Building on the Horizon 2020 project GENDERACTION, the overall goal of GENDERACTIONplus is to contribute to the coordination of gender equality and inclusiveness objectives of the new European Research Area through the development of a policy community of practice consisting of national authorities from 11 MS and 2 AC and 7 MS Associated partners and an RFO community of practice from 8 MS and 2 AC and 9 Associated partners. The coordination network covers a total of 23 MS and 3 AC with 26 project partners and 18 Associated partners. Specifically, the project aims to: 1) Develop strategic policy advice on existing and emerging policy solutions in the key thematic areas (intersectionality and inclusiveness; gender-based violence; gender dimension in research, innovation and teaching; monitoring and evaluation of ERA gender equality actions; supporting institutional change through gender equality plans); 2) Enhance the policy-making process through engaging with stakeholders, CSOs and citizens; 3) Build capacities, competence and expertise for gender equality and mainstreaming in R&I among the policy and RFO community members, with special attention to countries with a less comprehensive policy; 4) Create impact through communication, dissemination and exploitation, including national impact plans and an EU impact plan, policy briefs and position papers based on the policy advice developed. The impact of GENDERACTIONplus will be: 1) Advanced policy coordination among MS and AC and through stakeholder and citizen engagement; 2) Improved research careers and working conditions in European R&I, by developing policy dialogue and solutions on inclusion and intersectionality, combating gender-based violence and promoting institutional changes through GEPs; 3) Increased research quality and social responsibility of knowledge through the integration of gender dimension in R&I; and 4) Reduced geographic inequality by targeting less experienced/engaged countries and regions.

QuantERA III is aimed at strengthening Europe’s leadership in Quantum Technologies (QT) through a highly coordinated transnational approach. Building on the success of its predecessors, QuantERA III will subsidise cutting-edge research by launching a Cofunded Call for Proposals in 2025, backed by over €37 M in national contributions, targeting two critical areas: Quantum Phenomena and Resources and Applied Quantum Science. Additional €15 M of the EU contribution shall be allocated to both the Cofunded Call budget and the project tasks. By supporting projects that lay the foundations for future QT advancements and translating quantum science into practical applications, the Programme will catalyse new directions in the field, ensuring the EU’s leading status in this transformative technology sector. QuantERA III’s objectives align seamlessly with the EC’s Work Programme, as it seeks to address fragmentation in QT research across the European Research Area (ERA) and develop synergy in transnational research efforts. QuantERA III is designed to meet the highest standards of excellence, capitalising on the collective expertise and resources of 40 RFOs from 30 countries (incl. 14 Widening countries) – the Programme will achieve its objectives through a well-structured approach that leverages the unique strengths of each Consortium partner. It will explore further funding opportunities, continue mapping QT policies in Europe, address gender imbalance in QT, and – liaising with the Quantum Flagship and other stakeholders – engage with non-European countries to expand its reach and amplify its impact. The Consortium aims to build a sustainable vision for QuantERA beyond Horizon Europe, benefitting the entire ERA by enhancing Europe’s innovation capacity and maintaining its competitive edge on the global stage. Through its comprehensive framework of six Work Packages, the proposal ensures the realisation of its goals, aligning perfectly with the EC’s priorities for R&I.

