FIC-FIGHTERS is a local democracy project. It is the search for new economic models deliberately agreed to manage of waste that harms the natural and cultural heritage. It is a space for discussion on the adoption of alternatives for wastes that has been accumulating near our cities for decades. The project will involve different local actors, industries, authorities, SMEs, RTD centers, and universities to inclusively scale up to TRL6-7 waste recovery processes under the premises of the circular economy, focusing on the valorization of phosphogypsum waste (PG) to generate sustainable raw materials for use in the paper, cement, batteries, fertilizers and detergents industries. For 48 months, the different actors, in cooperation with the CCRI, will be involved in making the new circular business models a reality. The project will: 1) Build a mobile pilot plant (TRL7) based on optimised results and digital twin of the processes to demonstrate the sustainable production of raw materials (sodium sulfate, REE and P, aluminum hydroxide, ammonium sulfate and precipitated calcium carbonate) for different industries, starting from phosphogypsum and other wastes. 2) Create a PG forum for local discussions and develop local workshops in each of the 6 case studies, including citizen participation, addressing socio-economic, environmental and regulation aspects of the new circular business models developed to become a reality and reaching trust and acceptance. 3) Address the flexibility and replicability of the valorization processes by involving 7 case studies and create the first known PG Exploitation Portal aiming to identify, characterise, and reach all European cities with same problematic. 4) Contribute to knowledge exchange in clustering and CCRI events; creating a Community of Practice and making the results of the project publicly available and exploitable, addressing IP protection. 5) Provide guidelines to reach circularity based on LCA, LCC, social and H&S studies.

Co-design and co-production processes are promising horizontal governance tools to innovate public administrations and the public sector in general. In particular, co-design processes aim at improving policy effectiveness by including a wide range of viewpoints in the formulation of public policies and in the design of public services, while co-production processes are designed and managed to involve ‘responsible citizens-users’ in the implementation of the policies and in public service delivery, and aim not only at improving policy effectiveness, but also at sustaining public sector intervention in the recent austerity era, during which governments (especially local governments) must face new social needs and complex problems with decreasing public resources. Notwithstanding the high potential of these processes as innovative and effective governance tools, practical evidence about their usefulness and sustainability for local administrators is still lacking, and local governments proceed mostly incrementally and unaware of potentials and pitfalls. ENLARGE project aims to shed some light on the ‘how and why’ issues of co-design and co-production processes through an intense policy dialogue between policy makers, experts in participatory governance and civil society actors. The specific focus is on sustainable energy and more in general all the solutions aiming at generating more efficiency and effectiveness in public services and public endowments. In detail, the project intends to: EXPLORE the existing models of co-design and co-production of public policies and services; EVALUATE – measures for the assessment of the outcomes; mechanisms and intervening factors favouring the effectiveness of participatory processes; PRODUCE - Raising awareness among public administrators about the options at their disposal and the potential consequences of these choices; COMMUNICATE and DISSEMINATE the project results.

The Social sciences & Humanities for Achieving a Responsible, Equitable and Desirable GREEN DEAL (SHARED GREEN DEAL) project brings together 22 leading organisations from across the EU including 8 universities, 3 research institutions, 8 network organisations and 3 SMEs. Our network partners cover core elements of the European Green Deal cross cutting priorities such as civil society, democracy, gender, energy, environment, circular economy and innovation. Our objectives directly address the call challenge with an aim to share actions, understandings, evidence, insights, responsibilities and benefits across stakeholders including policymakers and civil society. Issues of inclusivity and diversity are at the heart of the project to particularly account for disadvantaged and vulnerable social groups. SHARED GREEN DEAL will meet its objectives through a set of 11 workpackages. It is structured around lessons from a set of 6 social experiments around 6 priority Green Deal topics. Each social experiment will be delivered across 4 member states. Importantly we take a transdisciplinary approach, covering 19 social science and humanities disciplines, with multi-stakeholder, practice-based and policy-science expertise, including gender studies as a key component throughout. The output includes the development of tools (e.g. an online Green Deal policy tracker), as well as translating project findings into stakeholder-specific policy briefs and roundtable events. The partners are committed to continuing to host the transnational network set up post-project to ensure longevity and impact beyond the life of the project. SHARED GREEN DEAL is expected to deliver changes in societal practices and in the behaviour of individuals, communities, and public and private organisations. Through the development of effective new strategies, we will address behavioural change and long-term commitment, trust, social acceptance and buy-in from people, communities and organisations.

CCRI Knowledge Hub aims at increasing the impact of the existing Circular Cities and Regions Initiative (CCRI) by enlarging the network of involved stakeholders, bringing together the knowledge and critical mass already developed around Circular Economy implementation and building upon the CE stakeholder platform. The goal is to promote and make the circular economy concept a reality in EU cities and regions, in particular in those in the early stage of circular economy transition. To reach its objective, CCRI Knowledge Hub will leverage existing initiatives and projects to foster the adoption of circular economy in EU cities and regions. CCRI Knowledge Hub´s formula is based on three principles: (a) easy access to systematized workable knowledge; (b) tailored mentoring according to users’ needs and (c) effective awareness-raising to make the circular economy more desirable, that build upon four main dimensions: (i) Public engagement; (ii) Innovation and technology; (iii) Business models and financial support; and (iv) Impact evaluation. CCRI Knowledge Hub gathers a multidisciplinary expert consortium of 11 partners from 6 EU countries (research and technological centres, universities, research organizations, international networks and associations, regional authorities as well as specialized companies and SMEs) that bring in complementary skills and competences to achieve the project´s objectives.

REAL DEAL will stimulate a pan-European debate to reshape citizens? and stakeholders? active participation through deliberative processes around the European Green Deal. It brings together researchers and practitioners of deliberative democracy from a wide range of disciplines including environmental rights and the law of public participation, ethics and responsible innovation, gender studies and ecofeminism, psychology, geography, urban planning and sustainability studies. It includes the EU?s largest civil society networks advocating on the environment, climate, sustainable development, local democracy and the European movement. It teams up with youth climate, social justice and women?s organisations, SMEs, universities and research institutes, mobilising networks with thousands of CSOs, uniting millions of citizens and activating contacts to thousands of policymakers. In a large co-creation exercise, REAL DEAL will develop, test and validate innovative tools and formats to propel deliberative democracy to the next level. It will tests its innovations at citizens assemblies for the transition in at least 13 countries. We will scrutinise pan-European formats ranging from digital deliberation through our online platform www.CitizensGreenDeal.eu to in-person processes such as an Assembly for a Gender-Just Green Deal and a pan-European Youth Climate Assembly. REAL DEAL will co-create a comprehensive protocol for meaningful citizens? participation and deliberation to work towards the objectives of the EGD. It will validate recommendations on how to design such processes and how they can be applied by European institutions, Member States and civil society alike. Gender equality will be embedded into the project?s DNA. It pays specific attention to the leave-no-one-behind principle, fostering the engagement of disenfranchised groups that are disproportionally burdened by environmental damage. REAL DEAL will develop a new model of environmental citizenship across Europe.