POSIDON gathers 5 European procurers facing similar problems in the sites they manage, affected by analogous pollutants (2 front-runners-Trieste, IT and Bilbao, ES-and 3 observers - Spaque, BE; Vitoria Gasteiz, ES; Baja do Tejo, PT), leveraging public demand to identify fit-for-purpose and cost-effective innovative and sustainable solutions to soil contamination. The common challenge faced by the buyers’ group is identifying a new, life-cycle cost-effective technology for soil and groundwater remediation, capable of decontaminating heterogeneous anthropic soils in brownfields with a mixture of industrial waste (blast furnace slags, construction & demolition waste, filling soils polluted by petroleum hydrocarbons) and soils consisting of clays and sands of marine origin, highly polluted by petroleum hydrocarbons (TPHs and PAHs) and heavy metals (arsenic and lead). Studies on the state of the art, patent analysis, foresight scanning and early market engagement meetings, show that no available technology can meet all identified needs, thus appropriate remediation technologies cannot be acquired through traditional off-the-shelf procurement.With PCP, procurers aim to achieve ambitious improvements in terms of quality and effectiveness, efficiency and sustainability of new technology to bring to the market. R&D will be split into three phases: solution design, prototyping, original development and testing of 2 prototypes. Evaluations after each phase progressively identify solutions offering the best value for money. This phased approach allows successful contractors to improve their offers for the next phase based on feedback from procurers. POSIDON intends to create a critical mass through the consolidation of a pan-European network of procurers who, sharing their needs and efforts, can enable the development - through PCP - and subsequent deployment - through a PPI - of novel technologies aimed to cover bigger market challenges in areas of common European interest

BONVOYAGE will design, develop and test a platform optimizing multimodal door-to-door transport of passengers and goods. The platform integrates travel information, planning and ticketing services, by automatically analysing non-real-time data from heterogeneous databases (on road, railway and urban transport systems); real-time measured data (traffic, weather forecasts); user profiles; user feedback. The platform is supported by an innovative information-centric communication network that collects and distributes all the data required. The highly heterogeneous, distributed and mobile nature of data, coming from data-centers, sensors, vehicles, goods and people on the move, calls for an innovative networking paradigm. Current networks (e.g. Internet) limit themselves to “just” providing communication channels between hosts. Our paradigm, called Internames, allows communications among entities identified by names, without the constraint of a static binding to a particular location. The request of a “user” (be it a person or a parcel) to travel from source to destination is managed by the platform with several tools: Metadata Handler collects and elaborates data related to the request and generates a corresponding Context; User Profiler creates a personalized profile, conveying requirements including Quality of Experience parameters and special needs; Multi-Objective Optimizer develops personalized travel instructions, optimal for the Context and User Profile. The user may give feedback, before accepting the travel itinerary. If a trip is not available at request time, the user is notified if it becomes available later on. An Actuator triggers the necessary services. A Tariff Scheme Designer exploits platform data to define multi-part tariff schemes. BONVOYAGE will trial and demonstrate the platform and communication network in integrated, large-scale, real life application scenarios, incorporated into the normal business operations of our transport operator partners.

Cities are facing a revolution in urban mobility. Emerging start-ups are offering innovative mobility solutions to satisfy the demand of the growing population, both living or moving into the cities every day. We are moving from the concept of owning to sharing a vehicle; from using public transport services to moving around with a hop on/off bike or electric scooter; disruptive start-ups (Uber, Cabify) are shaking up traditionally established business models... But this innovation is also bringing up unforeseen consequences that public administrations need to manage. Electric scooters driven in pedestrian areas are posing safety risks and even pedestrian kills; piles of broken bikes are laying around in streets; protests and strikes by taxi drivers; electric charge points need to coexist with the growing demand for public parking spaces. It is in this new context that public administrations need means to help them understand this new scenario, supporting them in making policy–related decisions and predicting eventualities. There is a need of a platform that can harvest, fuse and curate data from heterogeneous sources, that can extract knowledge to help in the decision-making processes and simulation of solutions to anticipate behaviours and delimit unforeseen consequences. Besides, such intelligent platform can foster cross-departmental collaboration by eradicating internal silos. URBANITE will analyse the impact, trust and attitudes of civil servants, citizens and other stakeholders with respect to the integration of disruptive technologies such as AI, DSS, big data analytics and predictive algorithms in a data–driven decision-making process. To this end, URBANITE will provide recommendations, pathways and toolkits (both ICT-based such as data management platform and DSS, and non-ICT such as co-creation activities and a repository of social-related assets) for city managers. Results will be validated in 4 real use cases: Amsterdam, Bilbao, Helsinki and Messina.

Climate urgency calls on all political levels to act more stringent and faster. This proposal is the first to unite cities across Europe to work out actionable, spatially differentiated transition roadmaps to decarbonise heating and cooling for buildings in 2050, taking up the challenge to phase out natural gas in heating. Transitioning the sector to energy-efficient, renewable and zero-carbon solutions is key to meet the EU climate and energy targets. Given the long life-cycles of the grid infrastructures involved, there is an urgency to start the planning of this transition today. But how? What first? Which systems? How to govern this process? Increasing complexity of the energy system together with technological uncertainties require a high level of knowledge and skills to act wisely. Cities are ill-equipped for this. They lack capacity and skills as well as legal empowerment to act. Decarb City Pipes 2050 showcases how local authorities can succeed in this challenge. Bilbao, Bratislava, Dublin, Munich, Rotterdam, Vienna and Winterthur, seven cities from frontrunners to beginners join forces to learn from each other and elaborate innovative responses together. They explore pathways suitable for their local challenges and build up skills in the use of data, planning tools and instruments, techno-economic as well as process and transition management knowhow. In a participatory process with stakeholders, they develop tangible transition roadmaps, building up trust and commitment for its implementation along the way. In deep peer-to-peer exchanges, cities and utilities share knowledge to benefit from other perspectives, stages of advancement and planning traditions. Together, they will advocate for the needed changes to framework conditions. Enriched by a distinguished advisory board, the project aims to empower >220 public officers and improve >50 policies. Ultimately, it strives to motivate and support >80 more cities to start the same roadmap process.