WHO: The proposal involves 40 National Funding Authorities and/or Agencies under the Umbrella of Eureka and is coordinated by the Eureka Secretariat in Brussels. Founded in 1985, Eureka is a global network, with 48 Member States plus the European Commission. It includes nearly all countries of the European continent as well as international members like Israel, Turkey, Korea, Canada, Singapore, South Africa, Argentina and Chile. The Consortium also benefits from the fact that is has successfully run the Eurostars 1 and 2 programs. WHAT: The proposed European Partnership on Innovative SMEs will comprise two main instruments (Eurostars 3 and Innowwide) as well as measures to connect to existing EU programs, initiatives and other European partnerships. EUROSTARS 3 (E*3) is an instrument that supports the international cooperation of SMEs in the field of non-military collaborative innovation projects. An E*3 project consortium must be composed of at least 2 independent entities from at least two participating countries and must be led by an innovative SME. The E*3 instrument benefits from accompanying measures that strengthen SMEs’ ability to access foreign markets like the INNOWWIDE instrument, which has already been piloted with the support of some Eureka network members in recent years. WHY: The biggest challenges for innovative SMEs are the access to international cooperation and to enter international markets as well the ability to receive funding. E*3 through its coordination of national innovation programs will in addition support the further development of a European Research Area. HOW: The Eureka Secretariat will organize two joint transnational calls per year for E*3 and one call per year for Innowwide. National Innovation Agencies actively support the implementation of E*3 via national funding and support measures as well as services to applicants and promotion of the program.

The 'Concerted Action EPBD IV', supporting transposition and implementation of Directive 2010/31/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 May 2010 on the energy performance of buildings, is an activity which aims to foster exchange of information and experience among Member States and participating countries with regards to the implementation of the specific Community legislation and policy on the energy performance of buildings. It involves the national authorities implementing the Directive, or those bodies appointed and entrusted by them to do so. It is carried out under the coordination of Danish Energy Agency, DEA. The CA consortium is composed of organisations designated by all 28 Member States plus Norway. The CA is financed by the EU's Horizon 2020 Programme. The CA is the continuation of the first Concerted Action, CA EPBD, which ran from January 2005 to June 2007, then continued as the CA EPBD II from December 2007 until November 2010 and then CA EPBD III from March 2011 to October 2015. The CA IV will organise 4 CA Plenary meetings and some supporting activities over a period 30 months or approximately one meeting every 7-8 months, similar to the CA III. The work will be organised in Central Teams, which includes: a) 3 Core Teams on 'New Buildings', 'Existing Buildings' and 'Certification & Quality of Inspection'; b) 3 Cross-Cutting teams on 'Technical Elements', 'Policy & Implementation' and 'Compliance, Capacity & Impact'; c) 2 central functions on 'Collaboration with other actors' and 'Internal & External Communication'; and some additional functions and supporting measures. For each Central Team, issues are addressed on which the Directive does not require harmonised national implementation but where coordinated implementation would increase the impact of the Directive and reduce the implementing costs.

The project procure2innovate aims at improving institutional support for public procurers of information and communication technologies (ICT) and other product groups implementing innovation procurement by establishing or expanding competence centres for innovation procurement in ten EU Member States.

This proposal is the continuation of the Description of the Action of the Grant Agreement 101055476 signed under the European Innovation Ecosystems Work Programme 2021-2022. The proposal involves 41 National/regional Funding Bodies and/ Agencies under the umbrella of Eureka, and is coordinated by the Eureka Secretariat in Brussels. The partnership will be comprised of two main instruments(Eurostars-3 and Innowwide) as well as accompanying measures to further supports SMEs and to connect existing EU programmes, initiatives and other European partnerships. On this proposal, the consortium describes the additional activities that will take place under the EIE WP 2023-2024. The activities implemented under this Work Programme mirror to a great extent those described in the DoA.

The main ambition of IMPACTOUR project is to create an innovative and easy-to-use methodology and tool to measure and assess the impact of Cultural Tourism (CT) on European economic and social development and to improve Europe’s policies and practices on CT, strengthening its role as a sustainable driving force in the growth and economic development of European regions. CT has been recognized as one of the drivers of growth, jobs and economic development, as well intercultural understanding and social development in Europe regions and urban areas.However, there is still a knowledge gap on methods to measure different types of CT impacts and to assess multilevel and cross-border strategies, policies and practices contribution to sustainable development.IMPACTOUR proposes to bring together CT-related stakeholders and researchers to achieve new approaches taking advantage of the large amounts of information that confront policy-makers. By identifying and comparing quantitative/qualitative pan-European information on CT forms and promotion, and by providing quantifiable evidence of CT strategies and their effect on European regions’ development and Europeanisation, IMPACTOUR will deliver an innovative methodology and tool (combining data analytics algorithms with artificial intelligence and machine learning strategies) providing CT stakeholders with strategic guidance so that policies and practices on CT can be improved. IMPACTOUR will encompass a sustainable ecosystem by engaging Cultural Tourism stakeholders and following a participatory approach. IMPACTOUR tools and methods will lead to reinforcing the commitment with Europe CT, increasing citizens sense of belonging, valorisation of minority cultures, strengthening of identities and Europeanisation. IMPACTOUR Methodology will be completed and tested with data coming from 15 Data Information Pilots and the IMPACTOUR tool will be validated in 5 Validation Pilots, with distinct characteristics spread around Europe.