; User Profiler creates a personalized profile, conveying requirements including Quality of Experience parameters and special needs; Multi-Objective Optimizer develops personalized travel instructions, optimal for the Context and User Profile. The user may give feedback, before accepting the travel itinerary. If a trip is not available at request time, the user is notified if it becomes available later on. An Actuator triggers the necessary services. A Tariff Scheme Designer exploits platform data to define multi-part tariff schemes. BONVOYAGE demonstrated the platform and communication network in integrated, large-scale, real life application scenarios, incorporated into the normal business operations of our transport operator partners.

Connected smart objects have invaded our everyday life across multiple domains, e.g. home with automation solutions, assisted living with sensors and wearables to monitor personal activities, smart transportation and environmental monitoring. IoT is evolving around a plethora of vertically isolated platforms, each specifically suited to given scenarios and often adopting non-standard, sometimes fully proprietary, protocols to control the variety of sensors, actuators and communication elements. symbIoTe comes to evolve this fragmented environment and provides an abstraction layer for a unified control view on various IoT platforms and sensing/actuating resources. symbIoTe designs and develops an IoT orchestration middleware capable of unified and secure access to physical and virtualized IoT resources; hierarchical and orchestrated discovery and control across multiple IoT platforms; federation of IoT controllers and resources for cooperative sensing/actuation tasks; seamless roaming of smart objects across smart spaces. symbIoTe builds its orchestration middleware on top of existing standards for protocols and interfaces, plus a number IoT platforms both proprietary (i.e. developed by its industrial partners) and from open source (e.g. OpenIoT). This unique set of backgrounds and foreground can result in a significant step forward in horizontal integration and federation of IoT domains. Five use cases with real large scale deployments have been selected to validate our vision in representative smart spaces: home/residence, educational campus, stadium, mobility and yachting. Engagement with real users is key in our validation process. With its research, symbIoTe can enable innovative business models for a large set of stakeholders of the IoT value chain, and particularly SMEs and new entrants in the IoT market. The consortium includes direct beneficiaries of these impacts, including small and large industry with IoT business and renowned research performers.

The growing adoption of fully digital workflows is boosting the creation of a digital market for products, services and infrastructures. However, the composition of heterogeneous information and communications technologies (ICT) from different vendors makes digital processes and transactions at risk of cyber-attacks.The EU-funded GUARD project aims to fill the technological and procedural gap between legacy cybersecurity models and novel computing and networking paradigms, by developing an innovative platform for the protection of digital business chains that encompasses two main dimensions: service integrity and data sovereignty. The project fosters the integration of security capabilities into each digital component, and orchestrates them to improve visibility over vulnerabilities, attacks, and private data. Validation and stakeholder engagement will happen in industrial and medical use cases.

MgO based refractory of new generation is developed by the joint competence of steelmaker, refractory producer and university scientists. Both new carbon free binder system and modification of the current binder systems are studied. The new refractory (either bricks or castable) is characterized and tested firstly in laboratory and then in full scale ladles. The development is directly towards the need of steelmaking. The new refractory is expected to result in great improvement of steel cleanness and prolonged lifetime of ladle lining. The sustainability and recyclability of the refractory should be another important factor in the development.

A critical mass of Knowledge Workers (KWs) is required to fill the gap between the ever-increasing deficit between demand and offer in the field of Industrial Engineering and Management (IE&M) in Europe. This project aims at providing answers to the highlighted problem by combining organizational methodologies for the production of goods and services and new digital technologies in the implementation of the so-called Industry 4.0 paradigm. The main objective is to design and test innovative courses (both classes and e-learning modules) in IE&M, creating new curricula for university students and industry workforce and eventually contributing to reduce the shortage of KWs in the manufacturing sector. By introducing cutting-edge learning techniques and tools, the project will support the future generation of KWs, as the participants will learn how to face the emerging challenges of the job market, developing hard skills along with an entrepreneurial mindset. The project foresees to foster a new mind-set within IE&M students based on intrapreneurship, meaning a new “employee culture” marked by higher degrees of autonomy and responsibility for the sake of the hiring firms and the entire sector.

Specific project objectives are:
• To identify education and training convergences and divergences between IE&M courses, along with the training needs required by companies to IE&M students and collect these results in a Body of Knowledge (BoK), conceived as both theoretical framework and technical specifications for redesigning IE&M courses in HEIs.
• To align knowledge, skills and competences with contents, learning–teaching methods and assessment of the educational activities offered by the different project partners to the BoK
• To develop and test a 4 pilot IE&M courses based on the findings of the BoK
• To develop and test 4 e-learning modules based on the revised courses
• To reshape a whole IE&M Master Program building on the experience developed in the project

To meet the goal of a carbon neutral growth of commercial aviation, the top level objective of IMOTHEP is to achieve a key step in assessing the potential offered by hybrid electric propulsion (HEP) and, ultimately, to build the corresponding aviation sector-wide roadmap for the maturation of the technology.

