SPADER is a project selected for funding under the EDF 2024 call. Its mission is to develop an innovative space debris removal system that uses concentrated solar rays to alter the thermal and kinetic energy of targeted debris particles.

Space debris includes any man‑made objects, or fragments of such objects, that continue to orbit Earth without any form of ground‑based control. As the number of space missions grows—driven by more countries launching or participating in space programs—the amount of unmanaged debris in orbit increases as well.
Because there is no natural mechanism in space that removes this material, the debris remains in orbit. Over time, the overall number of these objects grows at an accelerating rate, adding to the long‑term accumulation of space clutter and it poses significant risks to ongoing and future space operations

The SPADER project introduces the concept that is based on a dual catoptric optical system that concentrates solar radiation and directs it precisely through a final optical element toward the selected object. By applying intense solar energy, the system aims to significantly modify the debris particle’s physical state, enabling controlled removal or trajectory alteration.

The project will guide research and technological development toward a laboratory‑scale model, which will be tested to deliver a Proof‑of‑Concept. This work will pave the way for future deployment of SPADER in space debris clean‑up missions and other advanced space applications.

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SPADER is a selected for funding project through the EDF 2024 yearly call program (EDF-2024-LS-RA-SMERO-NT)

ATHENA will bring a flexible and scalable Cyber-security solution for being used by SW&HW manufacturers, including microenterprises, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), organizations CISOs and cyber-security personnel. This solution will allow the above-mentioned stakeholders to test, validate and ensuring their SW&HW products compliance with the new EU mandatory security requirements (CRA) and its readiness for certification following the schemes proposed by the EU Cyber-security Act Certification Framework (CACF). In addition, this solution will include a security engineering dedicated tool to guarantee the reliability of new SW&HW from the early development phases and its compliance with both, the EU mandatory essential requirements for the security of products with digital elements stated in the new EU harmonised legislation (e.g. Cyber Resilient Act (CRA) , NIS2 , Data Act ) and the stakeholders own security needs. Furthermore, several innovative security services based on Artificial Intelligence (AI) along with a cutting-edge automatic vulnerabilities detection and assessment toolset will be developed and integrated in the ATHENA solution for ensuring the continuous SW&HW products security assessment and protection against complex cyber threats.

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This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe programme under grant agreement No 101225583 (ATHENA).

OSPREY addresses the escalating risks faced by Public-Facing Professionals (PFPs), who are increasingly targeted by online abuse, intimidation, threats and coordinated disinformation campaigns. Such attacks undermine personal wellbeing, constrain professional activity and erode public trust in democratic institutions. Online risks to public-facing professionals and their consequences for professions and open society are a shared concern. However, tackling them remains complicated and fragmented.

In its work, it will focus on two professions at the core of our democratic institutions: elected officials on local, national and EU levels and police professionals.

OSPREY will address the challenges of online harms through the action-oriented and practitioner-focused co-creation, co-design and co-deployment of innovative, modular capabilities and operationally focused tools. It will deliver a comprehensive, practitioner-focused toolkit combining prevention, mitigation and digital-evidence capabilities tailored to the needs of PFPs, their organisations and the wider security community.

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Co-funded by the European Union under Grant Agreement No. 101225639.

The Challenge

The advent of cryptocurrencies unlocked opportunities for legitimate innovation, but at the same time, offered a new platform for facilitating criminal and terrorist activities, offering a degree of perceived anonymity and freedom from centralised control and oversight.
Law-enforcement agencies (LEAs) face significant challenges in adapting to rapidly evolving technological developments and emerging applications of cryptocurrencies, with cross-border transactions further compounding these challenges. At the same time, legislation accross countries lacks harmonisation and still plays catch-up to technological developments. Inescapably, to be effective, the response to the emerging (possibly cross-border) cryptocurrency-facilitated criminal/terrorist (CFCT) activities must match their characteristics.

