There is still significant potential to improve energy efficiency in all sectors and levels where measures can be applied. Facing the often cited “energy efficiency gap”, even the profitable potential is not fully exploited. Highlighting and quantifying the additional values of energy efficiency measures and investments considering the multiple non-energy impacts could help closing this gap and facilitate energy-relevant decisions and policy-making. The project "MICAT – Multiple Impacts Calculation Tool" is coordinated by Fraunhofer ISI (DE) together with the European partners IEECP (NL), Wuppertal Institute (DE), WiseEuropa (PL), E3 Modelling (GR), IIASA (AT) and ICLEI EURO (DE). The goal of MICAT is the development of a comprehensive approach to estimate Multiple Impacts of Energy Efficiency. MICAT will enable analyses at three different governance levels (local, national and EU) to address a broad target group and interested actors. This allows simplified analyses to be carried out on the basis of different data and policy scenarios in order to compare and assess the relevance of the multiple impacts. The project thus sets a sound scientific empirical basis for monitoring Multiple Impacts while providing a publicly available and easy usable online tool (MICATool) which has been developed in a co-creational manner with the respective governance levels. The national and local cases for monitoring Multiple Impacts of Energy Efficiency will be developed further in a broad stakeholder and dissemination approach to set a standard for future reporting on Multiple benefits.

The EU 2050 Long-term Strategy develops scenarios for a climate-neutral EU in 2050 that aim at full deployment of low-carbon technologies or assume increased climate awareness of EU citizens translating into lifestyle changes, consumer choices, and a more circular economy. While these scenarios integrate societal trends, further progress is necessary to enhance the empirical basis for such New Societal Trends and their representation in models. New Societal Trends have potentially a large (increasing or decreasing) impact on energy consumption and might lead to cross-sectoral demand shifts that go beyond extrapolation of presently observed trends (continuous trends) and may speed up when they are embraced by larger parts of the society (disruptive trends). Such trends include in particular: digitalisation of the economy and of private lives, Circular Economy and Low-carbon industry, and Shared Economy, which will be the main focus of the present project. The novelty of our project arises from three perspectives: A thematic perspective identifying and quantifying how New Societal Trends affect energy demand, using trend-evolution pathways. A methodological perspective combining qualitative (foresight methods) with quantitative cross-sectoral modelling and exploring how energy demand models are to be improved to represent New Societal Trends. Several well-established models build the core of this project (INVERT/EE-Lab, FORECAST bottom-up model family, PRIMES energy system model, GEM-E3(-FIT)). All of which have been used extensively in the EU context for long-term projections and will be enhanced in this project. Further, policies will be represented in the demand models that influence such trends in the light of the EE1 Principle. Finally, a data perspective enhancing the empirical basis for modelling the impact of new societal trends through exploitation of new data sources (e.g. smart meter data) and empirical data (e.g. on behavioural changes).

To achieve climate neutrality by 2050, EU policy will have to be reoriented. It needs work simultaneously towards climate neutrality across the economy rapidly enough to achieve the Paris Agreement’s goals, while delivering on a broad range of issues, from competitiveness and productivity to employment and health. The concept of the European Green Deal captures this overarching narrative. However, to mobilise the creative, financial and political resources to achieve the required degree of technological, economic and behavioural change, the EU also needs a governance framework that facilitates cross-sectoral policy integration and allows citizens, public and private stakeholders to participate in the process and to own the results. 4I-TRACTION analyses what transformative climate policy could look like for the EU. Based on a stocktake of existing climate policies and their performance, it will spell out a number of policy avenues and an overarching governance framework, to describe how the current mix of EU climate and energy policies needs to evolve in the 2020s to set course for climate neutrality by 2050. The analysis will be structured around four cross-cutting core challenges, the “4 I’s”: 1) fostering breakthrough Innovation, 2) shifting Investment and finance, 3) rolling out the Infrastructure for a climate-neutral and resilient economy, and 4) Integrating solutions across sectors. This structure reflects that a systemic transformation will need to evolve beyond sectoral policy approaches. Incorporating scientific insights and policies from outside the EU as well as examining how the EU’s efforts interact with those of other key countries, the analysis will also include the global context. The analysis will be thoroughly grounded in science, but also aligned with the EU's dynamic political environment. To receive input, provide feedback and validate conclusions, the project will closely engage with a broad set of stakeholders throughout its lifespan.

The ambition to achieve the Paris Agreement goals has led to the realization that a rapid and full decarbonization of the economy is required, involving a structural transition of the current economy and society. With the rise of quantified policy targets, policy packages, and consideration of multiple dimensions and sectors, Integrated Assessment Models with their ability to consider complex relationships and provide calibrated numerical results have become ever more important in the last decade. The PRISMA project aims to bring these models to the next level by focusing on four key areas of improvement, namely the representation of distributional justice and efficiency, innovation and finance, climate impacts and land-use implications, and lifestyle change and circularity. In these four key areas we will improve existing large-scale IAMs and sectorial models, and consider the linking of different models where applicable. Two cross-cutting shared themes across these areas are the improvement of the temporal and spatial resolution of the analysis, and the representation of disruptive and structural change in the economy. Notably we will increase the spatial granularity with a focus on Europe, and look at the yearly and in particular near term detailed modeling of rapid decarbonization pathways. The extensive model development will be co-designed through an interactive stakeholder engagement process from the beginning, and focus on model openness and usability to ensure the stakeholder and policy relevance. Moreover, PRISMA will focus in its application on the analysis of the spectrum of Fit for 55 package policies of the EU developing focalized robust and resilient Net zero pathways and assess the uncertainty around key variables and outcomes. PRISMA will also provide key insights to international climate assessments, a large number of open modelling tools and databases, including capacity building and dissemination activities for all countries.

The relations to Central Asia are an important element of the changing transatlantic and geopolitical setting the EU is currently facing. They are influenced by the role the rest of Asia and other world powers play in the region, which the EU has to take into consideration while focusing on its comparative advantages. The main objectives of SEnECA are to strengthen and energize EU-Central Asia relations by establishing a sustainable, transdisciplinary SEnECA Research Network and the SEnECA Stakeholder Network to link European and Central Asian researchers, policy makers and stakeholders in order to improve research cooperation to develop a common SEnECA Agenda for Future Research Cooperation and EU’s Central Asia policy by setting up the SEnECA Policy Roadmap. The SEnECA Communication Plan for dissemination and awareness-raising will promote the importance of Central Asia to Europe among scholars, policy-makers, stakeholders in education, media, civil society and the EU public sphere notably through the SEnECA Exhibition. SEnECA will thus ultimately strengthen capacities in research and policy advice through the SEnECA Academic Policy Advice Training. Within two years, twelve consortium members from think tanks, universities and NGOs in Europe and Central Asia build on their Trans-European and Central Asian network with research institutions in 41 European, Central Asian and other Asian countries. Through its activities, SEnECA maps existing networks of researchers of Central Asian Studies in Europe and European Studies in Central Asia and key actors in education and media active in EU-Central Asia relations to analyse research cooperation, policies and communication on Central Asia to set up the SEnECA Research Database which forms the basis for recommending priorities and new forms of scientific cooperation following the “blended research” approach and demand-driven policy advice based on an inclusive approach to EU policy-makers and stakeholders active in EU-Central Asia relations.