The main aim of SEREN5 is to improve and professionalise the skills of the Cluster 3 (CL3) National Contact Points (NCPs) across Europe, simplifying applicants’ access to Horizon Europe (HE) calls and raising the average quality of submitted proposals. Starting from the assumption that the NCP role is crucial in order to raise the participation in HE in terms of both quality and quantity, SEREN5 overall concept is that the CL3 NCP community requires knowledge, skills, competences and a proven comprehensive suite of tools to convey a message in a multicultural and multi-disciplinary environment such the one that characterises Cluster 3 and to effectively support its broad based constituency. Therefore, the project is based on three pillars: (i) NCPs capacity building and competence development, (ii) development of targeted and high quality services (events and tools) for CL3 applicants and stakeholders , (iii) CL3 community building and general mainstreaming of CL3 NCPs in Horizon Europe.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a global health challenge with an estimated 67% increase in global deaths attributable to AMR by 2050. The European Partnership One Health AMR (EUP OHAMR) is aiming to reduce the burden of AMR with an integrated One Health (OH) approach, recognising that human, animal and plant health are interdependent and interlinked with the environment. The partnership will boost AMR research and innovation (R&I) addressing the current knowledge gaps with the aim to improve surveillance of resistant pathogens and provide better diagnostics and more effective treatments of drug-resistant infections. It will support implementation research on prevention measures reducing the use of antimicrobials and spread of AMR and launch an ambitious work programme of joint activities to coordinate R&I investments, facilitate the use and re-use of R&I data, strengthen AMR R&I capacities and facilitate both knowledge translation and uptake of research results and innovations by industry, society, and policy makers. The EUP OHAMR builds on the long-standing collaboration of the partners from the Joint Programme Initiative on AMR (JPIAMR) but with a bigger ambition and a broader scope. The partnership consists of 53 partners from 30 countries from the European Union (EU) and beyond. With active engagement of key stakeholders across the AMR landscape, the partnership will strengthen European and global synergies through alignment of research priorities, policies, and investments. Furthermore, EUP OHAMR will support multisectoral and multidisciplinary collaborations to break the existing silos in AMR research. It will result in increased knowledge and solutions and provide an evidence base for uptake into policy and practice to prevent and tackle AMR. Thus, the EUP OHAMR will deliver towards to the priorities set in the European One Health Action plan against AMR, thereby strengthening the European Research and Innovation Area ecosystem and contribute to making the EU a best-practice region on AMR.

RICH Europe is a 84 month Coordination and Support Action built on the past experience and achievements of the Research Infrastructures Networks funded under H2020 (RICH and RICH-2). The overall aim of the project is to improve and support the professionalisation and harmonisation of Research Infrastructures National Contact Points (NCPs) services across Europe and to contribute to the consolidation of the European research infrastructure ecosystem. RICH Europe activities have been designed to (1) raise the general standard of support to programme applicants by enhancing NCPs knowledge and capacities and building a more professionalised and collaborative NCPs community, (2) enhance the quality of knowledge of RIs stakeholders about EU RIs calls & programme and raise their awareness about the trans-national and virtual access opportunities to research infrastructures, (3) lower the entry barriers for newcomers, with a focus on widening countries, (4) mainstream RIs in HE with a special focus on Clusters and the EIC programmes, (5) foster the cooperation among RIs at European and international level, and between RIs and the local/regional socio-economic ecosystem. RICH Europe will be implemented by a consortium of 11 officially nominated NCP organizations from 10 EU Member States and 1 candidate Associated Country. The Consortium has an excellent representation of Widening countries (more than half of the partners are from Widening countries) as well as experienced and less experienced NCPs. The project, in its 7 years duration, will address four major target groups: (i) NCPs for Research Infrastructures, (ii) applicants in Horizon Europe RIs calls, (iii) Research Infrastructures and Academia, (iv) Industries and SMEs.

CapaCITIES 2.0 is designed as a support action for national and regional authorities to advance their governance structures for providing dedicated support for cities to achieve the EU Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities Mission (EU Cities Mission) - answering to the Call HORIZON-MISS-2024-CIT-02-01. As a central initiative to foster and strengthen national narratives for the EU Cities Mission, it will coordinate actions across climate-neutral initiatives for cities in Europe, align and speed up efforts towards the goals of the Mission. CapaCITIES 2.0 will further shape a European environment conducive to urban climate neutrality transitions for national, regional and local authorities. It will initiate and strengthen national change processes to establish and mature national networks and platforms as well as multi-level governance in the entire EU, building on the experience of the CapaCITIES that already started setting-up national platforms in 15 EU countries. It provides dedicated support for public authorities to put enabling conditions and measures for cities in place to achieve the EU Cities Mission. Thereby, it contributes to reach (1) Increased preparedness and capacity of national, regional and local authorities in EU Member States and countries associated to Horizon Europe to engage in cities’ transition towards climate neutrality; (2) Improved ability to effectively address country-specific challenges and barriers for cities to achieve climate neutrality related to current regulatory frameworks, funding and financing, and governance structures and promotion of best-practices through transnational exchanges and sharing of experience and (3) Enhanced synergies with R&I national/international communities, relevant initiatives, and partnerships such as the ‘Driving Urban Transitions to a Sustainable Future’ Horizon Europe Partnership and the NetZeroCities – the EU Mission Platform(NZC) for the implementation of the Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities Mission.

Cancer- healthcare, research and innovation face core common challenges, such as fragmentation of initiatives and distancing from important stakeholders, requiring coordinated solutions. These challenges are recognized in Horizon Europe’s Cancer Mission Implementation Plan and in Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan. The proposal Establishing of Cancer Mission Hubs: Networks and Synergies (ECHoS) represents a unique opportunity to coordinate R&I and Healthcare actions on cancer with policy-making processes creating transnational communication & collaboration networks aligned with Cancer Mission objectives. Experiences shows that the setup and implementation of innovative health solutions are more likely to be successful when a broad range of stakeholders and decision-makers from the public and private sectors are part of the process. By fostering the creation of National Cancer Mission Hubs (NCMHs) in member states and associated countries ECHoS will create the conditions for organized stakeholders and individual citizens to collaborate and engage in policy dialogues. The implementation of the Cancer Mission objectives will promote more resilient and people-centric healthcare and research systems. ECHoS will produce (i) general models and guidelines for the creation of sustainable NCMHs, (ii) a knowledge exchange programme to support development of NCMHs competences, (iii) impact models and training sets to help efficiently engaging with distinct stakeholders, (iv) a toolkit for synergies to help NCMH engaging in collaborative work with individual European Initiatives, (v) a business continuity model envisaging long-term sustainability of a EU network of NCMHs and (vi) a calendar of events to create awareness on NCMHs and to help closing the gap in citizens’ participation in cancer policy. In summary, ECHoS will create conditions for NCMHs to be Mission Cancer advocates in MS/AC and set the pace for the development of a transnational network of NCMHs in a second phase.