UPTAKE aims to facilitate the sustainable upscaling of carbon dioxide removal (CDR) methods by developing a set of robust strategies through technical, theoretical, and practical analysis accompanied by interactive dialogue within a CDR stakeholder forum. As a result, UPTAKE will develop a harmonised, comprehensive, inclusive, integrated, and transparent CDR knowledge inventory to evaluate a wide range of CDR technologies and methods, quantifying their national, European, and global costs, effectiveness, and removal potential as well as risks, constraints, and side-effects at different scales, and their prospects of technological progress. The UPTAKE approach will allow the assessment of geographical, sectoral, socioeconomic, demographic, and temporal trade-offs, co-benefits, and opportunities emerging from portfolios of different CDR methods. The enhanced socio-technical understanding of CDR methods will feed into an ensemble of state-of-the-art integrated assessment models (IAMs), which will help improve the integration of CDR methods given the EU policy objectives set for 2030, 2050, and beyond climate neutrality. UPTAKE will assess CDR governance and policy frameworks considering social acceptance, accountability, monitoring, and regulations for sustainable CDR rollout at scale. As a result, UPTAKE will generate an open and interactive CDR roadmap explorer to investigate strategies that are resilient to risks of failure and disruption, and minimise adverse impacts on society, economy, and the environment, aiming for a just, inclusive, and sustainable transition.

USER-CHI aims at unlocking the massive potential of electromobility in Europe. This will be achieved by (1) integrating different innovative charging technologies with a holistic perspective, (2) putting the user at the centre and empowering it, (3) exploiting the synergies between electromobility and the process of greening and smartification of the grid which is taking place to achieve the energy transition in Europe, (4) integrating the technological tools, business models and regulatory measures which will transform the elements cited above into an actual, working ecosystem which improves the user experience of EV drivers beyond the current levels of ICE vehicles drivers, whilst at the same time makes financially attractive for the relevant private and public actors the large scale deployment of Europe’s required user centric charging infrastructure. USER-CHI will boost a large-scale e-mobility market take up in Europe, by means of developing integrated smart solutions, novel business models and new regulatory framework conditions, which will be demonstrated and validated in 5 urban areas all along the European territory: Barcelona metropolitan area (Spain), Rome (Italy), Berlin (Germany), Budapest (Hungary), and Turku (Finland). These 5 sites act as connecting nodes of the key Mediterranean and Scandinavian-Mediterranean TEN-T corridors, while their different sizes, complementary contexts and e-mobility maturity level offer a holistic view of e-mobility in Europe, facilitating the scalability and replicability of the demonstrated solutions. Since large scale replication and transferability of USER-CHI results is one of the cornerstones of the project, a replication city has been included in each of the TEN-T corridors involved in the project: Murcia (Spain) in Mediterranean corridor and Florence (Italy) in Scandinavian-Mediterranean corridor. This, together with the involvement of EUROCITIES will maximise the project impact even after its completion.

The long-term vision of the ORCHESTRA is a future where it is easy to coordinate and synchronise the traffic management of all modes to cope with diverse demands and situations. Also, to facilitate optimal utilisation of transport networks and efficient multimodal transport services, both in rural and urban areas. The project will: * Establish a common understanding of multimodal traffic management concepts and solutions, within and across different modes, for various stakeholders and multiple contexts * Define a Multimodal Traffic Management Ecosystem (MTME) where traffic managements in different modes and areas (rural and urban) are coordinated to contribute to a more balanced and resilient transport system, bridging current barriers and silos * Support MTME realisation and deployments, through the provision of tools, models, and guidelines - including support for connected and automated vehicles and vessels (CAVs) * Validate and adjust MTME for organisational issues, functionality, capability, and usability * Maximise outreach and uptake of project results through strong stakeholder involvement The project will provide a Polycentric Multimodal Architecture (PMA) that specify how diverse system components collaborate and interact, taking into account smart infrastructures, technical and organisational aspects and polycentric governance. The PMA will be supported by: 1) Enabling toolkit, 2) Deployment toolkit, 3) Documented lessons learned. The project will validate the PMA and related tools and toolkits in two Living labs (in Norway and Italy), collectively covering both road, rail, water, and air transport. The Italian Living lab is focusing on traffic orchestration for the mobility of people, while the Norwegian Living lab is focusing on traffic orchestration for freight. The Living labs will be supported by simulations to enhance evaluations.