CryptoACTION’s Solution

CryptoACTION represents Europe’s most ambitious attempt to date in equipping LEAs with mission-appropriate tools to support investigations pertaining to Cryptocurrency-Facilitated Crime and Terrorism (CFCT) activities, improve investigation operations including external collaboration workflows and provide comprehensive training curricula for LEAs/ prosecutors/judiciary and the world’s first cryptorange. It will deliver an ecosystem of independent but interoperable lawful-investigation tools offering AI co-piloting capabilities to enhance investigator efficiency and supporting the intelligent corelation of blockchain data, structured data from anti-CFCT databases, text, audio and visual data modalities, stemming from lawful surveillance activities and darknet/deepnet/clearnet scraping.

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under grant agreement no.101226139

Europe’s maritime domain is vast, dynamic, and increasingly exposed to security threats ranging from illegal activities to cross-border crime and safety risks. At the same time, current maritime surveillance systems struggle to provide wide-area, cost-efficient, and real-time situational awareness. MARCONNECT addresses this gap by introducing a new operational model where civilian vessels become active contributors to maritime security.

The project introduces Vessel-Connected Services (VCS), a secure and voluntary framework that enables civilian vessels to share outward-looking sensor data, such as radar and sonar, with Coast Guard Authorities and law enforcement. In return, vessel operators gain access to tailored third-party services and reliable connectivity, creating a mutually beneficial ecosystem that strengthens maritime surveillance while respecting privacy, data protection, and operational constraints.

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This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 101225772

Maritime surveillance is crucial for achieving maritime situational awareness (MSA) and to effectively prevent, protect, and respond to critical security challenges (e.g., illicit commercial activities, irregular migration, pollution, terrorist attacks). CROSSMARE aims to overcome existing challenges in border and maritime surveillance by introducing a layered maritime surveillance network and an interoperability framework that integrates the space, air, surface, and underwater domains within a comprehensive monitoring picture, enhancing MSA and surveillance capabilities.

To achieve this, a consortium of 17 big industries, SMEs, RTOs, and end-users a) utilize cutting-edge technologies in the context of maritime surveillance: High Altitude Platform Stations; Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems; High-Res SAR Sat imagery; Unmanned Aerial Vehicles; Autonomous Underwater & Unmanned Surface Vehicles; novel Flash LiDAR sensors; as well as legacy surveillance systems, b) apply innovative AI algorithms; Large Language and Visual Models; Advanced multimodal data fusion, c) extend the capabilities of existing C2 and HMIs, also supporting intelligent mission management of manned and unmanned systems, d) and support the interoperability of novel and legacy surveillance systems, improving cross-border and crossagency collaboration.

To this end, CROSSMARE aims to demonstrate interoperable data exchange with CISE and proposes an extension to the current CISE data and service model, enhancing existing and enabling new functionalities. The project will validate the proposed technologies through a series of validation activities: a) continuous integration testing, b) 2 Small Scale Tests (Italy, Lithuania), c) a Table Top Exercise (Romania), and d) a Full Scale Demonstration (Spain) involving real assets, end-users and relevant stakeholders. A Security and Privacy-by-design framework will ensure compliance with fundamental rights, privacy and personal data protection regulations.

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This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe programme under grant agreement No.101225981.

INSIGHT is a Horizon Europe project funded under the WIDERA programme (HORIZON-WIDERA-2024-ERA-02-03), bringing together 11 partners from across Europe to strengthen early-stage research careers within the European Research Area.

INSIGHT aims to establish interconnected talent ecosystems that connect academia, industry, and the public sector, facilitating attractive, inclusive, and sustainable career pathways for early-stage researchers. The project promotes the implementation of the new Charter for Researchers, drives organisational change in participating institutions, and equips researchers with the cross-sectoral and digital skills demanded by Europe’s evolving labour market — with a particular focus on the Green Deal, digital transition, and deep tech.

Innovation & Networking office  leads the pilot talent ecosystem,  where it supervises the integration of human factors in technology acceptance within the automotive and manufacturing sectors. The second sprint event of the pilot will be hosted in Greece under ICCS’s coordination.

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This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under grant agreement No.101217020.

