Urban ReLeaf is an action-oriented mission to advance citizen-powered science as a central resource for inclusive urban green planning in support of local policy making, European strategies and monitoring systems (e.g., the Green Deal, Copernicus), and global efforts such as the SDGs (e.g., Target 11.7) and GEOSS. The project will: (i) assess current urban greening policy processes within six European cities and co-create solutions that use citizen observations to complement existing data ecosystems and decision-making; (ii) support the validation and long-term inclusion of active and passive data from citizens for urban environmental monitoring within authoritative data streams, including GEOSS & Copernicus; (iii) Mobilize and empower communities through widespread participation in issues of public interest surrounding urban green infrastructure; (iv) develop a community of practice around topics related to the use of citizen observations for urban planning to foster knowledge exchange and develop capacities across multiple sectors; (v) produce flexible and innovative governance solutions to help scale-out inclusive urban green transitions in support of the European Green Deal and UN Sustainable Development Goals; and (iv) promote recognition, adoption and trust of citizen observations and other novel data ecosystems for environmental monitoring to trigger innovation within public institutions. The project is coordinated by IIASA, who led the WeObserve project, and involves partners from previous successful H2020 citizen observatory projects and as well as six cities (Athens, Cascais, Dundee, Mannheim, Riga Utrecht) that are willing to embrace new data streams for urban greening planning and policy making and to fully engage with citizens including marginalized and vulnerable groups. Urban ReLeaf is also supported by technology partners and those with strong links to Copernicus and GEO.

Currently there is a range of Nature-based solutions (NBS) emerging mostly with strong public funding elements, but a market for NBS has not yet emerged. While mostly small scale NBS are implemented as pilots for urban resilience to climate change the full range of economic and societal benefits for NBS are not systematically understood and mapped and are not sufficiently used to back the business and investment case for NBS. The numerous benefits may include mitigation and adaptation to climate change (including the reduction of urban heat island effect and flood mitigation), reduction of pollution, improved biodiversity and ecosystem services, increased well-being for citizens, including physical and mental health or recreation, social cohesion, and community building. While effort for climate change mitigation and adaptation are increasing, the role of NBS in this context is not well understood. In particular, risk reduction of NBS for the private and public insurance sector has not yet been systematically included in economic valuation of NBS. Holistic understanding of benefits and benefit flows however are important for the society including upscaling and maximising the benefits achievable with NBS and activation financing for NBS. The overall project aim of Invest4Nature is to gain a better understanding of the economic and financial performance of NBS, considering their role for mitigation as well as climate risk reduction, to promote upscaling and investments in NBS, and to accelerate market uptake. The project has a strong involvement of stakeholders to co-produce solutions, having several NBS Living Labs and a wide NBS community (including project developers, decision makers and funding and financing institutions) at hand, co-producing new evaluation and financing approaches as well as tools, covering NBS in different contexts (e.g., urban, rural, coastal). This is the basis for empowering stakeholders and create and structure a future NBS market.

With its “Clean Energy for all Europeans” package (CEP), the European Commission formally recognised and instrumentally brought forward community energy projects, including definitions for “Renewable Energy Communities” (RECs) and for “Citizen Energy Communities” (CECs). The new concepts introduced in the CEP set the course for a more active role of EU citizens in the energy markets. To fully concretize the benefits envisioned by the CEP, a myriad of barriers needs to be overcome and progress needs to be done to clarify and streamline the concepts of REC and CEC, enabling its uptake by all interested citizens. Motivated by that challenge, COMMUNITAS will promote energy citizenship, enabling citizens to take control of their own path towards sustainability by becoming an active element of the energy markets. The project will deliver a Knowledge Base that will provide users with technical, administrative, and legal information on ECs, streamlining the creation and expansion of this concept. COMMUNITAS will also deliver an innovative set of tools - capitalizing on technologies such as IoT, Blockchain and Cloud Computing - to unlock citizens’ active participation in energy markets and communities (all integrated into an open, digital “one-stop-shop” COMMUNITAS Core Platform (CCP)), allowing EC members to have an aggregated position in the energy markets or explore ancillary services using different energy assets or load profiles of the community. As a project that aims to position citizens in the centre of energy markets, COMMUNITAS has citizens at the centre of its own approach: citizens will be involved in Social and Policy Labs throughout the whole project, in order to frequently factor in their feedback, wishes, needs into the core developments of the project.

The Project ‘WeGenerate’ as signified by its name, seeks to infuse the elements of people and co-creation in the urban regeneration processes. It fully embraces the paradigm shift from building for the people to building with the people. We – cities, citizens, communities, businesses, researchers, and practitioners – take ownership of the urban regeneration processes and co-create together sustainable, people-centric, accessible, and beautiful neighbourhoods. This project is based on the stories of four neighbourhoods and their communities located in different parts of Europe. Although they are at different stages of development and are facing different urban challenges, but they share the same vision of positive change. WeGenerate will help them to reinvent themselves and in the process find new values and opportunities. WeGenerate sets out a journey to find the right ingredients and recipes for sustainable and inclusive urban regeneration that can create long-lasting positive impacts within the neighbourhoods and beyond. The process will be highly participatory with close collaboration with the city administrations as well as the citizens, local communities, and businesses. Advanced digital applications (such as Digital Twins, Metaverse and extended reality) will be implemented and experimented to support decision-making and stimulate citizen engagement. Expertise in Social Science and Humanities is called upon to foster social innovation and participatory actions across the project. In addition to technological and social interventions, the art and cultural dimensions will be drawn on in the co-creation processes. Four sustainable and people-centric neighbourhoods will be realised by the end of the project, the legacy will be upheld through replication by five Fellow Cities and others, who are inspired by the WeGeneration stories.

The main objective of this project is to move forward the current waste management practices into a circular economy motto, demonstrating the value of integrating and validating a set of 20 eco-innovative solutions that cover all the waste value chain. The benefits of these solutions will be enhanced by a holistic waste data management methodology, and will be demonstrated in 4 complementary urban areas in Europe. The eco-innovative solutions include technological and non-technological tools such as: a) IT tools to support the daily operation and long-term planning, b) Apps for citizens empowerment and engagement, c) Educational materials based on innovative teaching units and serious games, d) Tools for citizen science for the co-creation of novel solutions, e) Mechanisms to boost behavioral changes based on economic instruments and social actions, and f) Decentralized solutions for valorization and reuse of high value resources. The different solutions will be implemented in 4 complementary European areas: a) Zamudio (ES) is a highly industrialized area with a spread population that uses a separated kerbside collection; b) Halandri (GR) is a large suburban city with a wide range of business that has a very basic waste management system; c) Seveso (IT) is a residential town that uses a door-to-door system; d) and Cascais (PT) is an extensive and high touristic coastal town that implements an advanced collection system. The project includes a consortium of 19 partners with 4 public agencies and administrations, 3 research centers and universities, 8 SMEs, 2 LEs, 1 cluster and 1 NGO, that will work together during 36 months with an overall contribution from the EC of €9M.The most relevant expected impacts are: a 20% increase in waste sorting, 10% saving of management costs, and 10% reduction of GHG emissions. The experience gained, and the synergies among the partners describe the best possible scenario to launch new governance and business models.