The core of IMOTHEP is an integrated end-to-end investigation of hybrid-electric power trains for commercial aircraft, performed in close connection with the propulsion system and aircraft architecture. Aircraft configurations will be selected based on their potential for fuel burn reduction and their representativeness of a variety of credible concepts, with a focus on regional and short-to-medium range missions. From the preliminary design of aircraft, target specifications will be defined for the architecture and components of the hybrid propulsion chain. Technological solutions and associated models will then be investigated with a twenty year timeframe perspective. In order to identify key technological enablers and technology gaps, the integrated performance of the electric components and power chain will be synthesized by assessing the fuel burn of the selected aircraft configurations, compared to conventional technologies extrapolated to 2035.

MEDSAL Project aims at developing innovative methods to identify various sources and processes of salinization and at providing an integrated set of modelling tools that capture the dynamics and risks of salinization MEDSAL, and thereby aims to secure availability and quality of groundwater reserves in Mediterranean coastal areas, which are amongst the most vulnerable regions in the world to water scarcity and quality degradation.

The challenges brought about by the fourth industrial revolution are at the very heart of the project FUTURE 4.0. The further developmental stage in the organization and management of the entire value chain process involved in manufacturing industry is radically changing even the concept of enterprise. EUSAIR area societies and economies are affected as well by this paradigm shift, which has effects on production, intercompany relations, human capital development. To face this, and having as specific focus Blue Economy, the shipyard & nautical logistic supply chain, the project intends to design a shared strategy to innovate companies approach to training through a Smart Learning Model enhancing shipyard competitiveness in Italy (Veneto & Apulia), Croatia, Greece and Albania. The project structure foresees the definition of a Technological Map of the Shipyard & Nautical Logistic supply chain thorough inclusive road mapping and foresight activity on technology and related competences. Results will be the lay for the designing of a knowledge, competence and skills training/learning hub (FUTURE4.0 platform) involving Universities and training orgs., companies and PAs. The platform will be part of the above-mentioned Smart Learning Model and Strategy, implemented and validated through local pilot actions, encompasses effective industrial education and training for innovation, enhancing the University-Industry cooperation.

The PORTS project intends to study the impact of new routes and MoS between Apulian, Montenegrin and Albanian coasts, particularly between the ports of Taranto, Kotor and Durres, and to analyse their socioeconomic impact. It also aims to increase cross-boarder dialogue and ultimately accessibility, by: -creating a large international network including all the relevant stakeholders in the area; -creating an international research laboratory (PORTS LAB) to study new forms of integrated transport RO/PAX and new cruiser lines between the ports of Taranto, Kotor, Bar and Durres and to analyze data with a mathematical provisional transport model; -organizing international round tables in order to discuss main findings of the research -sharing good practices and training professional within the industry. Main target of the actions are public authorities managing transport of passengers and freight, and economic operators along the spine of the eastern Balkans.

3D-IMP-ACT will promote cultural heritage among Interreg IPA CBC Italy–Albania–Montenegro countries in order to valorise the existing natural and cultural assets in a systematic, comprehensive and wide way, affecting protection and quality of the environment as basis of any kind of touristic promotion. It aims at introducing novel approaches regarding the cultural heritage promotion towards smart and sustainable economic development, destination management and marketing, improving the territorial attractiveness, smart management and touristic development of the cultural heritage in Italy (Puglia), Albania and Montenegro, by assessment and enhancement of the inter-regional relations among historical, architectural and archaeological sites.

The project main objective is to introduce sustainable technologies and processes to manage wastewater disposal, with the final aim of reducing marine pollution caused by the effluents derived from water treatment, and improve the quality of the sewerage treatment plants.
More precisely, the project aims to prevent marine pollution and improve the quality of effluents. By doing so, recycled water will be used in other sectors, in full compliance with the European regulations. Two pilot actions will be carried out in the two Municipalities involved in the project, Gallipoli in Puglia Region and Patras in Western Greece Region. Both Municipalities are based on tourism and marine activities as the main economic drivers; for this reason, they both decided to invest in the quality of their marine environments.

SunWater project, financed under Priority Axis 2 – Integrated Environmental Management, aims to improve the efficiency and the sustainability of Water Distribution Networks in urban touristic areas as a strategic asset to sustainable growth in the Programme area. The valorization of the natural resources includes activities related to protection from pollution in the water supply chain. In order to do that the partners are targeting and enhancing the assessment of current leakages and water quality, using innovative strategies and tools.

InnoNets project, financed under Priority Axis 1 – Innovation and Competitiveness, will develop a cross border innovation Brokering Centre to provide innovation support services to micro and small agrifood enterprises. The project methodology incorporates 3 cross border Thematic Living Labs, a cross border Living Lab to control them and a powerful Electronic Innovation Node- Agrifood Toolbox, a platform for the delivery of innovation support services to the agri-food sector.
Thanks to this project, Puglia and Western Greece will tackle the common challenge to promote creative entrepreneurship as a key contributor to the competitiveness across the economic and social sectors.

