PROcurement Capability - Embedding and Driving INnovation (PROCEDIN) Legal reforms, European, national and regional policies, growing expertise, guidance, tools and case studies, and networks of early adopters are all key foundations for the adoption of (public) procurement of innovation (POI) practices, bringing together business and public sectors. If it is to drive deep, systemic change, the rate, scale and scope of POI adoption must increase. This project will accelerate POI in a specific domain covering two critical areas of innovation – circular economy and green mobility – in the context of European cities’ innovation for sustainability and resilience agendas. The consortium will leverage existing resources and its members’ extensive, pan-European professional networks, and initiate new provisions, to enhance and mobilise POI motivation, knowledge and skills. By mapping the complex landscape of growing expertise, experience and learning infrastructure, and relating resources to the varied needs of different stakeholder archetypes (defined by organization type, extent of POI experience etc), key gaps in provision will be identified and addressed. Particular attention is paid to promoting enduring access to, and increased uptake of, POI guidance and learning resources for buyers and vendors, and to building leadership capacity for driving and embedding innovation through strategic procurement.

PROTECT aims at levering innovation procurement to unlock the climate service (CS) market’s potential to support urgent climate adaptation and mitigation. The project will allow public and private organisations to build up and integrate their knowledge and skills about climate change, environmental observation (EO) and innovation procurement, notably enabling public authorities to shift to a proactive governance model, using innovative public procurement approaches to increase value and climate impact for money. It shall increase access of CS SME providers across Europe to public procurement markets and shape solutions that best address public demand, both specific and systemic. The initial focus will be on five encompassing application domains (Utilities, Green cities, Health, Land use & Marine environment, Security) and their contributions to the areas of sustainability in Horizon Europe’s Cluster 6. The project will source and assess existing and high-potential CS solutions and technologies that use EO data. It will engage with an extensive and varied community of procurers, inform the definition and aggregation of their needs and functional requirements for CS, explaining, fostering and supporting a ‘buying with impact’ approach. Clearer, less fragmented demand shall guide and support R&D for future CS. PROTECT will prepare the operational ground for one or more joint, cross-border or coordinated pre-commercial procurement (PCP) processes and identify short-term actions so that Public Procurement of Innovative Solutions (PPI) can be activated towards or right after the project’s end. At policy level, it will provide decision-makers for procurement, climate and policy, at EU, national, regional and local levels, with practical recommendations and guidelines to boost the use of innovation procurement for climate action.

PCP-WISE aims to customize/pre-operationalize water management innovations from space for European climate resilience via pre-commercial procurement (PCP). The project, spanning phases from solution design to field validation, targets TRL 8. It addresses water-related crises (floods, fires, infrastructure impacts) using space and Earth Observation data. Objectives include common operational information products, interoperability mechanisms, and an active user network. With climate change impacting water availability and distribution, PCP-WISE seeks to enhance EO-based information for better regional water management, promoting resilience across EU borders. It focuses on local dynamics in water availability and aims to anticipate extreme climate conditions through an integrated water intelligence system. The project's significance lies in its potential to mitigate water-related crises, driven by a unified water taxonomy and Earth observation-based modeling. Through comprehensive research and development solutions, PCP-WISE aims to boost adaptation across the EU, targeting stakeholders in water management, environment, first responders, cities, and agriculture. The project's objectives are designed to adress business, technical, economic, and policy goals. Key results include capacity-building efforts, climate-related inputs, stakeholder engagement, and the dissemination of innovative solutions to advance water resilience both locally and globally.

Urban food systems and ecosystems (UFSE) demand immediate action. CITIES2030 innovative approach have a great opportunity to attract the best researchers, entrepreneurs, civil society leaders, cities and all agents of the UFSE as well. The main goal of CITIES2030 is to create a future proof and effective UFSE via a connected structure centered in the citizen, built on trust, with partners encompassing the entire UFSE. CITIES2030 commit to work towards the transformation and restructuring of the way systems produce, transport and supply, recycle and reuse food in the 21st century. CITIES2030 vision is to connect short food supply chains, gathering cities and regions, consumers, strategic and complement industry partners, the civil society, promising start-ups and enterprises, innovators and visionary thinkers, leading universities and research across the vast diversity of disciplines addressing UFSE, including food science, social science and big data. CITIES2030 actively encourage the participation of citizens by delivering a trusted UFSE, moving consumers from being passive recipients to active engagement and motivated change agents. This objective is achieved via multiple tools delivered by CITIES2030 such as the CRFS Alliance, a community of practice supported by a digital platform, reaching all over Europe and beyond. This approach will enable policy developments, innovation actions within result-driven Labs, and enhancements on a pan-European scope with a global reach. Cities and regions will improve resilience and sustainability, and their leadership will create short food supply chain and ecosystems enabling local investments, trans-borders and transnational deployment. A blockchain-based data-driven UFSE management platform will secure intelligence and coordination actions by delivering an accurate, almost real-time digital twin of the whole supply chain, e.g. from production to waste management, but also on key enablers of resilience and sustainability.