Participatory budgeting (PB) represents one of the most successful civic innovations of the last quarter-century. At a time when voter turnout in Europe is lagging and public institutions struggle to maintain trust and legitimacy within a framework of growing budgetary cuts, PB has proved itself to be a powerful tool for citizens to join in the essential tasks of governing, not only as voters but also as decision-makers themselves. EMPATIA aims at producing the first ICT platform capable of fully encompassing both the decision-making cycle and the implementation cycle of PB whose integration is considered indispensable by literature as the main driver of the self-sustainability process. It will harness the collaborative power of ICT networks applied to PB, seeking to radically enhance the inclusiveness and impact of PB processes, enabling citizens, individually and collectively, to take deliberate and informed action for the public good. This will lower barriers to information and participation, deepening citizen engagement and trust in public institutions, collaborating alongside them to make their communities more sustainable. EMPATIA consists of multidisciplinary consortium, with expertise in adjacent fields – research and implementation of participatory and voting processes, ICT integration, evaluation of technological and societal impacts among others – that will include in its activities the implementation of three distinct PB Pilots, with citizens from the municipalities of Lisbon (Portugal), Ričany (Czech Republic) and Bonn (Germany), allowing a thorough analysis and validation of the EMPATIA platform.

Short Food Supply Chains (SFSCs) or producer-consumer chains are supply chains involving a limited number of intermediaries between farmers and consumers, who are committed to cooperation, local economic development, and maintaining close geographical and social relations. In rebuilding post-Covid, SFSCs are being promoted by governments, civil society and consumer groups in many EU member states as a means for building more inclusive, resilient and sustainable food systems. But SFSC initiators, participants and promoters are confronted by a fragmented knowledge landscape, coupled with a lack of clarity as to essential skills and competencies in all phases from farm to fork. The COREnet project proposes to respond by supporting the systematic development of more effective SFSC advising, based on bringing together public, private and civic advisors through IT-enabled peer-to-peer learning and mutual support. This approach requires interacting with advisors, farmers, consumers and a more holistic approach aimed at helping SFSCs achieve not just a bigger market share, but a greener market impact. Project activities are concerned with (1) developing SFSC advisory capabilities based on a knowledge mapping and on-line listing of SFSC advisors from all EU27 in ways that enable the sharing and exchange of cost-effective practice solutions that improve SFSC social, economic and environmental performance and increase their impact in the food value chain; (2) preparing learning resources in the form of a network of 30 Golden Cases (exemplars of SFSC models that have achieved business success) and initiating 27 Lighthouse Projects (initiatives using Golden cases to introduce advisory services for improving SFSC performance with at least one in each of the EU-27); (3) establishing a pan-European peer-to-peer learning network for SFSC advisors and proposing a formal organizational solution that assures its sustainability and integration into the AKIS.

Contributing to the CCRI project portfolio, CisWEFE-NEX will demonstrate the implementation of a circular systemic WEFE Nexus, an innovative, fully integrated, & sustainable approach applying the principles of circular economy for closing loops in the key value chains of food, water & nutrients in severely water stressed regions: 1. Water: - A net positive freshwater balance to the water cycle (JRC 2021) will be achieved through combining olive mill wastewater reuse (as a co-product from biophenols extraction) with saltwater desalination at scale without using fossil fuels for use as drinking & irrigation water. - Waste streams from desalination (brine & bitterns) will be repurposed in nature-based solar saltworks as table & Epsom salt, made possible because of zero chemical use in the desalination process. 2. Energy: - Cutting-edge renewable energy technologies will be developed & demonstrated to achieve a net-zero direct fossil GHG emissions process. - Agri-photovoltaics (crops under PV panels) and biogas from advanced (ultrasonic cavitation assisted) anaerobic digestion fed from olive mill & other biowastes. 3. Food: - Innovative nature-based techniques will be demonstrated to enable truly sustainable, healthy, and fresh food & seaweed (containing bioactive compounds for pharma use) production at scale. - Saltwater integrated multi-trophic aquaculture (free of growth hormones, antibiotics, synthetic fertilisers, & preservatives). - Regenerative agriculture (organic permaculture reusing precious water & nutrients) and extractive reuse of biophenols from olive mill waste as bioactive products of very high nutri-pharmaceutical value. 4. Ecosystems: - Monitoring of traditional & emerging (micro)pollutants using cutting-edge analytics will prevent harmful impacts on the environment & food grown from it with predictive alerts & remedies through a mobile controlled cavitation unit providing (waste)water treatment services (advanced oxidation processes, disinfection).