"DECISO - DEVELOPERS OF CIRCULAR SOLUTIONS” aims to support the delivery of services to induce investments projects for developing circular economy at local and regional scale in the following regions: Hamburg. Northwest Germany, West Macedonia, Alentejo. This is in line with implementing the European Green Deal and the EU circular economy action plan. DECISO will accompany the actions aiming to provide assistance for promoters in the development of financial schemes/programs for projects on Circular Economy, based on the concept of Circular Economy Ecosystem (CEE), which implies mobilizing local stakeholders and, when necessary, citizens, and scaling up the results from the local, to the national and European levels. The CEE approach will make it possible to deal with economic, organizational and cultural change through systemic solutions that involve all the players in the value chain of an asset and all those who can influence, even indirectly, its value. This approach also allows reducing risks for investors, because ecosystems with all their key factors, including geographic location, cultural factors and institutional support, actively help an innovation become successful. Since the paradigm of the Circular Economy Ecosystems can be declined in different ways, based on the objective of the initiative, the local context, the type of actors and the sector, the DECISO approach will be implemented in different local contexts and topics in order to produce guidelines that can facilitate the replicability of the initiatives put in place considering all the technical, economic, legislative, and social factors that can determine the success or failure of the initiatives.

Mediterranean agrosilvopastoral ecosystems (MAEs), such as Dehesa in Spain, Montado in Portugal, Meriagos in Italy, & Valonian oak forests in Greece, provide essential environmental services and influence significantly local communities and their economies. MAEs are expected to be severely affected by climate impacts and extreme conditions such as droughts, high tree mortality and wildfires. Addressing these challenges, requires supporting local communities and authorities with local solutions and transformations towards climate-resilience. This DRYAD proposal supports the Mission Adaptation to Climate Change by developing and implementing real-life, climate-resilient nature-based solutions (NBS) for MAEs. DRYAD combines front-line scientific, technological, social, and business innovations as well as transformative solutions. The proposal will be centered around development, testing and demonstrating NBSs in 5 demonstration regions including Andalusia and Extremadura (ES), Alentejo (PT), Sardinia (IT) and Aetoloakarnania (EL) (5 in Cohesion Fund Regions). The most promising NBSs will be transferred to these 3 replicating regions: Castilla-y-León (ES), Occitanie (FR) and Tuscany (IT). Furthermore, DRYAD will support a multi-level and cross-sectoral integrated and adaptive management governance via development of Decision Support Systems. DRYAD will mobilize regional and local authorities and stakeholders that own the climate challenge, research entities, private/public foundations, companies & citizens and involve them in co-creation, co-implementation, and co-validation processes by means of Living Labs. This will lead to the creation of real, widely re-applicable solutions with long-lasting impacts. The project will provide tools and implementation guidelines to promote sustainable and climate-resilient practices and facilitate regional adaptation plans, contributing to the Nature Restoration Law in terms of resilient nature and climate adaptations.

Lower population and business density make it more challenging to develop private businesses and public services in rural areas, negatively impacting socio-economic indicators. Rural areas are key to solve climate change, food, biomass and energy challenges. Favourable climate for entrepreneurship is needed for better provision of jobs, basic services, including health and care, connectivity, smart transport, energy solutions and attractiveness as whole, overcoming digital divide between rural and urban areas. AURORAL focus on delivering a digital environment of interoperable services through platforms able to trigger dynamic rural ecosystems of innovation chains, applications and services. Thus, AURORAL contributes to increasing economic growth in rural areas and to tackle significant societal challenges. AURORAL digital environment is demonstrated by cost-efficient and flexible cross-domain applications through large-scale pilots in five European regions. AURORAL digital environment builds on an open, API-based, interoperable and federated IoT architecture and includes a reference implementation supporting flexible integration of heterogeneous services, bridging the interoperability gap of the smart object platforms and creating markets for services in rural areas. AURORAL digital environment addresses the integration of data and information across different platforms, establishment of an open market place, large-scale demonstration, multiplication of novel applications, the leverage of infrastructure and inclusion of public services. AURORAL pilots follow an evolutionary agile, well-delineated, and lean approach demonstrated in large-scale applications capable of meeting social and economic objectives critical to boost new rural services and business. AURORAL digital environment supports a vibrant ecosystem of developers, service providers and user communities and addresses barriers currently opposing the socio-economic development of rural areas.

H2tALENT launches a flagship Hydrogen Valley in Alentejo-PT to consolidate the strong investment in place and boost the penetration of “green” hydrogen by deploying new initiatives across the entire value chain from local production to use including distribution for a range of applications in industry, mobility and buildings while also connecting with existing/planned infrastructures and initiatives. In the next 5 years are foreseen 2.1 GW electrolysers, 180 ktons/y of “green” H2, 2 B€ investments and 5000 jobs in Alentejo. Safe design and operation are ensured to deliver certified “green” hydrogen. H2tALENT produces >500 ton/y used by several off-takers in industry, mobility (public bus & truck) and building (municipal pool). The strategic position of the Sines Port is valorised as a key multi-modal hub for interconnection and import/export as well the industrial ecosystem surrounding it. Optimal energy system integration is ensured via technology assessment and impact modelling to contribute to the national energy transition strategy. H2tALENT generates investments around 20 M€. Digital Twinning and tools for optimal planning and operation are delivered to support upscaling and replication, while professional upskilling and public perception equip the workforce with the needed competences and deliver social benefits. H2tALENT builds a global network where lessons learned from existing valleys are gathered, cooperation with Brazil and Morocco fostered and replication promoted in 2 follower valleys in DE Saxony and UK Midlands. Roadmaps and concrete actions for upscaling and replication are defined for the Sines Port, Alentejo and Portugal. The consortium includes 29 partners from 7 countries covering the entire value chain including energy suppliers, DSO, technology manufacturer, system integrator, end users and RTO/university experts in digitalization, public acceptance, environmental assessments and technology assessment with strong political support.

The project MIREU aims to establish a network of mining and metallurgy regions across Europe with a view to ensure the sustained and sustainable supply of mineral raw materials to the EU. The network will help the regions to share knowledge and experiences when facing the challenge to establish and maintain an extractive industry. MIREU will facilitate an exchange between all interested stakeholders in the regions, namely regulatory authorities, political and administrative bodies, development agencies, mining companies, non-government organisations, as well as the general public. The project will develop a shared knowledge base, taking into account the region-specific geographic and economic features, cultural, societal and language diversity, and their historical developments. The network will also learn from experience in other regions of the World. This knowledge base will allow to understand what has been conducive and what hampering to the development of extractive and metallurgical industries. It will also provide the context for a bottom-up integration of these activities into their respective socio-economic and socio-cultural context. Development is about people and, therefore, bringing people into the decision-finding procedure in order to achieve a ‘social license to operate’ will be a key aspect of the project. Guidelines and recommendations for actions to be taken to foster a sustained and sustainable development of the extractive industries will be developed in close co-operation with a range of selected regions from the European Union. These regions will form a nucleus and multipliers for a more extensive network beyond the life-time of the project.