Europe is experiencing an increasing number of disasters due to natural hazards. The potential for a hazard to cause a disaster mainly depends on the vulnerability of the exposed community to a particular hazard. According to EM-DAT, for the period 1998–2009, earthquakes in Europe rank second in terms of fatalities and third in terms of overall losses. Further, flooding, along with storms, is the most important natural hazard in Europe in terms of economic losses. Actions and measures, can reduce the economic impact of a hazardous event. Within this context, scholars, government agencies, professional organizations as well as local communities seek to understand the three main stages of a disaster (i.e. Normal/Risk Reduction Stage, Emergency Response Stage, Recovery Stage) and take measures to lower the negative impact. The goal of ISTOS is, by the end of the project, to significantly strengthen the Scientific Excellence and Innovation Capacity of the collaborative Advanced Infrastructures and Materials (AIM) laboratory established at the Frederick Research Center (FRC) and the Large Structures laboratory (LSL) established at the Cyprus University of Technology (CUT). The aim is to turn the collaborative laboratories at FRC and CUT into a Center of Excellence, “ISTOS”, which will be based in Cyprus. The proposed ISTOS project will achieve its goal by creating strong links between the AIM, LSL and two internationally leading research institutions namely the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTH) of Greece and the PLINIVS Study Centre, University of Naples Federico II (PLINIVS-LUPT) of Italy. Through ISTOS, the research profile and expertise of the staff, of FRC and CUT, will be raised while at the same time enhancing the S&T capacity of the linked institutions.

Europe has witnessed a significant rise in the frequency and severity of extreme weather events, and especially the broader Mediterranean region showcases the devastating consequences of climate-related disruptions. CLIMRES aims to foster a ‘Leadership foEurope has witnessed a significant rise in the frequency and severity of extreme weather events, and especially the broader Mediterranean region showcases the devastating consequences of climate-related disruptions. Unseasonably warm temperatures during the winter months are increasingly becoming a pattern, disrupting traditional weather patterns and ecosystems. CLIMRES aims to foster a ‘Leadership for Climate Resilient Buildings’, by addressing the identification and systematic categorisation of buildings’ vulnerabilities and estimating their impact in the buildings' ecosystem considering the interlinkages within the urban context. The project will deliver vulnerability assessment and impact evaluation methodologies along with an inventory hub of measures for building materials and design against climate risks and a decision support toolkit addressing three levels of decision making at strategic, tactical and operational levels. CLIMRES solutions will be tested in 3 large scale pilots in Spain, Greece, Italy and Slovenia evaluating their efficacy against heatwaves, extreme flooding, fires and earthquakes and one multi-hazard replication multiplier pilot in France. The experiences and lessons learnt from the extensive pilot evaluation will consult the replication roadmap of the project as well as a capacity building programme that will train the next frontier leaders for climate resilient buildings. Overall, the CLIMRES Leadership will provide valuable insights and guidance for building owners, policymakers, and stakeholders involved in building climate resilience and sustainable development, through the co-creation, development, deployment and demonstration at TRL 6-8 highly cost-effective and replicable solutions.

EU SMEs/mid-caps face clear barriers in the uptake of Additive Manufacturing (AM) related to lack of skilled human resources, and lack of access to know-how, equipment, infrastructure and markets. The principal objective of this project is to overcome those barriers and enable the uptake of AM technologies by SMEs/mid-caps leading to the development of innovative business and service models and new value-chain models in a fully digital environment – thus bringing their ideas and business cases to life and making their innovations Additively Manufacturable (AMable). To achieve this objective, partners with expertise right across the AM value chain have been brought together from the four corners of the EU to: - create an open-sourced-based, living and adapting AM eco-system which can offer required assistance to European SMEs/mid-caps and become self-sustainable after project execution; - provide all necessary assistance to SMEs/mid-caps allowing successful exploitation of AM, including 3 ‘competitive calls’ for experiments; - offer a comprehensive range of (at least 10) AM support services through an open source- and API-based digital marketplace structured as three Platforms (Technology, Business, and Skills and Education); - support and develop ‘best in class’ AM data handling tools and approaches, on an open-source basis.; - coordinate the development of synergies with the already existing I4MS framework, Competence Centres, Digital Innovation Hubs and other related research and innovation activities at the European level. Through these activities, the following direct impacts are anticipated: - >50 SME/mid-cap application experiments - >150 SME/mid-cap business case evaluations and/or Application Experiments - >500 people trained through AMable approved courses - >2,000 SMEs/mid-caps reached through training, roadshow and exhibition events - specific support for EU-13 countries, with >5 centres supported and coached

ClimEmpower will empower five south-European regions with high Climate Change (CC) risk and exceptionally low adaptive capacity to enhance their CC-resilience, establish the regional Communities of Practice (CoP) and co-create the resilient development strategies adapted to the regional needs and potentials. We will achieve this through combination of user-driven climate applications, capacity building and "best practices" transfer from other European projects and regions. Throughout the project the ClimEmpower team will aid the regional administration in organizing the regional CoPs where representatives of "quadruple helix" stakeholders will discuss their Climate Adaptation needs and capabilities, assess potential pathways towards CC-resilient, societally just, and sustainable future and elect sustainable and CC-resilient regional development pathways that are best suited to their needs and capabilities. This activity will be supported by provision of the data driven Decision Support service(s) for strategic CC-adaptation planning, as well as through provision of easy to understand educational materials illustrating the CC risks and possible technological, natural and societal adaptation options and strategies, explaining the use of the project tools, as well as knowledge transfer on existing data, tools and best practices in climate adaptation from successful EU projects and regions with higher adaptive capacity. ClimEmpower will develop new generic interface to C3S Climate Data Store, data driven CC-hazard and -risk assessment services, and semi-semi-quantitative (“screening”) services allowing the users to compare different adaptation strategies. These services will primarily rely on open data and open service infrastructure and on cross-linking of such data with data that can be sampled locally during the project - to complement the pan-European data, improve granularity or to validate the predictions.

SmartLivingEPC project aims to deliver a certificate which will be issued with the use of digitized tools and retrieve the necessary assessment information for the building shell and building systems from BIM literacy, including enriched energy and sustainability related information for the as designed and the actual performance of the building. SmartLivingEPC will provide information in relation to the operational behaviour of the building, by introducing a new rating scale, based on a weighted approach of life cycle performance aspects, building smartness assessment and information on the actual performance of the technical systems of buildings provided by technical audits. The new methodologies to be developed, will be based on existing European standards, whereas at the same time, they will trigger the development of new technical standards for smart energy performance certificates. The new certification scheme will also expand its scope, covering aspects related to water consumption, as well as noise pollution and acoustics. SmartLivingEPC certificate will be fully compatible with digital logbooks, as well as with building renovation passports in order to allow the integration of the building energy performance information in digital databases. A special aspect of SmartLivingEPC will be its application in building complexes, with the aim of energy certification at the neighbourhood scale. SmartLivingEPC aspires to develop two parallel schemes, one at the building level (Building EPC) and one at the level of building complex level (Complex EPC), with the ultimate goal in the near future of certification of building complexes, based on the certification of individual units, as well as on additional aspects following an integrated participatory and neighborhood based approach. 16 partners from 12 European countries will collaborate and provide their expertise and resources within the 36 months of SmartLivingEPC lifetime.