The European Key Enabling Technologies (KETs) strategy is important for the European global competitiveness, the creation of jobs and the European growth. Focusing on the development and valorisation of these KETs is crucial to this strategy. The industry-centred LEIT-NMBP part of Horizon 2020 is instrumental to the support of four of the six KETs: Nanotechnologies, Advanced Materials, Biotechnology, Advanced Manufacturing and Processing. The Work Programme (2016-2017), LEIT-NMBP focus on the valorisation of KETs. One of the activities supported by the European Commission are “events of a major strategic nature” such as conferences organised within the framework of the EU presidencies to create better synergy between initiatives launched by the Commission and by the Member States. This proposal is developed within the framework of the Dutch EU-Presidency (2016) and aims at the organisation of an international conference on Industrial Technologies. The main focus of the conference is the impact of KETs on the future of industry, that emphasizes the application of new and innovative technologies in the field of manufacturing to prepare the European industry for the future. Within this conference, the Dutch strategy on Smart Industry will act as the focal point to enhance the momentum to enter into a new manufacturing era in Europe. The overall aim of the conference is to co-develop the European agenda for the new industrial revolution and review the EU research agenda(s), to enhance the competitiveness of the European manufacturing industries. The conference will be held in the Netherlands in 2016 and last 3 days with an expected number 1250 participants over 30 nationalities from divers target groups (research, industry, private investors, policymakers and education). Specific attention will be paid to stimulate the gender balance at the conference and within the target groups. The conference will be international with an EU wide geographical spread.

The main objective of the PROVIDES project is to develop a radically new, sustainable and techno-economically feasible pulping technology for wood and agro-based lignocellulose raw materials based on deep eutectic solvents (DES), a new class of natural solvents which have the unique ability to dissolve and thus mildly fractionate lignin, hemicellulose and cellulose at low temperature and atmospheric pressure for further processing into high added value materials and chemicals. The aim is to transfer recent scientific findings in novel lignin dissolving DES to process concept level that can be evaluated against current pulping processes. The technological breakthrough expected through the development of such new DES pulping technology could reduce process energy intensity by at least 40% and investment costs by 50% compared to traditional chemical pulping technology. In parallel, the development of efficient novel cellulose-dissolving DES and other DESs to process lignocellulose materials, starting with paper for recycling, is aimed at with focus on sustainability in selecting DES chemical components and technical and economic applicability of the solvent system. PROVIDES will create both fundamental and industry driven technological knowledge based on lab to bench/pilot scale experimentation, through: mapping and selection of most effective DES families; investigating processes and process technology options, including DES regeneration and recycling, in order to define full industrial processes that would isolate high quality cellulose/fibres, lignin and hemicelluloses; providing products for industrial evaluation; establishing technical data to evaluate industrial feasibility and integration; performing life-cycle oriented assessment of environmental and socio-economic performance; assessing impacts in terms of energy and cost reductions as well as new high added value applications PROVIDES could provide to the pulp and paper industry sector.

This project aims to facilitate the implementation of the Circular Economy package and the SPIRE Roadmap in various process industries by developing the necessary concepts, technological solutions and business models to re-design the value and supply chains of minerals (including magnesium) and water, while dealing with present organic compounds in a way that allows their subsequent recovery. This is achieved by demonstrating new configurations to recover these resources from saline impaired effluents (brines) generated by process industry, while eliminating wastewater discharge and minimising environmental impact of industrial operations through brines (ZERO BRINE). The project will bring together and integrate several existing and innovative technologies aiming to recover end-products of high quality and sufficient purity with good market value. It will be carried out by large Process Industries, SMEs with disruptive technologies and a Brine Consortium of technology suppliers across EU, while world-class research centres ensure strong scientific capacity and inter-disciplinary coordination to account for social, economic and environmental considerations, including LCA. A large scale demonstration will be developed in the Energy Port and Petrochemical cluster of Rotterdam Port, involving local large industries. Two demo plants will be able to treat part of the brine effluents generated by one process industry (EVIDES), while the waste heat will be sourced by neighbouring factories. The quality of the recovered end-products will be aimed to meet local market specifications. The involvement of representatives covering the whole supply chain will provide an excellent opportunity to showcase Circular Economy in Rotterdam Port, at large scale. Finally, three large-scale pilot plants will be developed in other process industries, providing the potential for immediate replication and uptake of the project results after its successful completion.

The RiConfigure project will enable the diversification of constellations, institutions and actors in research and innovation (R&I) by engaging stakeholders, enhancing conceptual clarity on new constellations, and disseminating best practices to practitioners and policy-makers. The project centers on stakeholder engagement in four social labs. In the social labs, actors from research, industry, the public sector, and civil society will explore how each of them can and do initiate and navigate cross-sectoral collaboration in R&I. Explorations in the labs are complimented by 100+ empirical case studies. On this empirical basis, the project produces a ‘quadruple helix’-framework to provide conceptual clarification on new constellations in R&I. Expanding the circle of engagement to ensure stakeholder relevance, practitioners and policy-makers can provide challenges and inquiries to the project’s explorations through dedicated dialogue events. The project enables the spread of good practices by facilitating dissemination throughout practitioners’ and policy-makers’ networks, and by providing training to key stakeholders. The project will reach audiences in all relevant sectors through targeted communication and help actors to initiate and support new constellations in R&I by providing inspiration and guidance in the form of handbooks, infotainment videos, on- and offline training, policy briefs, and evidence-based analyses. The project enables the change of R&I governance frameworks at multiple levels by providing evidence on how such frameworks may hinder or help new R&I constellations and by providing dialogue- and learning-opportunities to policy-makers. Initiated by a consortium of actors from all relevant sectors, the project will speak to crosscutting issues with credibility. The project pays special attention to RRI, but in a manner that integrates with broader issues of open collaboration in R&I and governance support for such collaboration.

R-Aces means a step-change in the contribution of European Industry to the climate targets of the EU. The sector after all represents 25% of all energy demand – and 50% of all cooling and heating - on the continent; yet only 16% comes from renewables. By focusing on collective measures and clustering, the efficiency of industry can be drastically increased. The focus of R-Aces therefore is to turn high-potential, high-impact industrial clusters into Ecoregions that achieve at least a 10% reduction in emissions. An Ecoregion is an area where energy, material and information exchanges occur between various companies and actors to reduce waste and energy/material consumption. Each region is centered on an (eco-)industrial park or (eco-)business park, linked to its surroundings by a 4th/5th generation district heating/cooling network. The consortium sees this project as a capping stone, condensing the knowledge and experience gathered throughout H2020 into a set of three focused tools embedded in selected support actions. The tools consist of an assessment tool; legal decision support for joint contracts; and a smart energy management platform for clusters. The support actions are built around peer-to-peer learning, more formal coursework and serious games. Together they enable a cluster to really become an EcoRegion and set up meaningful energy collaboration. The entire package of tools and support is aimed at the high-potential clusters identified in the European Thermal Roadmap. It will be validated in three of them (all are part of the consortium); actively deployed in another seven; and disseminated to ninety of them. In addition, the tools and support methodology will be made available to third parties in a sustainable way after the end of this two-year project. The project consortium consists of the entire value chain needed for energy collaboration – suppliers, ESCO, cluster managers, support – and represents many years of proven experience in this field.