The “Societal Engagement with Key Enabling Technologies (SocKETs)” project has as its main objective to enable industry (e.g. manufacturers and suppliers) to engage with citizens on developing Key Enabling Technologies (KETs) that consider societal priorities, expectations and concerns. SocKETs will develop a digital, free and easy-to-use toolbox, that enable key enabling technologies to be developed in dialogue with citizens and society. The project brings together a consortium providing access to industry actors and innovation networks, manufacturers, professional users, and citizens. It combines the opportunity to test, prototype, evaluate and distribute tools of co-creative citizen and societal engagement, from the laboratory and innovation networks of innovators, to the science museums of civil society. To this end, SocKETs has developed six test cases across Europe. Three cases are coordinated by SocKETs partners with their local networks (wearable electronics and health by 2/DTI, Denmark, Industrial Automation system and the changing nature of work by 3/TEC, Spain and advanced manufacturing technologies; advanced materials; ICT, Internet of Thing, AI and blockchain tech by 5/AIRI, Italy.), and three cases are developed though linked third parties of the ECSITE network (Bulgaria, Science Centre AHHAA, Tartu, Centre for the Promotion ofThe project “Societal Engagement with Key Enabling Technologies (SocKETs)” has as its main objective to connect key enabling technologies (KETs) with society, societal challenges and citizens. The project brings together researchers (including social science and humanities), with industry, manufacturers, professional users and citizens to analyse: 1) the potential and challenges for KETs to contribute to solving societal challenges, 2) the participatory tools and methodologies available for industry to collaborate with citizens and other societal stakeholders, and 3) priorities of citizens and societal stakeholders for KETs.

Gov4Nano will design and establish a well-positioned and broadly supported Nano Risk Governance Council (NRGC). Organizing, connecting and engaging are key activities in Gov4Nano and its creation of a sustainable NRGC. Gov4Nano will develop an operational trans disciplinary Nano Risk Governance Model (NRGM) for nanotechnologies, building on an established governance framework developed by the International Risk Governance Council (IRGC). Engaging stakeholders (including regulators) to proactively address nano-specific safety and seek dialogue for joint activities. NRGC and its precursor project Gov4Nano will engage, in order to support these activities, with the broad variety of stakeholders across all relevant nano-disciplines (chemical, biocides, food and feed, pharma and medical devices and materials development) and draft a review on our knowledge progress over the last decade whilst initiating dialog. To boost the quality of the dialog it will create a platform for dialogues between stakeholders in a “trusted environment” inclusive of civil society. The NRGC core business is to coordinate, guide and harmonize in order to overcome the fragmentation of current knowledge, information and needs over various sectors and disciplines (workers, consumers/patients, environmental safety) and to prepare the transfer of this knowledge. To that end, the NRGC will be equipped with a self-sustainable NanoSafety Governance Portal (NSGP) consolidating state-of-the-art and progressive nanosafety governance tools including ones for dialogues and measuring risk perception. Major efforts will be towards requirements for data harmonization and data curation to be defined and laid down in guidance on obtaining harmonized and standardized quality-scored data collections promoting a big data approach for nano-toxicology. Research activities will be initiated for regulatory sound knowledge in support of harmonized (OECD) guidance for characterization and testing of nanomaterials.

UV curable polyurethane (PU) coatings play a major role in a wide range of industries, due to their versatility, excellent performance and energy-efficient production and application. The global PU coating market was valued at USD 17.4 billion in 2021. Unfortunately, PU coatings still largely depend on fossil-based raw materials. Biobased alternatives are restricted to a negligible market volume, and, to date, there is no high-performance alternative with a biogenic content above 50% available. BIORING proposes a synthesis platform that combines biobased monomers and crosslinking agents to produce high-performance UV-curable PU coatings with >95% biogenic content. To reach this ambitious goal, we will develop the key pieces required to produce fully biogenic PU coatings from currently available biobased components. Our modular approach allows to fine-tune the characteristics of the coatings and adjust them to the requirements of highly demanding European industries. Furthermore, the platform will be able to adapt to future developments of new biobased building blocks. The development process will be guided by process simulations and modelling of product properties. We will demonstrate our approach for two use cases: automotive and construction, including not only functional validation, but also an economic analysis for future scale-up, where the components can be produced within a biorefinery. We will assess biodegradability as well as different recycling scenarios for coated products, according to the respective industry demands and standards. BIORING includes a thorough LCA and LCC. The BIORING consortium is composed of 12 partners, including RTOs, SMEs, large enterprises and an industrial association, from 5 European countries. The participation of producers and end users will guarantee access to stakeholders and open the doors to future scale-up. BIORING will allow companies to comply with European legislation and make them more competitive globally.