Contemporary entrepreneurial ecosystems in the RIS (EIT Regional Innovation Scheme) countries largely remain underdeveloped with moderate innovation capacity, a fact often evidenced by the “brain drain” of local talents. The numbers of entrepreneurial student teams, and consequently the innovation development level in RIS Countries are still relatively low. The operation of 7 Incubators of EIT RawMaterials since 2019 in RIS Countries has validated this insufficiency and the lack of uniformity of the national entrepreneurial ecosystems indicating the need for enrichment and support for organic growth. The proposed project, Green Alternatives for European Autonomy (GAEA) Challenge, outlines the implementation of a coherent program for youth employability to reinforce regional entrepreneurial ecosystems by engaging students and local talents in regional and interregional idea competitions. Building on the successful experience of the Greentech Challenge in Greece, GAEA will go beyond the current state-of-the-art a) by widening the conceptual scope of challenges to address to include the dimension of the European autonomy reinforcement within an international context influenced by the war in Ukraine and b) by interconnecting regional ecosystems in a cross-cultural initiative designed to last beyond the 28 months period of the project. GAEA's ambition is to enhance entrepreneurial skills of youth in moderate innovation ecosystems by bringing together educational institutions & private companies in a mutually beneficial way, ultimately boosting entrepreneurial ecosystems growth in EU countries that mostly need it. The project will unfold in two stages, regional & interregional, mobilizing and connecting regional entrepreneurial ecosystems around student ideas and projects that will reach to the market in eight countries (EL, LT, SK, LV, HU, CZ, SE, RS and PL), improving innovation flows among the regions and consolidating this knowledge through accelerated projects.

The WaterWise Excellence Hub is a vibrant, action-oriented initiative that aspires to serve as a catalyst for R&I (creation and uptake), business development, and knowledge dissemination for water in the circular economy (CE). It leverages CE principles to rethink and transform water management in Romania, Greece and selected Western Balkans and Eastern Partnership countries (MD, SB, AL, NM and UA). WaterWise perceives the water sector not only as sustainable, but also regenerative, emphasizing closed-loop systems, optimal resource use, and reduced waste, in line with EU policies and RIS3 strategies. It is based on a quadruple helix model of innovation, and works at the nexus of technology acceleration, entrepreneurial support and R&I, boosting water innovation in the Region and beyond. To this effect the Hub’s partners co-create an R&I Strategy, an Action and Investment Plan, a FundFinder Portal, a Strategic & Tactical Decisions Toolbox as well as an Operational Decisions Toolbox, setup Water Tech Challenges, develop and launch an Innovation Accelerator, produce LLL Training Courses, create and share a Knowledge Hub and develop and deploy a Mentoring Scheme through a bottom up approach in collaboration with a wide range of key actors and stakeholders across the region. The Hub is empowered by its strong partnership that brings together actors from government, R&I-driven universities and research centres, funding bodies, business, water utilities, SME associations and civil society to create services tailored for post-project sustainability and real-world impact.

As climate change progresses irrevocably, urgent measures are needed for building resilience and adaptive capacity. In the wake of the COVID-19 crisis, effective climate resilient regions cannot be built at expense of productive sectors, or without fair societal consensus. IMPETUS will develop and validate a coherent multi-scale, multi-level, cross-sectoral climate change adaptation framework to accelerate the transition towards a climate-neutral and sustainable economy. IMPETUS Resilience Knowledge Boosters (RKBs) will build a robust Quintuple Helix stakeholders' community (human dimension) complemented with reliable data and assessment methods to support decision and policy making (digital dimension). This will result in a community empowerment to co-design, assess, deploy, and monitor climate adaptation Innovation Packages, including R&I methodological, technological, governance, awareness, behavioural, economic, financial and pathway components. IMPETUS RKBs will be deployed and validated in all 7 EU biogeographical regions (Continental, Coastal, Mediterranean, Atlantic, Arctic, Boreal, Mountainous) covering all Key Community Systems, climate threats, and multi-level governance. IMPETUS consortium is made of selected local, regional and national public authorities; R&D organisations; SMEs and large enterprises; and international organisations, to build upon, upscale and demonstrate a wide range of R&D solutions. IMPETUS has a clear earmark to ensure continuity after the project lifetime through consolidated and interconnected RKBs and communities at different scales.