Europe’s cities are some of the world’s greatest tourism destinations. The socio-economic impact of tourism is extraordinary and urban tourism, but it brings at the same time a range of negative externalities, including high levels of unsustainable resource consumption and waste production. In comparison with other cities, tourist cities have to face additional challenges related to waste prevention and management due to their geographical and climatic conditions, the seasonality of tourism flow and the specificity of tourism industry and of tourists as waste producers. UrBAN-WASTE will support policy makers in answering these challenges and in developing strategies that aim at reducing the amount of municipal waste production and at further support the re-use, recycle, collection and disposal of waste in tourist cities. In doing so UrBAN-WASTE will adopt and apply the urban metabolism approach to support the switch to a circular model where waste is considered as resource and reintegrated in the urban flow. UrBAN-WASTE will perform a metabolic analysis of the state of art of urban metabolism in 11 pilot cities. In parallel a participatory process involving all the relevant stakeholders will be set up through a mobilization and mutual learning action plan. These inputs will be integrated in the strategies along with a review of the most innovative existing technologies and practices in the field of waste management and prevention. The strategies will then be implemented in the 11 cities and the results will be monitored and disseminated facilitating the transfer and adaptation of the project outcomes in other cases.

TRIFFID targets the development of an integrated approach for maximizing the efficiency of First Responders (FR) field operations, by advancing remote and smart robotic reconnaissance in disaster sites, while integrating it into European Civil Protection (CP) procedures. The project will deliver the following advancements: a) Hybrid, mobile legged UGV+UAV robotic platform for autonomous real-time reconnaissance in dynamic environments. The TRIFFID robots will receive orders in the field by a human FR crew. Yet, the platform will feature an impressive level of low-level cognitive autonomy, thanks to advanced AI, thus minimizing human supervision and freeing FRs from routine tasks. b) Central Ground-Station with an advanced Augmented Reality (AR) interface, managed by a human Operator. The TRIFFID Ground-Station will merge and display all collected information in near-real-time, providing the Operator with an accurate, interactive semantic map of the disaster site. c) Analysis of technological, operational, organizational and policy aspects in the context of the overall FR ecosystem. The design of the TRIFFID system and the specification of its exact capabilities will proceed by considering the current technological landscape, as well as the entire operational environment and organizational structure of FRs, so that effective disaster robotics solutions are gracefully integrated into CP infrastructure. d) FR training activities: The project will exploit complementary means for implementing and boosting the adoption of the TRIFFID system by FR personnel in their everyday activities, including the development of detailed training curricula, the organization of training exercises, knowledge transfer and skill acquisition activities, etc. e) SSH, robot acceptance and industrial engagement: The design and evaluation of TRIFFID will consider in-depth all relevant legal, ethical, societal and usability issues, targeting maximal adoption by FRs in their daily operations.

The emergence of large drone systems that can be integrated with intelligent coordination technology has enabled Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) concepts that are poised to revolutionize a broad range of domains including transport (including logistics), and climate adaptation. Nevertheless, despite commendable global initiatives, Southeast Europe is facing challenges and delays in adopting and implementing AAM. In this context, we introduce EUSOME with the mission to propel the AAM R&I ecosystem in this part of Europe, addressing specific regional challenges arising from its distinctive geographical characteristics. Evidently, the region would heavily benefit from the development and adoption of a transformative transportation solution that has the potential to eradicate traffic congestion and provide a transformative climate adaptation solution to a heavily stressed ecosystem. Nevertheless, the incorporation of AAM presents regulatory complexities and lacks a driving force in terms of R&I in AAM, partly due to the absence of a cohesive, open R&I infrastructure and adequate specialized mentoring programs. The proposed EUSOME Excellence Hub endeavors to tackle these challenges head-on, assuming a pivotal role in establishing AAM as an integral component of the transportation landscape in the region. The consortium consists of experts across the whole AAM spectrum, from cutting-edge research departments, aircraft manufacturing, civil aviation authorities, relevant public agencies, experts in translating research into innovation, and representatives of the public society. This partnership enables EUSOME to deliver a diversified open R&I infrastructure, covering all needs within the AAM spectrum, a regional masterplan for the adoption of EASA’s recommendations on AAM, and a comprehensive mentoring, training, and service provider program for entities (businesses, public agencies, etc.) desiring to enter the AAM domain.