The Cretan-Aegean Hydrogen Valley is covering a defined geographical area in which hydrogen will serve energy storage and energy aggregation activities via reuse of energy stored to the grid through fuel cells as well as Green H2 Road Transport. In the future Green Marine H2 Fuel applications, as well fuel for industry via its use in adjacent traditional power plant. The CRAVE-H2 is a substantial financial investment and covers all necessary steps in the hydrogen value chain, from production (securing dedicated renewable electricity production from the 582 MW Aegean project) to subsequent high pressure storage & distribution to hydrogen filling station and potential other off-takers. The Cretan-Aegean hydrogen valleys has started and has the full support of the regional authorities (partners) that pursue a "hydrogen economy”. CRAVE-H2 is necessary for piloting hydrogen market in Crete and Greece but also located in very pivotal location where leading partner EUNICE interconnects their 580 MW Aegean Wind Energy project and their new Greek - Egypt electricity transmission interconnection allowing for cheap African PV power to be introduced into the Greek electricity and hydrogen market. The location of the main hydrogen production and the above connections is the port of Atherinolakkos which could allow future deployment of use of hydrogen as maritime fuel. The main assets /scope of CRAVE - H2 are the integration of : • Alkaline Electrolyser: +3 MWel +500 tons/year H2 from DENORA • H2 compression and storage together with HRS: 1 ton • PEM Fuel Cell: 0.4 MWel from BALLARD • Employ Hydrogen buses by local company. • Re-use of water produced from the FC • Including all installation works and required AC/DC rectifier and DC/AC converters from EUNICE • LCA / LCC and study of other H2 uses in power plant, industry and maritime applications.

EU territorial authorities are tasked with a significant, yet extremely challenging task: to develop and implement successful regional R&I policies that spearhead sustainable development and economic growth, while simultaneously advancing inclusiveness and quality of life (Regional Dilemma). RRI2SCALE has designed a robust methodological approach to assist regional R&I governance systems to effectively and sustainably address the Regional Dilemma. RRI2SCALE sets from the identification of how RRI is currently integrated within regions [Hordaland (NO), Overijssel (NL), Kriti (GR) and Galicia (ES)], what the key constituting elements of territorial R&I ecosystems are, what citizens think of the way RRI and R&I ecosystems interact and what their suggestions for future improvements are. This insight is triangulated with future trends on smart and intelligent cities, transport and energy as key drivers for regional sustainable development and growth (identified via Delphi), to result in techno-moral scenarios depicting potential R&I trajectories and consequent impacts on policy, socioeconomic and environmental level. The scenarios will be “tested” via JRC’s Scenario Exploration System and Regional Dialogues. Their outcomes will form the basis for the elaboration of Regional Agendas and Roadmaps that will describe the concrete steps to be taken towards the integration of RRI principles into territorial R&I design. All activities, outcomes and impacts will be closely monitored by the RRI2SCALE Monitoring and Evaluation Framework, which will include a set of customised indicators for mapping the impact pathways between regional innovation and RRI. All project results, together with a training compendium on how to perform the project activities, will form the RRI2SCALE Toolkit for replication by other territories. A Memorandum of Collaboration will be signed by all regions (participating/interested), to further the sustainability of the project’s outcomes.

Worldwide, water resources management is increasingly challenged by water scarcity and climate change, which can trigger and aggravate other ecological (e.g. pests) and socioeconomic threats (e.g. commodity price fluctuations) via feedback loops and cascading impacts across systems. In this context, planning for the future is rife with uncertainties for which conventional decision-making methods and policies are inadequate. The objective of TRANSCEND is to identify and catalyze the adoption of Transformational Adaptation Policies (TAP) to water scarcity, including innovative allocation systems and economic instruments, that are robust and adaptable to uncertainty and change, while simultaneously achieving equitable and sustainable economic growth and welfare. To this end, TRANSCEND will develop a groundbreaking ecosystem of innovation that combines three key pillars: (i) a knowledge network for stakeholder engagement and knowledge sharing, (ii) an actionable modeling suite that integrates interdisciplinary socio-ecological science and ensemble forecasting to guide TAP design, and (iii) an accounting and monitoring toolbox that supports implementation and enforcement of TAP in practice. TRANSCEND will apply the ecosystem of innovation to design and implement TAP in 7 labs: Júcar River Basin (RB) (Spain); Reno RB (Italy); Tympaki RB (Greece); Nitra RB (Slovakia); Caplina-Mauri-Desaguadero RB (Peru, Chile & Bolivia); Orontes RB (Lebanon, Syria & Turkey); and Mahanadi RB (Indian states of Chhattisgarh & Odisha). TRANSCEND will leverage this diverse set of demonstrators to initiate adoption of the ecosystem of innovation in 8+ inspiration labs, train 160+ transformation agents, and mainstream uncertainty analysis in key national and European Green Deal strategies. This will provide the knowledge and tools to catalyze robust and systemic transformations to water scarcity and climate change globally, with a clear impact pathway towards TAP adoption in 100+ basins by 2030.

The aim of DxHub is to develop a strong ecosystem that mutually reinforces actors from two widening countries to consolidate individual efforts and allow for rapid and on the spot accurate diagnosis of infectious diseases within One-Health. The ecosystems in Crete, GR and the Oeiras region, PT, have already demonstrated a rich portfolio of activities to tackle the problem of efficient diagnosis outside a centralized lab. The DxHub will bring the two isolated regions together and, through a common R&I plan, accelerate innovations in diagnostics into impactful solutions by embracing the quadruple helix of main innovation players. Cutting-edge R&Is will be promoted based on joint research, innovation and investment plans. Pilot projects will be used to interlink academia with business providing solutions addressing the health, veterinary and agri/food sectors, all in line with both regions’ strategic priorities. In parallel, the efficient communication, dissemination and exploitation of the DxHub outcomes to the broad ecosystem will ensure high societal impact as a result of the co-development and acceptance of the new innovations by all actors of the quadruple helix. We expect that by building strong links between all payers of DxHub will foster knowledge transfer leading to the creation of new jobs and of attractive and sustainable place-based innovation ecosystems.

The overall objective of the project is to develop and pilot test a cloud eParticipation SaaS platform, (available as a mobile application and through a web platform) enhanced with web / social media mining, gamification, machine translation, and visualisation features, which will promote the societal and political participation of young people in the decision-making process on environmental issues. The project will employ innovative social media analytics and monitoring tools, as part of effective strategies that will be developed, in order to engage young citizens in the pilot activities and increase their motivation to participate. Four pilots in an operational environment have been selected for the deployment of STEP solution in 4 locations: Italy, Spain, Greece, and Turkey, with the participation of one regional authority, 3 municipalities, and an association of municipalities. The pilots are expected to involve testing by 8.200 young users and 85 policy makers. 65 decision-making procedures with an impact on the environment are expected to be tested. The project will assess the usability, effectiveness and impact of the STEP service project in embedding open engagement in public sector processes, and will identify the key barriers for wide scale deployment. Dissemination activities specifically designed for the needs of young people and policy makers will be employed. A business strategy will be developed for the wide take-up of the integrated STEP platform and its reusable components, individually, or in combinations. The potential for scalability and adaptation to other regions will be assessed, and organisations that can be involved in the wide deployment of the platform and its components will be approached.