The Clean Energy Transition Partnership (CETP) is a transnational initiative on joint RTDI programming to boost and accelerate the energy transition, building upon regional and national RTDI funding programmes. It aims to empower the energy transition and contribute to the EU’s goal of becoming the first climate-neutral continent by 2050, by pooling national and regional RDTI funding for a broad variety of technologies and system solutions required to make the transition. It will foster transnational innovation ecosystems from the very local and regional level, up to the transnational European level, thus overcoming a fragmented European landscape. The CETP is aiming to enable 70 national and regional RDTI programme owners and managers from 32 countries to align their priorities and implement annual joint calls from 2022 to 2027 (original first proposal as published by the EC on CORDIS). Actually 30 countries and 55 programme owners and managers formally participate in this Initial Grant Agreement. They also organise joint accompanying activities to enable a dynamic learning process, extract strategic knowledge (“Knowledge Community”) and maximise the impact (“Impact Network”) to accelerate the upscaling, replication and market diffusion of innovative solutions. This will foster the up-take of cost-effective clean energy technologies. The common vision of the CETP is already manifested in its Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA) that has been co-created in a broad engagement process during 2020, together with the involved countries, the EU SET-Plan Implementation Workin Groups and ETIPs, all energy relevant ERA-Nets as well as the EERA joint programmes (over 500 editors, co-authors, commenters and discussants). The SRIA was endorsed together with the European Commission (DG RTD and ENER) in November 2020 . This articulates the common goal of (1) building a transnational transformative Joint Programming Platform, (2) developing and demonstrating technology and solutions for the transition of energy systems, and finally (3) building innovation ecosystems that support capacity building at all levels.

LUKE is an initiative of several EU Member States and countries associated to Horizon Europe aiming to establish a multilateral funding and capacity building platform focusing on Ukraine. Its key objectives are to implement a joint call and fund transnational research and innovation (R&I) projects with Ukrainian participation as well as to enhance Ukraine's R&I capacities. A modern, efficient, and transparent science and innovation system is crucial for Ukraine’s post-war recovery and economic prosperity. Sharing best practices, pooling resources, and transferring knowledge can significantly contribute to unlocking Ukraine's scientific potential, improving the framework conditions for research and innovation, and integrating the country more closely into the European Research Area (ERA). The LUKE network comprises a group of funding parties and the project consortium responsible for accompanying activities. The overall coordination and management are conducted by a call secretariat. Altogether 19 organisations from 13 countries have already confirmed their willingness to participate as funders within the network: Austria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Poland, Romania, Switzerland, Ukraine itself, as well as the EU accession candidates Georgia, Republic of Moldova, and Türkiye. Additional funding agencies have expressed interest in joining and may be included in the group of funding parties once the joint call has been finalized. The project consortium includes nine organisations, amongst them the German Aerospace Center (DLR) as coordinator, the National Research Foundation of Ukraine (including the Horizon Office and Science Council), Centre for Social Innovation (Austria), Danish Board of Technology (DBT), and University of Daugavpils (Latvia).

The DUT Partnership builds upon and steps up the ambition and efforts of the Joint Programming Initiative Urban Europe (JPI UE). With its partners from 28 countries, the DUT Partnership aims at developing and implementing a transformative research and innovation (R&I) programme to strengthen urban transitions towards climate-neutral, inclusive and sustainable urban areas. With national and regional R&I programme owners, funders and urban policy-related public authorities, DUT is strongly building upon and aligning with national and regional strategies and policies. In order to support cities along their specific strategies, the Partnership focuses on three critical urban sectors, energy, mobility and circular economy, and their interrelations. Three Transition Pathways (TPs) – Positive Energy Districts (PED), the 15-minute City (15minC) and Circular Urban Economies (CUE) – will be addressed with a long-term perspective. DUT will not only provide funding for transnational R&I projects in and across these areas through implementing co-funded JCs, but establish a comprehensive programme management to support capacity building and enhance the (policy) impact of these projects and their results. In this regard, programme activities will address capacity building and empowerment of all urban stakeholder groups to engage in urban R&I and co-design solutions. Urban living labs (ULLs) will be fostered as an important concept to support local experimentation and inter- and transdisciplinary collaboration. New approaches towards dissemination and mainstreaming of research results will be developed with the ambition to bring results into our cities. Strategic synthesis, as well as recommendations and references for policy making will be provided with particular focus on contributions to the Urban Agenda for the EU (UAEU), the European mission for climate-neutral and smart cities (CNSC) and the European Green Deal (EGD). Efforts will be taken to position the DUT Partnership internationally and mobilise international partners to join forces in DUT.