CIDAPE is a groundbreaking project at the forefront of research on the complex interplay between citizen engagement, climate change, and social and economic inequalities. At its core lies the recognition that emotions play a fundamental role in political participation and communication. Understanding and responding to citizens' emotional (re)actions - as set up by CIDAPE's inquiry - are essential to achieving coordinated, democratic action. With a focus on the perceived and articulated emotions around climate and inequality, CIDAPE proposes a comprehensive, multi-methods approach and multidisciplinary analysis of the force of political emotions in European politics of climate change. The project's WPs delve into emotions in the political sphere, media, everyday life, global-local entanglements, social movements, and citizen engagement showing how emotions shape people's rational argumentation, engagement, and ultimately, who and what they care about. CIDAPE seeks to uncover the core mechanisms and processes at the heart of political action - at the policy, polity, and politics levels - and proposes participatory tools, policy instruments, and methodological guides to address these challenges. The project emphasizes that the climate crisis provides a unique opportunity to unite citizens across the political spectrum and that the success of coordinated democratic action will require high levels of public trust, strong institutions, and policies that resonate with citizens' political emotions. the Consortium assembles experienced researchers from political science, sociology, linguistics, communication science, and international relations, and distinguished representatives from civil society across nine European countries. It has a strong dissemination strategy, aiming at diverse citizen groups at local, national, and supranational levels of democratic engagement.

As the solid waste management crisis is growing in its urgency, humanitarian aid practitioners are faced with the question of how to manage environmental challenges linked with aid that is being shipped across various humanitarian settings. One of the sound solutions how to address this challenge is to open up a streamline of cooperation between humanitarian aid operators and the bio-based sector allowing them to explore the application potential of bio-based products, systems, and innovative technological solutions. Bio4HUMAN aims to contribute to the identification of bio-based solutions for solid waste management that have the potential to be applicable in various humanitarian settings. To achieve this goal, Bio4HUMAN will conduct a scoping exercise that will come up with a list of solutions but also identify existing supply chain gaps. Following that, it performs life cycle assessments of the proposed solutions and evaluates their applicability with regard to socio-economic and governance aspects. To explore if solutions fit the purpose of key solid waste management stakeholders and to explore the possibility of their acceptance by the community, local businesses, and local authorities, Bio4HUMAN conducts a feasibility evaluation process in 2 African locations. Simultaneously, the project will develop a replication roadmap that will contribute to the future replicability of the solutions identified. Altogether, all of the Bio4HUMAN’s actions will help to improve ways of addressing waste management challenges under humanitarian contexts and to the reduction of waste littered in the environment. In the long run, Bio4HUMAN is expected to contribute to the development of innovative and sustainable value chains that will benefit consumers and citizens in Europe and beyond.

More than four in ten Europeans consider that their voice counts in the EU (42%, +13 percentage points since autumn 2013). The proportion of EU citizens who say that their voice does not count has fallen sharply, from two - thirds (66%), down to just above half (52%). The proportion of people, in CZ, POL and SK in terms of this is however higher than EU average – less people think, that their voice counts. The purpose of the project was to support civic engagement of young people, as a crucial target group, by showing them effective ways of being more actively engaged. The overall goal of the Who Else? - Student Local Initiatives project was therefore to support civic engagement of youth from three countries in the EU, specifically a) to provide young people with learning opportunities, build their capacity to become engaged in local initiatives, b) to train teachers to be able to support their students, motivate them to plan, organize and evaluate their student initiates. The project supported 15 students aged 15 to 21, equally distributed in partner countries CZ, SVK and EST as well as 15 teachers. Through the program, each of the students became a peer leader and built a core team for a local student initiative, which tackle local issues focused on youth related matters but also topics, which touch upon the lives of the whole community. This was established by a needs assessment organized by the team. To prepare them, we provided them with skills and increased their capacities in project management, structural dialogue between youth and councilmen, fundraising, problem solving, etc. The same goes for the teachers, as they functioned as a support, as facilitators and mentors for the student local initiatives. We organized a five-day meeting for 15 teachers, five from each country, where we used the Who Else? methodology for supporting active citizenship of youth in and outside of schools and on how to integrate project education into the classroom curricula. Students met twice for two five-day meetings so that they could increase their capacity to organize the local student initiatives by learning project management, team building, fundraising, PR and processes in the local communal politics. The meetings included workshops, discussions with experts and work in groups so that it was as practical as possible. The face-to-face workshops were combined with group conference calls and Facebook communication so that students could stay in touch during the project as well. The project trained 15 students who thus became local student initiative leaders, 15 teachers who were mentors to the team of their respective initiative and functioned as their support. 15 local initiatives were established, influencing lives in 15 communities, about 180 students were involved in organizing activities and events with the core teams of the initiatives and another about 3000 people were involved indirectly during the events and due to the results of the student initiatives. The impacts include: Teachers were empowered in supporting student local initiatives and gained knowledge to integrate project education into the curriculum or the framework educational programs. Student peer leaders gained competences to organize new local initiatives further into their adult life and have now a long-term capacity to function as local leaders and organizers. More teacher-parent interaction took place. The longer-term benefits include: Local communities benefit from the initiatives the students have organized. There is greater participation of young people in the local council’s decision-making process. Young people learned processes of policy-making, at least on the local level. Based on the type of initiative, the students have influenced policies on the regional level as well. They felt empowered for future active participation in civic issues, by practicing these processes through organization of the local student initiatives.