LiveBetter advances the EU Renovation Wave Strategy, the revised EPBD, and the NEB initiative by unlocking investments in deep renovations and accelerating their adoption across Europe. To achieve this, LiveBetter will establish the Standardized Common European Digital Buildings Hub, integrating: a) a high-performance, Data Space-compliant data-sharing mechanism for quality assurance in the building sector; b) an arsenal of 15 market-ready, AI-based services.

The LiveBetter Hub will be a dynamic, adaptive digital environment, compliant with the EU BSO, facilitating a secure access to highquality data and services destined for accurate, reliable, dynamic EPCs (CERTIFICATION), digital building inspections (INSPECTION), DT-based performance-vs-comfort building management (PERFORMANCE), renovation planning and financing (RENOVATION) and flexible, DR-ready ready buildings (ACTIVATION). We will leverage and further extend data-driven tools and models from 24 past and ongoing EU-funded projects to be integrated in the LiveBetter Hub.

The services address 6 unique Business Cases, which will betested in 6 End-user Groups, covering all key stakeholders across the building value chain (i.e. building owners, construction companies, financial institutions, occupants, energy utilities, local authorities and academia energy experts). To drive market adoption, LiveBetter will introduce innovative financing schemes, policies, and business models, alongside an engagement and capacity-building strategy. Special focus will be placed on non-tech stakeholders, supported through a Community of Practice (CoP) and Building Clinics. Finally, LiveBetter will leverage synergies with major EU initiatives (e.g. EU BSO, DEEP, Level(s) Framework, EDIH) and the Smart Energy Cluster, ensuring alignment with Europe’s digitalization and energy transition goals.

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This project has received funding from the European Union’s LIFE research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101215721.

BLOSSOM will follow already proven co-creation/design processes (including local communities), as well as the adoption and further adjustment of technologies that use data and collective intelligence to perform ex-ante simulation on-going and ex-post assessment in collaborative environments (digital twins and dashboards). By using AI-based tools a draft business model including a visual chart with elements describing the value proposition, infrastructure, customers, and financial elements of each investing scheme will be generated, also identifying the best exploitation form based on the nature of the results and ownership structure (e.g., creation of spin-offs, products producing and selling, licensing of products/services, patenting, etc.).

Once the best business model has been selected, a preliminary Business Plan will be developed with the industrial partners being the main contributors. The bankable solutions will be demonstrated in our Front Runner Cities (Birmingham, Lisbon and Kielce), which will test the methodology and make it available for replication up to the planning stage in the Replicating case studies (Regions of West-Vlaanderen and Alentejo, and cities of Parma and Aarhus.

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The BLOSSOM project is funded by the EU’s Horizon Europe program under Grant Agreement number 101214563. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them. This work has received funding from the Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI).

NURISH (NURturing transformative capacities, Innovation in NBS and Harmonious resilience in rural areas) aims to enhance climate resilience and sustainable development in rural and small urban communities by implementing transformative nature-based, technological and circular economy solutions. It supports the EU’s long-term vision for stronger, connected, resilient, and prosperous rural areas by 2040, contributing to territorial cohesion, innovation, job creation, skills development, better infrastructure and sustainable agriculture.

The project will develop the Regenerative Rural Resilience Framework to help rural areas mitigate climate risks through nature-based solutions (NBS), fostering entrepreneurship and creating green jobs. Resilience Hubs (RHs) in Greece, Cyprus, Finland and the UK will demonstrate tailored NBS to address flooding, water scarcity and land degradation, while digital tools will support real-time monitoring and decision-making.

Communities in the demonstration and replication areas will actively participate in the EU Rural Pact, promoting rural perspectives, fostering collaboration and advancing nature restoration and conservation through NBS. By sharing knowledge and scaling solutions across rural regions, NURISH ensures its strategies are adaptable and replicable throughout Europe, contributing to the EU Green Deal, the Climate Adaptation Strategy and rural prosperity goals by 2040.

More info about the project: www.nurish-project.eu

This project is funded under the call HORIZON-MISS-2024-CLIMA-01, GA No. 101214414