S-PARCS: Envisioning and Testing New Models of Sustainable Energy Cooperation and Services in Industrial Parks S-PARCS presents a sound concept for reducing energy costs and energy consumption in industrial parks, while, at the same time, increasing renewable on-site energy production. The pre-assessment of the seven “Lighthouse Parks” from Spain, Portugal, Italy, and Austria, which participate in the study, has shown a high potential for joint energy actions, many of which are transferrable to the community of S-PARCS Followers in the UK, Sweden, Turkey, Russia, Italy, Portugal, Austria and Norway. 5 research organisations, 1 engineering company and 1 industrial association will make their knowledge on suitable technologies, novel business models and cooperative action among companies available to the parks to help them develop an “energy cooperation plan” and the necessary skills to achieve a long-lasting sustainability impact. At the end of the project, all Lighthouse parks will be equipped with a free ICT tool supporting the decision-making processes on joint investments, at least 1 full feasibility study for the most promising cooperative project, as well as a strategy for longer-term actions. 65 of the 278 located in the “Lighthouse Parks” are expected to benefit directly from reduced energy costs derived from energy efficiency measures, such as the use of waste heat, joint energy purchases and a wide range of viable small-scale renewable projects. Improvements in the parks in terms of energy efficiency are likely to be superior to 10%. The project’s impact, however, extends to the entire Follower Community, thanks to the identification of at least 20 viable cooperative energy solutions, which are to be widely disseminated. The identification of relevant financial, legal and organizational barriers to joint energy action in the parks – and ways of overcoming them - will make a valuable contribution to policy-making on regional, national and European level.

Industrial symbiosis (IS) has gain great attention in the last years due to its high potential for energy and resources savings. However, there is still a need for enhancing the knowledge base for IS in Europe, especially in what regards to the implementation and operation phases, which must be supported by harmonised frameworks and data reporting structures that ensure data accuracy and comparability in existing and new IS initiatives. Under this framework, CORALIS has been designed as a demonstration project for the generation of real experiences on the deployment of IS solutions and the overcoming of the barriers faced by these initiatives. In order to properly address this complex issue, CORALIS will address three factors (technical, managerial and economical) that will set the basis for the definition of the IS readiness level, a useful indicator establishing the feasibility of the overall IS initiative. In addition to specific developments on each of these factors, CORALIS will provide a harmonised framework for the monitoring of results and evaluation of their impact from a life cycle perspective. This impact assessment methodology will be implemented into a virtual assessment platform that will support the operation of the involved industrial parks. The overall approach of CORALIS will be demonstrated in a total of 3 industrial parks, each of them supported by an IS facilitator, a neutral actor in charge of guiding the IS initiative and exploiting its full potential. Moreover, 3 additional industrial parks will follow the project results in order to replicate them by implementing additional IS initiatives after the project’s end. Further replication is expected by gathering the project results in CORALIS Handbook for supporting the implementation of IS, by providing recommendations on regulation and standardization and by establishing a continuous dialogue with main European stakeholders following an ambitious dissemination and exploitation strategy.