Industrial symbiosis (IS) has gain great attention in the last years due to its high potential for energy and resources savings. However, there is still a need for enhancing the knowledge base for IS in Europe, especially in what regards to the implementation and operation phases, which must be supported by harmonised frameworks and data reporting structures that ensure data accuracy and comparability in existing and new IS initiatives. Under this framework, CORALIS has been designed as a demonstration project for the generation of real experiences on the deployment of IS solutions and the overcoming of the barriers faced by these initiatives. In order to properly address this complex issue, CORALIS will address three factors (technical, managerial and economical) that will set the basis for the definition of the IS readiness level, a useful indicator establishing the feasibility of the overall IS initiative. In addition to specific developments on each of these factors, CORALIS will provide a harmonised framework for the monitoring of results and evaluation of their impact from a life cycle perspective. This impact assessment methodology will be implemented into a virtual assessment platform that will support the operation of the involved industrial parks. The overall approach of CORALIS will be demonstrated in a total of 3 industrial parks, each of them supported by an IS facilitator, a neutral actor in charge of guiding the IS initiative and exploiting its full potential. Moreover, 3 additional industrial parks will follow the project results in order to replicate them by implementing additional IS initiatives after the project’s end. Further replication is expected by gathering the project results in CORALIS Handbook for supporting the implementation of IS, by providing recommendations on regulation and standardization and by establishing a continuous dialogue with main European stakeholders following an ambitious dissemination and exploitation strategy.

Access to mineral resources in Europe is one of the pillars of the RMI. Yet, competing societal interests, such as expanding cities, infrastructure development, agriculture and nature conservation, have had negative effect on the available area for exploration and mining of mineral resources. Consequently, the supply of mineral raw materials within the EU is at risk. Therefore, the integration of mineral resources policies into land-use planning at different scales and levels is a key factor for achieving the goals of the RMI. The MINLAND project is designed for addressing this challenge: to facilitate minerals and land-use policy making and to strengthen a transparent land use practice. MINLAND is composed around the acknowledgement that the call requires a broad and competent consortium with strong links to related projects and activities, a comprehensive and structured data repository, an efficient work flow and strong and broad stakeholder involvement. MINLAND will address the challenge by: collecting and structuring information from member states and EU activities (stocktaking), performing in-depth analyses and case studies on relevant issues and aspects, and compiling comprehensive and practically applicable guidance documents. Along the work flow, stakeholders will be involved through workshops and participation in case studies and through other dissemination activities.

Economic, digital and technological developments, as well as increasing energy efficiency and environmental demands, present the European (and global) Industry with many challenges, not least of which is to continuously update the qualification, knowledge and skill profile of the workforce. The aim of this project is to realise an industry driven and coordinated sustainable and cross-sectoral blueprint for the Sustainable Process Industry through Resource and Energy Efficiency (SPIRE) addressing its recent and future challenges in immediate and enduring ways. A Blueprint strategy for human capital development through a Cross-Sector Skills Alliance on Energy Intensive Industries (EII) will be developed by involving a broad range of key stakeholders from the eight sectors of the SPIRE public-private partnership: Steel, Chemicals, Minerals, Non-ferrous Metals, Water, Engineering, Ceramics, and Cement. The alliance of related sector associations or technology platforms, training providers, and research partners is characterised by a huge competence based on a long list of projects for energy efficiency, industrial symbiosis (IS) and related Vocational Education and Training (VET). It will develop concrete and practical strategies and programmes (modules and tools) in anticipation of skills demands in a proactive and future oriented way, securing policy support and continous monitoring. Build on the already existing SPIRE coordination, projects and activities, a cross-sectoral industrial symbiosis approach, covering all the eight SPIRE energy intensive industry sectors and integration European, national, regional industrial symbiosis perspectives will improve “intercultural” exchange between the different industry sectors and the different qualification levels (blue and white collar, generational exchange, and green skills as overarching issue).

The exploitation of minerals in Europe is an indispensable activity to ensure that the present and future needs of the European society can be met. This means that sufficient access is required to explore and exploit minerals. At the same time the mineral needs of our society must be met without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Accordingly exploitable mineral deposits (known deposits, abandoned mines and historical mining sites) need to be assessed against other land uses, taking into account criteria such as habitats, other environmental concerns, priorities for settlements, etc. Access to mineral deposits, on the other hand, also meets public interests such as raw materials security (compared with many international access options). The deliberation between these diverse land uses requires adequate consideration of the exclusiveness, reversibility, and consequences on the surrounding. The overall objective of MINATURA 2020 is to develop a concept and methodology (i.e. a harmonised European regulatory/guidance/policy framework) for the definition and subsequent protection of “mineral deposits of public importance” in order to ensure their “best use” in the future. Providing a policy planning framework that comprises the “sustainability principle” for mining is the key driving force behind MINATURA.

MINOTAUR seeks to address the exploration drilling problem from a novel and revolutionary perspective, bringing together geological principles and concepts involved in exploration drilling with modern technologies such as robotics, digital twin technology, and artificial intelligence. Along the way, MINOTAUR proposes novel research directions in allied areas like geophysics, sensing technologies in geology, environmental impact modeling of whole mineral and production systems, numerical modeling of entire mineral systems related to critical raw materials, new drilling techniques, high-resolution sensing technologies, and artificial intelligence with novel data processing tools for a robust and expeditious geological assessment. MINOTAUR takes a fundamentally fresh look at exploration drilling and approaches it as a source seeking and resourcing mapping problem, drawing inspirations from solutions in robotics, but where geology is a central part of the decision, with the outcomes of exploration enhanced through artificial intelligence and digital twin technology.