IMPRESS (Interoperable electron Microscopy Platform for advanced RESearch and Services) aims to co-develop and deliver advanced transmission electron microscopy (TEM) instrumentation, methods and tools that will revolutionize the way in which TEMs are used by all new and well-established scientific communities, integrate them with other instrumentation at analytical research infrastructures (RIs) and create new business opportunities for small and medium-sized enterprises. The core of the project is the development of a standardized cartridge-based interoperable platform for TEM that is based on common interfaces and data formats, is flexible and adaptable and allows users to perform advanced correlative experiments using different instruments and to co-develop methodological options that are not yet satisfied by commercially available electron microscopes. The solutions will be delivered at technology readiness level 8 through a pre-commercial procurement. The project also involves the co-development of new electron sources, techniques based on adaptive optics and event-driven detectors, application-relevant in situ/operando sample environments and software for simulation of experiments and remote access based on artificial intelligence. By the end of the project, these developments will be integrated with the new cartridge-based platform, in order to make them available to all users of RIs and other TEMs owners. An open knowledge and innovation hub for TEM will be created and a training programme will promote the new solution, to initiate RI staff in their use and to provide both materials and life science communities with optimized tools for tackling societal challenges, especially in the energy and health sectors. The project will exploit synergies and collaboration with five RIs of European dimension for the benefit of users from diverse scientific communities and will pave the way towards a new cooperative model for the development and operation of RIs for TEM

Port Cities can be seen as multidimensional laboratories where challenges connected with urban mobility are more complex due to the dual system of gravity centre: the city, the port, not to mention their shared hinterland.These peculiarities are at once a challenge and an opportunity, as they provide scope for planning, researching and implementing integrated mobility solutions in distinctively complex urban contexts. Civitas PORTIS designs, demonstrates and evaluates integrated sets of sustainable mobility measures in 5 major port cities located on the North Sea (Aberdeen and Antwerp), the Mediterranean Sea (Trieste), the Black Sea (Constanta), and Baltic Sea (Klaipeda). The project also involves a major international follower port city on the East China Sea (Ningbo). Thanks to the Civitas Initiative, the partner cities expect to prove that more efficient and sustainable mobility is conducive to the establishment of vital and multi-modal hubs for urban, regional, national and International movements of passengers and goods. To do this, they establish integrated living laboratories clustering local measures according to four major aspects of sustainable urban mobility: 1. Governance: to increase port-city collaborative planning and participation, leading to enhanced forms of SUMPs. 2. People: to foster less car-dependent mobility styles, leading to modal shift in favour of collective and more active transport. 3. Transport system: to strengthen the efficiency of road traffic management to/from the port and through the city, and foster the use of clean vehicles. 4. Goods: to enhance logistics and freight transport, improving the efficiency and coordination of city, port and regional freight movements. Working with port cities, Civitas PORTIS will generate a strong and twofold replication potential: 1) specifically to other port cities, and 2) more generally to cities presenting major transport nodes and attractors for the benefit of the whole CIVITAS Initiative.

The North Adriatic Hydrogen Valley – NAHV project builds on the LoI signed in March 2022 by representatives of the Slovenian Ministry of Infrastructure, Croatian Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development and Friuli Venezia Giulia (FVG) Autonomous Region in Italy, contributing to the European Green Deal and European Hydrogen Strategy goals. The project’s high-level objective is the creation of a hydrogen-based economic, social and industrial ecosystem based on the capacity of the quadruple helix actors. This will drive economic growth, generating new job opportunities in the framework of both the green and digital transitions and, by creating the conditions for wider EU replicability, it will contribute to the creation of a European Hydrogen Economy, To fulfil these objectives the NAHV project involves a well-rooted partnership of 36 organizations (of which 2 in Hydrogen Europe, 3 in Hydrogen Europe Research), covering the transnational Central European area of 3 territories - Slovenia, Croatia and FVG Region, demonstrating cross-border integration of hydrogen production, distribution and consumption, and exchange of over 20% of NAHV annual hydrogen production of over 5000 tons. The project will activate 17 testbed applications in their related ecosystems, clustered in 3 main pillars - hard to abate, energy and transport sectors. These will act as real-life cases for piloting global hydrogen markets, moving from TRL 6 at the beginning to TRL 8 at the end of the project. Four fuel cell applications in the energy and transport sectors will be demonstrated. Testbeds will then be scaled up at industrial level as a replicable model, contributing to the decarbonisation of the 3 territories by harnessing renewables to improve system resilience, security of supply and energy independence. Replicability will also be ensured for the whole NAHV model, with the uptake of at least 5 additional hydrogen valleys in Europe, particularly in Central and South Eastern Europe.

Research in the fields of nanoscience and nanotechnology is vital for sustainability globally: advancement in nanoscience and nanotechnology cannot be achieved without using research infrastructures (RI). RIANA encompasses 7 European networks of top-level RIs to cover the most advanced techniques relevant for synthesis, nanofabrication, processing, characterization, analytics, as well as simulation capacity. Highly customised and efficient access to 69 infrastructures is coordinated via a single-entry point and enabled through comprehensive Science and Innovation Service by senior scientists, experts for the transfer of technology from academia to industry, and highly trained Junior Scientists. The Junior Scientist boost RI experience to an entirely new level: they provide customised Science Service supporting users from initial ideas to hands-on experiments, data analysis and dissemination of results to generate the greatest impact from access to world-class RI. This core of RIANA is aligned to attract experienced and new users from academia or industry making their promising ideas a success and push them to higher TRL. RIANA is flexible to upcoming emergent scientific topics and needs: together with stakeholders from the nanocommunity, RIANA implements the opportunity to offer flexible access to additional infrastructures in, and even outside of Europe beyond the current consortium, and to direct the Science Service towards evolving user needs via additional specialised Junior Scientists. Based on the four years of experience, the RIANA consortium will develop a roadmap for the future of the nanoscience and nanotechnology at European RIs.