'Citizen science', or the participation of 'non-specialists' in the gathering or analysis of scientific data, is playing an increasingly important role in scientific research. It is an excellent way for citizens to contribute to the forecasting and warning of hazards that impact them and could be particularly helpful in low and middle income countries. in these regions, citizen science also has the potential to generate shared understandings of hazardous phenomena, improve communication and help communities at risk take actions to improve their resilience during and after hazardous events. From earlier volcano-related research projects we have evidence that working with communities at risk to gather data and make observations of natural phenomena does help them reduce their risk. It also helps both scientists and community members cope with the uncertainty around hazardous phenomena by helping them to devise strategies that minimise impacts on lives and livelihoods. Researchers working on other hazards have also found this to be the case. There are many challenges in moving from the theory regarding the usefulness of citizen science to the practice of making a project work. What we want to do is (A) understand how we should use 'citizen science' to address these challenges and build resilience to environmental hazards (B) create and nurture an international transdisciplinary community of practice to contribute to future projects (B). We will involve addressing the following objectives: (1) learn lessons and synthesise knowledge from previous citizen science programs and existing initiatives; (2) understand what the barriers to success are with these types of project and try to break them down. We think this means we will have to widen our thinking about citizen science techniques, in new ways. We will incorporate methodologies and techniques from the humanities and we include important lessons from the theory and best practices in international development. We will try to address tensions between 'bottom-up' or community driven practices and 'top-down' or technocratic approaches to gathering data. We will also meet these aims and objectives by using a case study-based approach to frame our thinking about how this will work best for the citizens at risk from environmental hazards. Citizens are at the heart of this project and so we will use conversations with communities in three contrasting study sites (Ecuador, the English-speaking Caribbean and Nepal) to inform our synthesis and critical analysis of the challenges encountered in country. To achieve these aims we have brought together a group of researchers across all relevant fields, and will use our research to create a new community of practice. Each investigator will act as a 'champion' for their specialism to quickly draw together a grouping of experts to attend an initial workshop and we will use the discussion there to inform a synthesis of relevant initiatives and existing evidence. That synthesis will be used to critically reflect on the barriers to success. During this, we will address the tensions between participatory approaches to development focussed on the communities and their empowerment and engagement and more traditional scientific methods driven by the need for knowledge and data coming from the scientists. We will also work to understand the contribution that narratives and narrative analysis bring to the overall goals of 'citizen science' initiatives, and how they might help to equalise relationships within a project. We'll produce an analysis of what might help projects in the future successfully use citizen science to empower communities to deal with natural hazards. We will also increase everyone's knowledge of this field. We will share this analysis with the communities where we work and have designed our case studies to be used by initiatives already in place to increase community resilience in those regions.

In the EU-BEGP project nine universities in Latin America (Bolivia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Peru) will collaborate with two universities in EU (France, Spain) towards modernisation of courses and programs in the energy sector, with emphasis upon circular economy towards energy sustainability. The collaboration is inspired by two earlier successful Erasmus+ CBHE projects. It will re-use both the framework and learning material developed from these projects while developing and implementing specific new courses and programs adapted for the local conditions in the partner countries. More specifically it will significantly enhance capacity building on an educator-to-educator basis towards a significant modernisation of energy curriculum in the partner countries. The project will contribute on the paradigm shift towards global-but-local student-centred education in a digital and online learning environment.The EU-BGEP project will allow collaborative creation of learning material to create/update programs and courses, which includes a baseline of 3 Master programs, 1 “Diplomado” program, 3 expert courses, 15 courses, and 7 short courses, with more than 1000 expected students to be trained at the end of the project in all the partner countries. Furthermore, 10 remote labs will be implemented, enabling real experimental experience to students in remote areas, and 10 entrepreneurial challenges will be run in collaboration with local industries, thus contributing to the employability of young professionals. A specific Quality Improvement Process, with transnational and global peer review, will be implemented throughout all the learning resources, ranging from individual modules through courses and full programs.A significant strength of the EU-BEGP project is that it is part of an intended global collaboration of online digital learning resources, courses, and programs in the energy sector (the “EXPLORE Energy Digital Academy”). All material developed will be included in this framework and the EU-BEGP consortium will have full access to all the already existing, and to be developed, high-quality material. Such global collaboration takes this Erasmus+ CBHE project to a higher level by projects building upon each other, strongly increasing the impact far beyond what an isolated CBHE project would reach.

ToBe aims to build an understanding of a sustainable wellbeing economy by developing integrated policies and transformative indicators. We contribute to theoretical and empirical knowledge in the field of sustainability transformation and advance understanding of sustainable wellbeing and inclusive economy beyond GDP. Together with researchers, policymakers and citizens in Europe, Africa and South America, we study how mindsets, indicators, innovations and policies could better work together towards the sustainability paradigm. We bring together green growth and postgrowth initiatives to create a novel understanding of economic growth. We also consider environmental and social justice when conceptualising sustainable wellbeing and identifying transformative indicators of a sustainable wellbeing economy. We provide new empirical knowledge on economic development, social outcomes and sustainability to address entangled societal challenges and to envision integrated policy solutions. All this contributes to an ecological macroeconomic model assessing integrated policy packages and to a synthesis typology of an accelerating sustainability paradigm. ToBe’s societal impact is linked directly to Europe’s policy goal of becoming a carbon-neutral continent by 2050. We will improve policy making capacity and coherence by exploring social and economic resilience and sustainability, as well as integrating different policies towards this end. The results will help create a sustainable and inclusive economy, as well as a shared vision for EU-Africa relations that build on sustainable growth. Our co-creation platform will strengthen epistemic communities to drive carbon-neutrality and tackle inequality and vulnerability in the context of entangled crises by a better understanding of trade-offs and synergies between economic growth and a sustainable wellbeing economy, including logics of change across different dimensions of sustainable development.

The renowned European hydropower industry and its know-how can foster the transition into a more sustainable energy system in parts of the world that still need support to develop the sector. While the European hydropower market does not allow huge developments, some countries present a big potential. HYPOSO will provide strategic support and tools for the European hydropower industry to boost their export of products and services to markets in Africa and Latin America, especially those with a high market potential hydro sector, i.e. Bolivia, Cameroon, Columbia, Ecuador and Uganda. The project will develop solutions which can be easily implemented for overcoming barriers to the broad deployment of hydropower solutions in these export markets. The consortium will bring representatives of the European hydropower industry together with their counterparts and politicians from Africa and Latin America. It will provide political, legal, technical and strategic advice while considering the regional specificities, socio-economic, spatial and environmental aspects all along the life-cycle of hydropower projects. Experts of the consortium will identify pilot hydropower projects and provide capacity building for local stakeholders and politicians. Communications activities such as brochures, events, and workshops highlighting European state-of-the-art technology will complement these measures. Moreover, a website will be created. It will serve as an information hub for the European hydropower industry and useful source of information for hydropower stakeholders worldwide. The outcome of the HYPOSO project will contribute to the promotion of the European hydropower industry, paving the way for better investment conditions in the targeted countries and increasing the share of renewable energy in these regions. It will support the development of policies, market supports and financial frameworks at the local, national and regional level for hydropower facilities.