Nature-based solutions (NBS) aim to help societies to address a variety of environmental, social and economic challenges in sustainable ways. They are actions which are inspired by and supported by nature. Some involve using and enhancing existing natural solutions to challenges, while others are exploring more novel solutions, for example, based on how non-human organisms and communities cope with environmental extremes. NBS are energy and resource-efficient, and resilient to change, but to be successful they must be adapted to local conditions. The main objective of the present project is the development of a multi-stakeholder communication platform that will support the understanding and the promotion of nature based solutions in local, regional, EU and International level. Through dialogue uptake facilitation and steering mechanisms as well as knowledge capacity building, the ThinkNature Platform will bring together multi-disciplinary scientific expertise, policy, business and society, as well as citizens. This platform will be efficient, fluent to use and attractive to a wide variety of actors and stakeholders because it merges all aspects of NBS in a clear, pyramidal methodological approach. It will create a wide interactive society that builds new knowledge with a wide geographical scope. As a result, ThinkNature will provide the necessary policy and regulatory tools to solve significant societal challenges such as human well-being, tackling energy poverty, impacts of climate change, etc. through continuous dialogue and interaction.

Structures covering roadway and railway infrastructures in urban environments (that we will name “covers”) respond to multiple objectives and stakes: environmental and social (reducing noise and environmental pollution, restoring urban flow, offering an opportunity for urban renovation), legal and contractual (superimposition of property rights and different statuses, territorial borders issues), financial (high costs, creation of property rights and value), public safety and comfort. As such, these structures play a crucial role in urban planning processes and are conceived to last (“long living town”). Further, they are also essential contributors to the sustainability of cities (“sustainable town”) and this, in its three different meanings: energetic, economic and societal. Our intention in the following report is to offer a methodology, along with tools for planning and putting into practicea concept which, despite its complexity, is still yet neither the subject of a “doctrine” nor of specific rules. This lack of a global vision, a systemic approach, and planning and design tools restrains without any doubt an optimal use of this concept for urban renewal. Our project is positioned within a broad and diverse group of discussions and research in this area, carried out by consortium partners and other entities: we can here mention studies led by the City of Paris in the framework of its GPRU (Great Urban Renewal Project) and for the design and construction of Boulevard Périphérique (Ring Road) covers, as well as APUR’s research, the PREDIT program, the ANR projects GERMA and RESILIS, and the TRACI project. We have gathered around this project academics (Paris Est University, EIVP and Tecomah) as well as the City of Paris, IREX which represents contractors, and consulting engineers: Arcadis and Egis. These partners cooperate regularly, within the framework of research programs or projects. These are strongly involved within the “Advancity pole” and the “IEED Ville Durable” proposal. Our program’s primary goal is a multidisciplinary characterization of covers, through the setting up of an urban, legal, organizational and technical analytic grid, and its use through existing projects. The results of this first phase will serve as the starting point for establishing methodology and evaluation tools, for the use of owners and consulting engineers, who currently do not hold such tools. This second goal shall apply to the projects themselves and their role played in the nearby urban environment, as well as to the expressed interests of political and economical actors, and by the public itself. At this stage, we will also aim to identify and analyze the relevant legal issues, and the tools that may be used by the owner to plan, design and operate such equipments. The third scientific goal, proposed within a multidisciplinary and systemic approach, is the creation of a decision tool under the form of a “meta-referential”. This will aim at a complexthe optimization in terms of the advantages ofsustainable development. The transfer towards design and construction engineering is CANOPEE’s fourth scientific and technical goal. In line with the first three axes of research, it aims at putting forward , innovative methods of design and construction of covers, in view of their exploitation. The proceedings of this research will provide the actors of these projects with evaluation and decision-making tools, as well as recommendations to optimize their planning, design, construction and operation processes. The number and size of the concerned projects and the high stakes they represent for cities’ sustainability, are the founding bases of this research project.

Health status is the result of complex interrelationships between individual behaviors and contextual characteristics in which we live. The FabHealth project aims to explore the effects of an urban development program on both environmental exposure (air quality, noise, transport, foodscape), health-risk behaviors (dietary, physical activity and sedentary lifestyle) and health. Based on a “natural experiment” design, we will collect and analyze individual and contextual data to assess changes throughout the renewal of the Saint-Denis Canal. This project is based on a consortium that brings together geographers, epidemiologists, expert in physico-chemical instrumentation, urban planners and stakeholders allowing an interdisciplinary and participatory approach. The results will help define public health and urban planning policies.

GreenStorm targets nature-based solutions designed to manage stormwater (NBSsw) as a means of urban transition, with a specific focus on climate adaptation, resilience of urban vegetation, but also enhanced social benefits. The hydrologic and thermal performance of NBSsw during present and future climate extremes (high intensity rainfall, drought, heat waves, frost/thaw) will be assessed for a range of NBSsw structures and a wide span of European climates, by coupled monitoring / modeling. Improved NBSsw structures, and pathways for their acceptable implementation in urban areas will be developed based on cocreation workshops with all relevant stakeholders (professionals and citizens). A real case study in Copenhagen will serve to demonstrate NBS implementation in a community engaged approach and, based on a cross analysis with data and feedback from Paris, Athens, Genoa and Östersund, allow to identify drivers for NBSsw upscaling. Based on these results, potentials for widespread implementation of NBSsw at urban catchment scale will be analysed in the 5 partner countries (France, Denmark, Sweden, Greece, Italy) and the hydrologic/hydraulic and thermal benefits modelled.

INCIT-EV aims to demonstrate an innovative set of charging infrastructures, technologies and its associated business models, ready to improve the EV users experience beyond early adopters, thus, fostering the EV market share in the EU. The project will seek the emergence of EV users’ unconscious preferences relying on latest neuroscience techniques to adapt the technological developments to the users’ subjective expectations. 5 demo environments at urban, peri-urban and extra-urban conditions will be ready for the deployment of 7 use cases, addressing: Smart and bi-directional charging optimized at different aggregation levels Dynamic wireless charging lane in an urban area Dynamic wireless charging for long distance (e-road prototype for TEN-T corridors) Charging Hub in a park&ride facility Superfast charging systems for EU corridors Low power DC bidirectional charging infrastructure for EVs, including two-wheelers Opportunity wireless charging for taxi queue lanes in airports & central stations These use cases pursue innovations in the current charging solutions as well as their seamless integration into the existing transport, grid, ICT and civil infrastructures. For this purpose, the INCIT-EV Platform will be developed comprising a DSS and a set of APPs addressing the users and e-mobility stakeholders’ needs. As a result, INCIT-EV will engage 3,475 private EV drivers, as well as 10 local communities, 4 Taxis cooperatives, 4 car sharing and 4 LEVs sharing companies. In total, the project will mobilise directly an investment on the use cases of 8.872 M€. INCIT-EV consortium counts with 33 partners, including 3 OEMs, 6 charging technology providers and 5 public authorities, 6 RTOs, 2 ICT companies, 2 road infrastructures companies, 4 DSOs, 1 TSO, 2 SMEs with expertise in user behavior and e-mobility exploitation, a car sharing services SME and a EV users association. Finally, ENTSO-e or the TInnGo project on gender issues support the project.