MEISTER will deliver a set of tools to foster e-mobility large scale adoption by (1) demonstrating innovative, sustainable business models to lower installation and operation costs of charging infrastructure, (2) optimizing usage of infrastructure by the smart combination of charging and parking services, (3) integrating EV within urban SUMPs, including the establishment of EV sharing and the inclusion of EV within MaaS schemas to reduce CO2 emissions and optimize urban space usage, (4) providing interoperable platforms and services to users for an easy, convenient and barrier-free access to charging, billing and smart grid services, including an increase of the use of RES and self-generation to power EVs. Thus, MEISTER aims at creating the conditions for smart e-mobility market take up in cities, by means of developing integrated approaches, smart solutions and innovative, sustainable business models, which will be tested and validated in three urban areas in Southern, Central and Northern Europe: Malaga (Spain), Berlin (Germany), and Gothenburg (Sweden). These 3 sites are EU leaders in the field of e-mobility, have complementary contexts and share a common vision on EV deployment. The three MEISTER pilots will involve 51,500 users, 1,000 EV and 660 charging points. MEISTER expects to increase by 15% the demand for EVs, as well to reduce by 20% the installation costs of EVSE infrastructure. At the same time, the project expects to help reduce charging prices by 20% and increase by 30% the usage of RES to charge EVs. As a result of these figures, the project will also have a substantial impact in terms of a reduction of emissions and environmental sustainability, as described in section 2.1.4. Business models and public-private partnership frameworks developed and demonstrated by the project will be designed and documented to facilitate trans-European transferability and impact.

<< Background >>Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are considered one of the main causes of Earth’s climate change. Transport is Europe’s biggest source of CO2, responsible for the emission of over a quarter of all greenhouse gases. Transport emissions have increased by a quarter since 1990 in the EU increasing at its fastest pace since 2001. Mobility policies must play a decisive role in contributing to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, the commitments of decarbonization and better air quality. Providing more sustainable forms of mobility can also make an important contribution to mitigating climate change.However, policy focuses have essentially been put on the major urban centres, forgetting mobility between urban and rural areas and mobility within rural areas. Rural areas present specific challenges such as the low density of population (and fast depopulation), the long distances between towns, the ageing of the population, higher poverty rates and in many occasions bad connections with airports /railway /road nodes.Recent studies shows that mobility is behind the high average of CO2 emissions attributed to citizens in rural areas compared with urban residents. This comparison is not only unfair (based on the lack of public transport and inadequate calculating methods), but it is also very dangerous for rural communities that might see how public financing mechanisms based on green indicators will give priority to other areas. An adequate sustainable mobility scenario in rural areas will facilitate the possibility to access work, education or services and can make an important contribution to mitigating climate change and depopulation. Smart mobility strategies and technological tools will help rural communities to design and implement new solutions. Rural mobility can be a key component to other economic, social, tourism or environmental improvements by increasing the connectivity of rural areas.Therefore, It is urgent to act towards a more reliable and efficient mobility in rural areas in Europe.Any initiative for the development, revitalization or organization of the territory must start from a careful programming. The rural development agents are the professional who know the techniques and tools to program, plan and help the community to manage and make its resources profitable. That is why training in sustainable mobility for these professionals is the basis for the implementation of new sustainable mobility models in rural areas. This Project will develop a practical and dynamic training program on mobility solutions and training platform for rural development agents. The training will be available in the e-platform also for the general public. The project will also set the basis for the development of a curriculum for an agent for rural mobility in Europe.<< Objectives >>The objectives of this project are: I.Promoting efficient and sustainable rural mobility and the uptake of new mobility strategies and technologies in rural areas (through developing an innovative course and platform on efficient rural mobility for rural development agents)II.Capitalise and promote the use of digital tools and new technologies for mobility in rural areas III.Elaborate on a framework to set the basis of a European curriculum for rural mobility agentsIV.Creation of a cooperative network for the promotion of policies and initiatives for rural mobility Although the long-term beneficiaries of this project are all the citizens from rural areas, the main public objective of this project and of the training are the rural development agents working in municipalities, association of towns, provinces and local action groups.Rural development agents are technicians are a key element to transfer to rural societies the tools and knowledge to use more efficient transport means. These professionals will benefit directly from the training of the project and will acquire new competences and tools for their daily tasks. These agents also asses local decision makers and therefore have a valuable influence for the potential improvement of mobility at local levelLocal and regional authorities are another target group of the project, they will be involved through partners in project validation activities and multiplier events. Project partners currently collaborates actively with different municipalities and regions in the participating countries and have direct access to this stakeholder groupsSecondary target group are VET entities working in mobility issues in rural areas. The training and platform are of open access and can be used by these entities if requested.These target groups will be involved directly in the initial analysis of needs/barriers, and the validation of the training program and tool. They will be the main target of the project dissemination actions.