Following the endorsement of the Deep Geothermal Implementation Plan (DG-IP) by the SET-Plan Steering Group, a Deep Geothermal Implementation Working Group (DG-IWG) is being established to advance the DG-IP, with the aim of reaching collectively the technology targets that will place Europe at the forefront of the next generation of low carbon technologies. The objective of this project proposal is to create a support unit for the DG-IWG to achieve its goals efficiently and productively. The support unit will have three main work streams, 1) to provide the DG-IWG with relevant information and data from the various stakeholder groups to support the decisionmaking process and the implementations actions of DG-IWG on required actions; 2) to promote and organise initiatives to mobilize growth of and implementation within the geothermal community, e.g.: workshops, brokerages, consortium building and exploitation of RD&I results; 3) provide a secretariat for the DG-IWG for assistance on administrative issues and synergies & strategy support. The consortium will push forward a broad mobilisation of the Geothermal community to implement the action in the IP. Furthermore the project will focus on the development of synergies and strategies. New ways will be explored to maximize the impact of knowledge, funding and market growth at european, national and regional scale. This aproach supports to creation of a durable and long-lasting R&I ecosystem in the different Member-Sates and regions. The partners will focus on a multi-actor, multidisciplinary and cross-sectoral approach. As such the project will support the collaboration and networking among representatives of the triple helix (research, industry and government) at the regional and national level and with their counterparts from the Horizon 2020 Associated Countries.

The ERA-NET Cofund BlueBio will act to unlock the potential of aquatic bio-resources to create jobs, economic growth and provide food, nutrition and bio-based products and services. Thus, paving the way for a sustainable and competitive Blue Bioeconomy in Europe. The goal is to identify new and improve existing ways of bringing bio-based products and services to the market and find new ways of creating value in the Blue bioeconomy. The objectives of BlueBio are to establish a coordinated R&D funding scheme that will strengthen Europe’s position in this complex economic field in a global market. This will primarily be achieved by engaging funding agencies to implement a co-funded call focusing on Blue Knowledge and technological developments to respond to needs and gaps for R&I. The consortium has committed budgets making a strong co-funded call leveraging well the Commission's requests. BlueBio builds upon the networks, achievements and strategies obtained in the COFASP and ERA-MBT ERA-NETs and JPI Oceans, and will leverage the JPI Oceans role as a coordination platform. The consortium aims to implement 2-4 additional calls, developed through stakeholder engagement, and identifying new funding initiatives. BlueBio will implement a range of related activities which can add value to the cofounded projects and better address the impact of R&I projects. BlueBio will enhance valorisation from the actors in the Blue Bioeconomy sector, identify and address R&I needs of industry and society. Communications activities will support BlueBio and the funded projects to realise tangible impacts. Emphasis will be placed on the creation of pre-commercial outputs aimed at accelerating commercialisation and competitive deployment. BlueBio's directions and legacy will be informed by strategic forward-looking processes involving all stakeholders in identifying needs and gaps along the value chains.

The biodiversity-climate change interaction is strong, bi-directional, and often positive (actions in favour of one are also beneficial to the other). While the main drivers of biodiversity loss are habitat degradation, the syndrome of factors directly & indirectly associated with climate change is the dominant threat to biodiversity. It is therefore imperative to understand with sufficient detail and confidence the interactions between biodiversity & climate change so they can be incorporated into decision-support models & tools. By networking 36 funding agencies from 25 countries from Europe & other continents, BiodivClim aims to promote coordinated international research on biodiversity & climate change in all environments, incl. agricultural areas. It will strengthen research & research programmes coordination with the ultimate aim to provide policy makers & other stakeholders with adequate knowledge, tools & practical solutions to improve the conservation & sustainable use of biodiversity & ecosystems under a changing climate. The BiodivClim objectives are to: -Coordinate the research agendas of major European & international research funders to agree on shared research priorities related to biodiversity & climate change -Reinforce collaboration with other relevant initiatives in the field to increase synergies & avoid fragmentation -Design & implement a joint co-funded call for research proposals and a knowledge hub in this field -Promote research collaboration across national borders & disciplines in order to build capacity, exchange best practices & have a lasting effect on the international research community & landscape -Support dialogue & collaboration between academia & stakeholders, and stakeholder engagement in research projects in order to increase the impact of research on policy & practice -Ease rapid & efficient uptake of funded research results by the IPBES & IPCC for their future assessments, & by other relevant initiatives -Reinforce data open access

One of the main objectives of Europe’s societies is the elimination of all types of discrimination associated with gender. Despite a high number of highly skilled female graduates, there is still very few of them embracing a research career. With almost 60% of women graduates in EU, only one third of the EU’s researchers are women. In this context, ATHENA project aims at removing barriers to the recruitment, retention and career progression of female researchers; address gender imbalances in decision making processes and generate a cultural change needed to avoid future gender bias and discriminatory practices through the implementation of Gender Equality Plans (GEPs) in 6 Research Performing and 2 Research Funding organisations. These targeted organisations belong to Central Eastern EU countries and EU outermost regions that show some of the lowest Gender Equality Indexes in the EU. Thanks to the implementation of the GEPs, ATHENA will contribute to unlocking the research potential of these organisations thus improving the overall performance of the European Research Area and helping to close the innovation divide by avoiding the waste of talent and inefficient use of skilled women from weaker regions of the EU. To ensure systemic institutional change, ATHENA will first conduct an assessment of procedures and practices already in place in partner RPOs and RFOs, together with an analysis of the national legislation and policy frameworks. In parallel, it will put in place a participatory process aimed, on one side, to understand the needs and the preferences of the stakeholders and, on the other side, to train them with regard to selected topics related to gender. Based on these two approaches GEPs will be drafted, implemented and monitored in each partner organisation.

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.