
The GeoERA proposal is put forward by the national and regional Geological Survey Organisations (GSO) of Europe. Its overall goal is to integrate the GSO’s information and knowledge on subsurface energy, water and raw material resources, to support sustainable use of the subsurface in addressing Europe’s grand challenges. The GeoERA consortium will organise and co-fund together with the EC a joint call for transnational research projects that address the development of 1) interoperable, pan-European data and information services on the distribution of geo-energy, groundwater and raw material resources; 2) common assessment frameworks and methodologies supporting better understanding and management of the water-energy-raw materials nexus and potential impacts and risks of subsurface use; 3) knowledge and services aimed at European, national and regional policy makers, industry and other stakeholders to support a more integrated and efficient management and more responsible and publicly accepted exploitation and use of the subsurface. The transnational projects selected in the call will be implemented by the consortium partners themselves, who provide their co-funding in-kind. GeoERA will contribute to the overall EU objective of building the ERA through enhanced cooperation and coordination of national and regional Geological Survey research programmes. GeoERA will also include forward looking activities, including the creation of opportunities for future collaborative research, and the feasibility assessment of an Article 185 initiative in Applied Geoscience as follow-up to the GeoERA ERA-NET towards the development of the ultimate goal of delivering a Geological Service for Europe.
The SPP Regions project is aimed at promoting strong networking and collaboration at both the European and sub-national regional level on sustainable and innovative procurement (SPP/PPI), to help promote and embed capacity building and knowledge transfer. At the regional level networking will be promoted to build capacities and transfer skills in sustainable and innovative procurement implementation, and to collaborate directly on tendering for eco-innovative solutions. New networks will be established, or existing networks strengthened in 7 European regions (Copenhagen, Rotterdam, Torino, Bristol, Barcelona, West France and Gabrovo). Networking activities will include an intensive capacity building programme and collaboration on at least 6 tenders per region - 42 in total. At the European level a Sustainable Procurement and Innovation Network will be launched, expanding on the existing Procura+ Campaign. In-depth research will be conducted into European best practice relating to a series of key SPP/PPI topics (market engagement, life cycle costing, output/performance-based specifications, circular procurement) by a series of experts in consultation with network participants. A series of European seminars and expert workshops will be organised, together with an ongoing webinar series, and the annual presentation of a PPI award for European best practice.