For decades, heritage buildings have been an example of resilience, but also low emissions and the core of our cities, towns and villages. A building that has no use or purpose is abandoned and lost. It is imperative to ensure their conservation and maintenance by making them accessible, affordable and easy to maintain but also habitable and that is only possible considering comfort as the main target. Heritage buildings represent an important part of our cultural identity. It is time to include them in the adaptation to a new social and energy model. This project aims to demonstrate that it is possible to improve the overall performance of heritage buildings while preserving their architectural and cultural identity. Given that the spectrum of heritage buildings is very broad and those protection laws may allow for different levels of intervention; the project aims to develop a set of solutions that can be replicated in different parts of Europe. The idea seeks to solve the problem of lack of comfort experienced in many heritage buildings where in many cases either there is no heating/cooling system or the use of the existing one entails a significant economic expense due to the need to air-condition large volumes of air. Achieving acceptable levels of comfort is something that will not only benefit the health of the users but will also help to make these buildings attractive places to develop different uses and thus help to preserve them. When we are faced with the energy rehabilitation of a heritage building in which we normally have construction elements with high thermal inertia, the most recommendable solutions to take advantage of this characteristic are usually to insulate the exterior with hygroscopic materials. Unfortunately, in many cases, this intervention is not possible due to problems with the alignment of the street or because the façade is protected. When the only solution is to insulate on the inside, other problems arise, such as humidity buildup.

pHYBi is a 48-month action that will combine the soil phytoremediation concept with lignocellulosic biomass valorisation in an integrated phytomanagement circular economy approach. The pHYBi concept will focus its efforts across different levels of development (1) test, optimisation and validation of 4 phytomanagement case studies, (2) optimisation of biomass fractionation into lignocellulosic components based on organosolv techniques, and (3) characterisation and application of lignocellulosic fractions to create a well-planned market route for the potential end-applications in the textile industry. Furthermore, the project will develop a Virtual Replication Tool where phytomanagement, valorisation process and end-products will be integrated, resulting in guidelines, recommendations and thresholds for the replication of pHYBis case studies along other areas. To finalise the proposal concept, social innovation activities will strongly connect the process with the market and society with the aim to deliver high quality products with high level of acceptance. To achieve its goals, pHYBi brings together a multidisciplinary team integrating experts in plant and soil science (UBFC, UBU, UNIOVI, PHY), chemical engineering and biorefineries (CETIM), computational science (IDE), textile materials and products (NTT), agroindustry (PARTICULA, PHY, DIH-LEAF), and market analysis, knowledge exchange and social innovation (SEZ).

The overall objective of NICE is to widen the availability of enhanced Natural Based Solutions (NBS) to provide circular urban water solutions. NICE will provide key knowledge for the design and implementation of NBS, closing urban water loops. Solutions will make available reusable water for different purposes, in addition to mitigating pollution and runoff and constituting an attractive and integral part of the urban landscape. NICE strategy will be based on the comprehensive study of existing NBS together with the R&D at lab and the validation at Urban Real Labs (11 URLs and 4 Fellow Sites in 5 EU countries and 2 international locations) of innovative NBS covering the urban water cycle (wastewater, greywater, river basins, stormwater & combined sewer overflow).High-potential technologies such as green walls, vegetated rooftops, rain gardens & hybrid subsurface wetlands will be studied and enhanced with especially tailored bioaugmentation strategies, reactive materials & other filling media, novel design & plants, obtaining highly innovative and efficient urban water NBS. The overall approach encompasses the integration of research, citizens, policy and the economic sector to provide the knowledge-base for the integration of the NBS in the real context, covering technical, geographic, social, economic and cultural variety: • Enable the scaling up NBS across EU by development of guidelines, standards and methodologies. A deep review of the existing innovative urban NBS in EU and beyond as well as the creation and implementation of URLs will be carried out. • New business and investment models to maximize the co-effectiveness and co-benefits for the environment, economy and society in urban landscapes of the development and deploy of NBS solutions. • Identify obstacles, barriers and opportunities for the current regulatory framework to support the integration of the NBS in the urban landscape and the use of the effluents for reuse in different uses. • Raising citizen´s awareness and engagement by involving local citizens, authorities, other NBS projects, etc. in the co-creation of the URLs.

The objective of BIORECOVER is the R&D of a new sustainable & safe process, essentially based on biotechnology, for selective extraction of a range of Critical Raw Materials, from relevant unexploited secondary & primary sources: -Rare Earths from Bauxite Residue from Greece (MYTILINEOS) -Magnesium from Mg wastes of low grade minerals and calcination by-products- from Spain (MAGNA) -Platinum Group Metals from flotation tailings from South Africa (UWITS) & PGM slags, dusts and press cake from United Kingdom (JM) To this end, BIORECOVER will be based on the integration of 3 main stages to reach the expected recovery rates (90%), selectivity (95%) & purity (99%) (TRL from 2-3 to 5): (1) Remove the major impurities presents in raw materials sources to achieve the greater availability of the target metals for their recovery. (2) Mobilise these metals through specific and improved microorganisms to get a leachate enriched with the target CRMs. (3) Development of a specific technology for recovering metals with high selectivity & purity that meet the quality requirements for its reuse. Downstream processes will be also studied of the recovered metals for their reuse (brakes pads, oxygen sensors, powder Mg & catalysts). The different stages of the process provide it modular capacity increasing its adaptation flexibility and thus, further market penetration. LCA & LCC and a Decision Making Framework will support these aims. The awareness, trust & acceptance of the society about the importance of raw materials will be addressed by an awareness campaign and public perception studies. The project results will contribute to EU bio-mining knowledge (RMIS) and a communication with other key project will be also set up. To achieve this ambitious project, a multidisciplinary consortium covering the whole value chain (from suppliers to end users) will be involved, being represented 7 member states across EU (ES, DK, FR, LE, PT, SE & UK) and effective international cooperation with ZA

The SUSPENSE project aims to develop and demonstrate innovative safe and sustainable bio-based adhesives to replace conventional fossil-based adhesives, which are harmful to the environment and human health. The project focuses on creating adhesives from renewable feedstocks such as bio-acids, polyphenolics, proteins and other bio-derived materials. These adhesives will meet market demands and regulatory standards and will be used in wood-based panels (Plywood, Particle Board, and MDF), and wood-based insulation materials. The technical performance of the adhesives will be validated through comprehensive industrial testing. The project will introduce two production routes for bio-based adhesives: the Acids Route and the Polyphenolics Route. The Acids Route will use bio-acids and various bio-derived raw materials like hemicellulose sugars, proteins, and vegetable oils to develop adhesives with high water resistance and bonding strength. The Polyphenolics Route will leverage natural compounds like protein, chitosan, and functionalized lignin to produce adhesives with strong bonding capabilities and moisture resistance. To ensure the practical applicability and scalability of the developed solutions, the project will include several demonstration cases. These cases will provide real-world validation of the bio-based adhesives in different industrial applications, focusing on wood-based panels and insulation materials as well as producing furniture using the panels. The recyclability of the end applications will be validated based on the induced ability of the developed adhesives for debonding. The SUSPENSE project aims to significantly reduce CO2 emissions, improve sustainability and circularity, and foster increased consumer acceptance of bio-based adhesives. By achieving these objectives, the project will contribute to the European Union's goals for a Circular Economy and Zero Pollution.