FENIX Project develops the first European federated architecture for the exchange of data for the European logistics community of carriers, logistics service providers, mobility infrastructure providers, cities and authorities to improve the communication between different operators using any existing platform and/or future platforms.

The overall objectives of OPTAPHI are to:

• Build a lasting relationship between the academic partners that will see a long-term double degree program established on the topics of advanced spectroscopy and integrated optics.
• Produce a cohort of students with multi-disciplinary expertise; each of whom receives training from two world leaders in different fields in a highly innovative project that interlocks with the activities of the ESR cohort.
• Demonstrate novel Quartz Enhanced Photo-Acoustic Spectroscopy (QEPAS) and Photo-Thermal Spectroscopy (PTS) configurations with improved sensitivity and compactness using new intracavity sensing configurations and/or using novel ultra-compact semiconductors lasers.

Yess project, funded under Priority Axis 1 – Innovation and Competitiveness focuses on the promotion of innovative incubation services for micro and small enterprises in the sectors of e-health, design, blue growth and tourism.This project aims to develop hybrid incubation models (virtual and physical), a platform for the virtual incubation, two incubation centers one in Bari (Universus) and one in Ioannina (University of Ioannina), and one “nursery” for young people under 21, to develop their knowledge and skills regarding innovation and entrepreneurship.

The Osmose project is a H2020 EU founded project answering the call for a ’Demonstration of system integration with smart transmission grid and storage technologies with increasing share of renewables’.
The project aims for the development of flexibilities which can be used for a better integration of RES. The approach chosen is global as it considers at the same time, the increased need of flexibilities in the system (mainly improved balance of supply and demand in electricity markets, provision of existing and future system services and allowance of a dynamic control of electricity flows) and the sources of flexibilities (RES, demand-response, grid and new storages). The chosen global approach addresses all system requirements to capture the synergies proposed by the different solutions in order to avoid stand-alone solutions that might be less efficient in terms of overall efficiency. For example a storage operator plans to install batteries in order to provide balancing services. By locating his solution in a network-constrained area, he could contribute at the same time to the management of congestion and by this reduce the costs for the society too.

ERN-Apulia targets to bring Apulian population closer to the research world and viceversa. During the Researchers’ Night events (not limited to the night but lasting for the whole day), we will invite the general public to our campus to take part in tours, initiatives and discussions. The aim is to unveil the figure of the researcher, often seen as an ivory tower pursuit. In a path constituted by several stands, our researchers will tell their stories and explain to the public how they work and what is the impact of their activity on everyone's daily lives. Hence, during the day, students from all levels will be invited to visit the laboratories and touch by hand experiments carried out by highly competitive teams working on fascinating and exciting international environments.

The principal aim of the proposed Network is to create and test methodologies for the application of optimization techniques in different design phases of civil structures by developing strong synergies among a multi- disciplinary team of academic experts from Greece, France, Cyprus, Canada, Turkey, Egypt & Jordan and SMEs from France & Greece. A first goal of the project is to exploit the use of shape and topology optimization techniques in computer aided architectural design. Moreover, the Network wants to exchange ideas, propose formulations that correspond to real-life applications and develop solutions for optimal multi-disciplinary architectural design.

ELVITEN demonstrates how electric light vehicles (EL-Vs) can be used in urban areas and be integrated into the existing transport network of six European cities.
We propose replicable usage schemes for EL-Vs such as electric bicycles, tricycles, scooters and quads. Our consortium unites 21 partners from multiple European countries.

CONNECT aims to provide concepts, technologies and components that support enhanced integration of renewables and storage combined with intelligent management of the energy flow and thus allows to reduce the demand for primary energy, to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and facilitates a decentralized energy infrastructure

NeMo’s vision is to create a Hyper-Network of new and existing tools, models and services which will provide seamless interoperability of electro mobility services, creating an open, distributed and widely accepted ecosystem for electro-mobility.
NeMo will boost the market share of EVs by enabling increased accessibility to charging infrastructure, ICT services and wider B2B interconnectivity. NeMo will facilitate increased service availability, better planning and more secure electric grid operation, by making backend data and services accessible to the right actors and bringing down digital (interfaces) and physical (location) barriers.

The goal of optiTruck is to bring together the most advanced technologies from powertrain control and intelligent transport systems in order to achieve a global optimum for consumption of fuel (at least 20% reduction) as well as other energy sources and consumables while achieving Euro VI emission standards for heavy duty road haulage (40t).

AEOLIX will develop a platform for connecting logistics information systems of different characteristics, intra- and cross-company, for immediate (real-time) exchange of information in support of logistics-related decisions. The ambition is to develop architecture for a distributed open system which will exchange information among key logistics actors (commercial companies as well as relevant authorities), enabling increased use and impact of such information in the value chain. During the project, logistics related business issues have been selected as use cases to be researched at different Living Labs to validate and demonstrate the benefits of the platform.