The project was based on research outcomes and findings directly from the field, which confirm that the key factor of success of Romani children in education and their social inclusion is early enrolment in quality ECEC (Early Childhood Education and Care) programs. On the other hand, these findings also show that Romani children are still less enrolled in ECEC programs. This is the reason why it is essential for preschools to be more actively involved in including Romani children in ECEC programs, even though they often face various obstacles in ensuring inclusion and lack a holistic support in the process.International consortium of the project formed the leading organization Educational Research Institute from Slovenia and three other international project partners - Centre for Education Initiatives from Latvia, Skola dokoran – wide open school n.o. from Slovakia and Clovek v tisni from Czech Republic. All partners are non-profit private organisations except Educational Research Institute, which is a public institution. The aim of their work is enrolling Romani children respectively children from socially and economically disadvantaged environments into ECEC programs, what they want to achieve with professional development of ECEC professionals.In order to provide accessible and high-quality ECEC programs for Romani children and their parents the project specifically focused on the following areas:a)Raising awareness of professionals about the importance of education and ensuring social justice in childcare and education.b)Carrying out activities for Romani children who are not enrolled in preschools.c)Empowering Romani parents with regard to childcare and encouraging child development.d)Building trust and connecting preschools with various actors within the local community.Holistic and simultaneous action of preschool on all these areas significantly contributes to a more successful enrolment of Romani children and their parents in ECEC programs.In order to reach this aim partners from the international consortium developed four educational modules in English (Results 1, 2, 3, 4). Four international trainings were then carried out based on these modules covering all areas of the holistic module (a, b, c, d). Each partner modified these modules for their national contexts and based on them conducted four trainings for national partners respectively ECEC professionals. Activities for Romani children who are not enrolled in preschools, activities of informing Romani parents on importance of enrolling their children in preschools and activities of empowering parents with childcare were carried out after these trainings. Materials for Romani children (Result 5) and materials for parents (Result 6) were developed with the aim of including them in the planned activities for children and parents as well as for wider audience. National Guidelines were developed in each of the participating countries for ECEC professionals, local authority representatives and policy makers (Result 7). International Guidelines were also developed for wider European audience (Result 8). A final publication presenting the complete picture of the project was developed at the end (Result 9). Results and effects of the project were disseminated at roundtables, at the final conference and through other channels. Strengthening personal contacts, cooperation and trust and making more acquaintances were perceived with Romani children, their parents and ECEC professionals. Children and their parents gained a better insight into the preschool work and gained trust in preschool as institution. ECEC professionals raised awareness about the importance of inclusion of Romani children in ECEC programs and became more sensible in recognising and overcoming prejudices and stereotypes about the Roma. They also gained professional competencies for carrying out activities for Romani children who are not enrolled in preschool and informing Romani parents about including their children in preschool. As a result of the professionals’ work, greater parents’ competencies were perceived. Children learned new skills in different areas of their development. Parents showed greater interest in enrolling their children in preschool which also led to a larger number of enrolled children. Preschools connect more with the key stakeholders from the local community, wider professional and nonprofessional audience is more informed and interested in the holistic module of enrolling Romani children in ECEC programs.

Many citizens, particularly in nascent green building markets, make suboptimal decisions in the design and construction choices for renovation approaches and new home purchases due to a fear of bank financing. Borrowing sufficiently to bring forward necessary resources to build homes properly both reduces citizens’ “Total Cost of Monthly Ownership” (loan payment plus energy, health and repair costs) while unlocking a critical increase of construction budgets facilitating ownership of the greenest, high-quality homes. Financing Green Homes with the borrower subject to lower monthly operating costs is less risky to banks which provide discounted credit without harming profits. The SMARTER project effectively communicates the benefits of Green Homes to citizens and other key stakeholders to bring a systemic solution to a systemic problem that inhibits the financial industry to design and offer green finance products and the citizens to understand and request them. SMARTER replicates a successful “Green Homes and Green Mortgage” program to 12 new countries, addresses barriers and brings green innovation with relevant research and cluster formation, adapts essential tools for administration and communication, and effectively expands collection of actual energy and financial performance to improve risk analysis with local data. Public investment is leveraged and ambitious green EU targets are supported as banks, developers, and green solution providers all contribute budgets to increase private financing for building exemplary homes. The SMARTER “Green Homes Investment Platform” guides new programs to a suitably ambitious, common definition of green investments and facilitates institutional investment by collaborating with ongoing initiatives including EeMAP and EEFIG; aligning with EC objectives such as “Mainstreaming Energy Efficiency Finance” and advancing the Financial, Technical and Behavioral de-risking championed by “Smart Finance for Smart Buildings".