The Mediterranean and Black Sea region is characterised by a very volatile and dynamically changing security environment that pose severe threats and challenges on the societies and prosperity. The MEDEA project, during its 60 months of implementation provides funding for four interrelated actions: (i) Establish and Operate the MEDEA network, a multi-disciplinary network of security practitioners, with active links to policy makers and users/providers of security innovations across the M&BS countries focusing in Border Protection and other Security- and Disaster-Related tasks. During the project duration, MEDEA members will engage in activities towards maintaining its sustainability and longevity after the financing of this project ends, (ii) Engage participants in anticipatory governance on emerging security challenges that the Mediterranean and Black Sea regions would face in the coming years (present until +10 years), which concretely operationalizes the backbone of the project in a triple structure: a) understanding unsatisfactory state of play, b) design the desirable future and c) define a resilient pathway on how to achieve this, (iii) Push for the “co-creation” of security technology and capabilities innovations between practitioners and innovation suppliers, which is based upon their evaluation and prioritization on multi-criteria analysis (technology, operational and cost-benefit, etc.) and also linked to Human Development, Policy Making and Organizational Improvements in-terms of facilitating its use by the practitioners (iv) Establish and annually update the Mediterranean Security Research and Innovation Agenda (MSRIA), that identifies areas where security & defence research is needed and the establishment of recommendations for European Security & Defence technology investments.

FIRE-IN has been designed to raise the security level of EU citizens by improving the national and European Fire & Rescue (F&R) capability development process. FIRE-IN addresses the concern that capability-driven research and innovation in this area needs much stronger guidance from practitioners and better exploitation of the technology potentially available for the discipline. We argue that this is to be achieved by practitioners more effectively coordinating on operational needs, on available research and innovation, on standardisation, and on test & demonstration and training. Further, we claim the need for the development of a common research culture that is to be achieved by better cooperation between practitioner and research/industry organisations. FIRE-IN addresses these objectives through four main areas of activity: (i) the identification and harmonisation of operational capability gaps based on the contribution provided by a significant and heterogeneous practitioner network, (ii) the identification of promising solutions to address those gaps through monitoring and screening of research outcomes and the continuous involvement of research and industry representatives, (iii) the definition of a F&R Strategic Research and Standardisation Agenda (SRSA) based on the previous elements as well as (iv) the development of a concept for more efficient use of test & demonstration and training facilities to support innovation and joint skill development. The overarching result of the project will be a proven process for organising F&R capability-driven research based on a wide practitioner and research and innovation network. The network will be linked at cross-domain and cross-border level and will feed harmonised operational requirements (or challenges) into national and EU capability development, i.e. research, innovation, procurement and standardisation programmes.

Handling the crises faced by modern societies often requires the coordination of multiple types of stakeholders from different countries. One of the key requirements to manage crisis is to have access to situational awareness (SA). However, current SA solutions (SAS) are not adapted to operate in cross-border contexts and present several shortcomings related to interoperability, data management/processing, decision making, standardisation and procurement. This hinders a reliable sharing of SA information. SAYSO will address these shortcomings and pave the way for the development of innovative European cost-effective Multi-Stakeholders SA Systems (MSSAS) which will provide practitioners with user-friendly solutions, providing a clear picture of the situation at hand with relevant advices. Addressing both the technical and human aspects of technology implementation, SAYSO will define the specifications of future MSSAS on the basis of practitioners’ requirements and specify the corresponding Reference Architecture to support the integration of various data into a common operational picture. This architecture will support interoperability and allow the integration of legacy and future SAS. It will also be customisable to practitioners’ needs and safeguard adequate privacy protection and data security levels. SAYSO will pursue the agreement and sustainable involvement of a community of practitioners, relevant suppliers and potential procurers, institutions and policy makers to obtain widely accepted results and prepare future procurement actions at EU level. SAYSO will develop a toolkit for MSSAS procurers, which will include tender documentation for SAYSO-compliant MSSAS and a SAYSO Procurers Handbook (with tools to evaluate MSSAS tenders and assess their compliance with the SAYSO specifications and existing standards). A registry of potential suppliers and procurers of MSSAS will be set up. Finally, SAYSO will deliver roadmaps for future MSSAS and standardisation.

The CURSOR proposal aims at developing new and innovative ways of detecting victims under debris. This includes the coordinated use of miniaturized robotic equipment and advanced sensors for achieving significant improvements in search and rescue operations with respect to (a) the time used to detect trapped victims after a building structure has collapsed, and (b) an informed and accelerated decision making by first responders during rescue operations allowing for the deployment of expert personnel and, in particular for operations in hazardous environments, suitable equipment at prioritized locations. CURSOR is proposing a system consisting of several integrated technological components. It includes Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) for command & control, 3D modelling and transportation of disposable miniaturized robots, that are equipped with advanced sensors for the sensitive detection of volatile chemical signatures of human beings. Information and data collected are transferred in real time to a handheld device operated by first responders at the disaster site.

The DAREnet project is to support flood management practitioners across the EU Danube River region and from different disciplines to deepen and broaden their Research, Development and Innovation related collaboration (=RDI). DAREnet will build a multi-disciplinary community of practitioners, operating in a network of civil protection organisations, and supported by a broad range of stakeholders from policy, industry and research. Together they will build a transnational and interdisciplinary ecosystem to foster synergies, innovation and its uptake. One of the key-results of DAREnet will be a regularly updated RDI Roadmap highlighting promising innovation opportunities to cope with the main environmental and societal challenges of the region. It will provide concrete perspectives for the further development, industrialisation and uptake of innovations of highest relevance for practitioners. The Roadmap will be the result of a systematic assessment and prioritisation of promising innovations, including standard