The European Space Programme (EUSpace) holds vast potential to fulfil the EU green and digital (twin) transition, but SMEs’ limited uptake and technological capacity is preventing them from fully unlocking the green and digital transformation. FIERCE aims to address these limitations by mobilising 140 SMEs, start-ups and scale-ups with specialised technical and business advisory to design business solutions and engage in process innovation using downstream space data in areas such as circularity, raw materials, environmental monitoring and corporate sustainability (space-enabled green solutions). We mobilise 2.5 million EUR in financial support providing 70 SMEs with access to market services and key infrastructure to realise their vision through Transformation Projects, supporting ideation, scaling up and commercialization of space-enabled solutions, accelerating SMEs journey to the market. We complement our support for SMEs with 10+ Local Entrepreneurship Initiatives driven by innovation intermediaries and business support networks (DIHs, clusters etc.) aimed creating more SME opportunities for space-enabled green innovation through synergies with regional industrial, research and market actors and infrastructure providers (OITBs). We reach further to key EU-wide networks (EEN, SME Alliance, EARSC) through our Strategic Partnership Network to create synergies and joint activities to navigate SMEs and innovation intermediaries towards exploiting high-impact opportunities for funding, collaboration and knowledge exchange, as well as jointly organized FIERCE investment tracks in the frame of key industry and business events. We deploy the FIERCE digital toolbox to enrich our support with 50+ learning resources, 10+ practical tools and 70+ qualified service providers to create a vibrant dedicated community. Finally, we monitor our performance and impact to design practical replication handbooks to inspire wider application and recommendations for enabling policies.

Soil degradation is considered a global emergency. 60-70% of EU soils are degraded due to unsustainable management practices. bioSOILUTIONS aims to tackle this problem by building upon previous key EU projects involving key consortium partners and bringing them forward, the main ones being WaysTUP! (SAV-Coord., DRAXIS), VALUEWASTE (CETENMA-Coord., NURESYS, GAIKER and ENTOMO) and Scalibur (CSCP and G!E). We will optimise four bio-waste valorisation routes (blood hydrolysate, frass, N-struvite, K-struvite) into advanced bio-waste soil improvers with the aim of enhancing nutrient recovery from bio-waste (e.g., N, P, K, organic matter) thus reducing landfilling and incineration. These valorisation routes will render a range of bio-waste feedstocks, that will be combined in different formulations together with key additives (e.g., Non-Microbial Plant Bioestimulants -NMPB-, Microbial Plant Bio stimulants -MPB- and Controlled Nutrient Release Coatings -CNRCS), into at least five bio-waste soil improvers. They will be co-created by working along with three Living Labs (in Flanders– Belgium, Valencia and Murcia–Spain), involving critical soil sector actors (companies and entrepreneurs, end-users, research centres, public bodies and civil society) to guarantee a good market fit of the developed soil improvers, coverage of sectorial needs and compliance with regulatory requirements (e.g., new Fertilising Products Regulation). Moreover, we will design an upscaling roadmap and a circular business model for each valorisation route to engage entrepreneurs and relevant soil companies to foster the commercialisation of advanced bio-waste soil improvers across the EU. bioSOILUTIONS long-term impacts will contribute to reach targets of key EU policies and international commitments including the European Green Deal and UN Sustainable Development Goals 6, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15.

Fertilisation is key to feeding the growing world population, yet the most common fertilisation scheme based on conventional fertilisers poses threats to the environment (e.g. eutrophication caused by nutrient leaching) and sustainability of the EU food system (due to high dependence on fertiliser imports from third countries). Thus, among the key EU political priorities is to reduce by 20% the use of conventional fertilisers by 2030 and to decrease nutrient losses by 50%. A promising solution for this aim are alternative fertilisers produced from recovered nutrients from secondary raw materials (e.g. bio-waste, sewage sludge). However, their wide scale deployment is hindered by lack of awareness about alternative fertilisation, concerns regarding their technical viability and the disparity of legislations that creates a state of uncertainty. In this context, FER-PLAY is a comprehensive approach to gather, harmonise, select and complement the knowledge on alternative fertiliser value chains and diffuse it to promote the wide-scale production and application of alternative fertilisers with best environmental, social and economic performance as well as technical and regulatory viability. Thus, FER-PLAY employs a unique methodology for mapping the value chains, select the most promising ones and assess their impacts. FER-PLAY engages key stakeholders in co-creation of results and broadly disseminates them. The consortium gathers key players from the whole value chain: (1) alternative fertiliser producers from all the main types of secondary raw materials (producers of digestate- 183 members, of compost- 120 members and of struvite), (2) entities representing conventional (1.5M members), organic (100,000 members) and young (200,000 members) farmers, (3) a Pan-European network with +100 members representing public administrations, supported by (4) waste valorisation and agriculture research institutes, (5) market strategists and (6) communication experts.

In order to tackle pressing societal issues, we must reconsider how we design and inhabit our neighbourhoods. The necessity of consistently including end users or local communities is sometimes overlooked in the planning, designing, and construction processes used today. However, combining community knowledge and initiatives can result in more liveable neighbourhoods that empower citizens and represent local needs and surroundings. Furthermore, the way public areas are constructed can have a big influence on how people interact with one another, what kinds of activities happen there, and how much trust the public has in their local government and democracy as a whole. The project seeks to rethink how neighborhoods are designed and experienced by emphasizing the importance of involving local communities in the planning, design, and construction processes. By incorporating community knowledge, more livable spaces can be created that meet local needs and empower residents. Public spaces are vital in fostering social interaction, trust in government, and democratic engagement. Equipping people with the tools to actively participate in co-designing these environments can strengthen social trust, enhance a sense of belonging, and boost community involvement. The "Sustainable Public Spaces through Inclusive Community Engagement (SPICE)" project aims to develop a participatory co-creation model for shaping neighborhoods. It will explore and test innovative methods to engage communities in co-designing and maintaining public spaces across diverse European neighborhoods. By promoting interdisciplinary collaboration, leveraging digital tools, and using sustainable construction practices, the project aims to address societal challenges, promote social inclusion, support democratic participation, and align with the European Green Deal and New European Bauhaus principles.

Anaerobic digestion (AD) of organic matter is a robust technology for biogas synthesis from different types of waste (sewage sludge from water treatment, animal slurry, bio-waste, etc.). The main goal of AD is the production of methane, a renewable energy source that can be used to generate electricity, heat or as vehicle fuel. Biogas is a mixture of methane (CH4; 55–70% of the total volume), carbon dioxide (CO2; 30–40%) and traces of other gases. In 2018, EU was the world’s largest producer of biomethane, reaching 2,28 bcm. However, from a purely engineering view, the microbial process underlying methane production is considered to be a black box: it is subjected to a degree of variability and it is an industrial process with a lot of room for improvement in the systematic optimisation of (1) yield, (2) quality, (3) speed and (4) robustness of the process. MICRO4BIOGAS aims to tackle these 4 aspects by integrating, for the first time, the use of microbial consortia that naturally inhabit anaerobic digesters with synthetic microbial consortia with improved capabilities, setting the basis for a user-friendly kit for bioaugmentation of biogas production (activities will be implemented at TRL3 with a TRL target of 5-6). Partners from 6 EU countries will work side by side to make a difference in the European biogas industry, that individually could not be achieved. By improving the biogas production in Europe, this project meets the EU Bioeconomy Strategy and the European Green Deal, helping to reach the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG7: Affordable and clean energy; SDG13: Climate Action) and working towards the circularity, resource efficiency and sustainability of the European countries.