<< Implementation >>The project activities will lead to the project objectives thorugh the following specific work packages of actions:WP1: PROJECT MANAGEMENT / COORDINATION ACTIVITIES will allow the proper implementation of project activities with good quality and in time, as well as the proper justification of costs, transference of money and the delivery of reports to the National Agency.WP2 RURAL MOBILITY TRAINING CONTENTS AND HANDBOOK: It will guarantee the development of up-to-date and quality training based on the identified project modules of knowledge on rural mobility. The content of the courses will include a handbook on good practices that have proven successful in Europe.WP3 Rural Mobility E-PLATFORM: the development of this platform will allow the implementation of the course on line, the exchange and dissemination of content and experiences and of updated resources according to market evolution. In addition, rural development agents and other actors will be encouraged to share content related to their experiences, to serve as a framework for knowledge exchange. WP4 TRAINING WORKSHOP TO VALIDATE THE COURSE AND E-PLATFORM. The objective is a transnationall capacitation to test and improve project results with stakeholders and to validate and ensure the quality and adequacy of the contents and of the e-platform. WP5 CREATION OF A NETWORK FOR THE PROMOTION OF RURAL MOBILITY POCILIES AND THE PROMOTION OF FUTURE EUROPEAN RURAL MOBILITY AGENTS: this project will serve as a starting point for the creation of a stable network of collaboration for rural mobility in Europe though the creation and promotion of a working group for rural mobility and the definition of an action plan for such group Partners will develop a proposal for an EU curriculum for rural mobility agents at the end of the project WP6 DISSEMINATION AND MULTIPLIER EVENTS. The project will implement a set of adhoc actions for dissemination to guarantee a good project impact and the transference and maintenance of project results during and after the project finalization, including the organization of local events in each member country to properly disseminate the outputs and to involve stakeholders<< Results >>Digital and Green skills are essential for the decarbonization of economy. The project will try to cover the specific lack of training in mobility solutions (mainly applied to e-mobility) and digital opportunities for rural agents. The e-mobility industry is moving fast and we need to be ready to apply new knowledge and technologies in our daily life. Therefore, in response to these needs, MobiRural will develop a practical and dynamic training program and training platform for rural development agents working in rural areas. The training will be available in the e-platform also for the general public. The project will also set the basis for the development of a curriculum for European agents for rural mobility.So, the project will have the following Results:A.Training course on mobility for rural areas (Result 1)B.E-platform for the implementation of the training, auto evaluation tool, and the promotion of best practices, exchange of experiences and improvement of policies towards rural mobility (Result 2)But apart from project direct results, the project will also have the following direct outcomes:-A training action to validate the course and the e-platform among selected stakeholders-Handbook with best practices and tools for rural mobility In Europe (capitalisation of previous projects and initiatives)-Setting of a network for the promotion of policies and initiatives for rural mobility (project partners + other interested entities)-Setting the basis for a European Agent for rural mobility (proposal for an EU curriculum)A need analysis has been developed prior to the writing of this proposal and although a deeper study with stakeholders will be implemented at the beginning of the project (questionnaires and interviews), the results of the project will contain:A.The content of the learning courses will contain at least the following modules:1.Compilation of good practices in rural mobility2.Digital tools available to explore the new opportunities created by technological and other forms of innovation.3.Rural shared mobility. Sustainable mobility is vital and therefore there is a need for alternative public transport services to guarantee mobility in rural areas, without a car. So-called flexible transport services or transportation on demand point the way to possible solutions, as innovative practices to encourage creative economically viable solutions that can be effective and efficient while being environmentally friendly.4.No mobility: E-tools for online services (bureaucracy, training, work,…)5.E-mobility solutions: technologies and new opportunities from the industry. 6.E-wastes: strategies for the management of new wastes produced for e-mobility in rural areas7.Policies and regulations for rural mobilities B.All the key materials, documents and media produced within the project will be made available on the E-platform. The platform will contain the course, a basic guide to implement the course, an auto evaluation section and other sections for networking and exchange of experiencesThe partners will accredit the participation of rural development agents in training actions. Participants will receive a certificate of attendance, indicating the content, the duration of the training and the result obtained. Rural development agents will be able to transfer the training received to the general population, who will be able to access the platform (rural development agents usually perform training courses for the general public in their municipalities/counties).At the same time, these rural development agents, after receiving the training, will be empowered to apply mobility solutions in their environment, according to the mobility needs of the specific populations in their field of action. The courses will be developed so that this can be carried out in a structured way so that the results are those required for each group of population.