In 2020 Europe went through a very significant economic and social crisis, namely the response to the disease of Coronavirus. Over 200 million European citizens were obliged to observe restrictive measures, in some cases lock down measures, in order for governments and local authorities of the Member States of the European Union to address and limit the problem of the spread of the virus. Through this situation a number of problems emerged, one of which relates to the management of building utilities under such conditions. Specifically, in a very few days most of the activity of the European Economy shifted from the office environment to homes, leading to several problems in relation to with the completeness and integrity of utilities such as power outages, water shortage and insufficient internet connection. The initiative entitled Development of Utilities Management Platform for the case of Quarantine and Lockdown - eUMaP aims to implement all those activities that will lead to the development of an open platform through which local authorities will be able to plan and manage the demand and supply of building utilities in case of quarantine or lock down. The platform will be developed through a Research and Innovation Staff Exchange (RISE) program. eUMaP platform will be based on the rational of earth observation, and the recording of the required network information in open BIM platforms of five European capital cities (Rome, Berlin, Athens, Vilnius, Nicosia). The platform will be piloted in study areas with the aim of optimizing it and delivering it as an open platform upon completion of the program.

As the ongoing robotic exploration to Mars has made some tantalising discoveries, the next major step should be retrieving samples from the Martian surface, so they can be investigated in detail in terrestrial laboratories. However, considering the huge costs associated to suh missions, an in-situ dating of rock samples is a more cost-effective approach. Accurate estimation of absolute ages is required in order to understand Mars surface and atmosphere evolutionary processes. Furthermore knowledge on occurrence and time frequency of such processes allow a hazard evaluation for locations/areas, essential for future deployments, missions and eventually humans on Mars. However, a chronology for recent events on Mars is problematic, as uncertainties associated with current methodology (crater counting) are comparable to the younger ages obtained (~ 1 Million years). IN-TIME project addresses the technological and economic viability of a leading-edge instrument for dating of Mars’ surface: a miniaturized Luminescence dating instrument for in-situ examination. Thanks to the development of its innovative technology, and in addition to planetary exploration application, it will also address Earth's field applications as a light and portable dating instrument in geology and archaeology as well as a risk assessment tool for accident and emergency dosimetry and nuclear mass-casualty events.

Space technology connected with Artificial Intelligence and machine learning techniques is one of the most rapidly developing field of science and also play a key role to control disaster by space like Covid-19 outbreak. While space technologies have been successfully applied to a small number of macroeconomy and heath care related matters over the last decade, there is neither a significant utilization of space elements nor a systematic analysis of needs for space assets in this sector yet. There are a significant number of indirect parameters observable from space that can be correlated to the impact on the economy of natural, health (including epidemic) and man-made disasters. Classical environment parameters (geographical, climatological and hydrogeological) and man induced impact on the environment (pollution, heat) can be combined with economic parameters of human activities impacted by the epidemic including transportation, industry, and commerce. Specific human activities can be directly correlated with the progression of the diseases i.e. increase of heat delivered by crematorium in the affected areas as well as in the dwelling areas due to lock-down restrictions. All these “observed parameters” need to be correlated to macro parameters related to the progress of the epidemic and its impact of the of the infection to the economy at different scales. At medium- and long-term time scale, this methodology enables the near real-time monitoring of macroeconomic parameters during the recovery phase following the end of the emergency outbreak. The project EYE intends to propose a prototype service based on Copernicus data, automatic image processing supported by artificial intelligence integrated with modelling and statistic and geospatial data into an IT platform able to provide econometric and epidemiologic nowcasting and forecasting data.

Europe’s Cultural Heritage (CH) is at risk, endangered by environmental processes enhanced by climate changes and anthropogenic pressure. Specifically the slow (landslides, subsidence) and seismic (earthquake) movements of the ground have a strong impact on the structural stability of the CH. To have an idea of the dimension of the phenomena, the damage on the CH asset declared by the Italian Ministry of CH, caused by the recent earthquakes in Centre Italy, has been assessed in 2 Billion Eur. In this scenario, authorities in charge to CH preservation have a strong requirement for systematic, effective, usable and affordable tools and services to forecast and monitor the degradation process to enable preventive maintenance and to reduce the cost of the restoration. STABLE addresses the design and development of a Thematic Platform, combining structural stability models, damage assessment simulation tools, advanced remote sensing, in-situ monitoring technologies, geotechnics and cadastral data sets with WebGIS application for mapping and long term monitoring of CH. This will enable effective monitoring and management of the CH to prevent, or at least reduce, catastrophic damages. STABLE will coordinate the existing expertise and research efforts of the participant beneficiaries into a synergetic plan of collaborations and exchanges of personnel to offer a comprehensive transfer of knowledge and training environment for the researchers in the specific area. The development of Platform will constitute for scientist the way to share and improve CH safeguard methods, and to professionals to apply the most advanced technologies in the related fields.

The need to protect forests and cultural resources and preserve biodiversity are among the basic challenges of mankind. A step towards the effective implementation of these tasks is conducting the periodic, systematic inventory of naturThe need to protect forests and cultural resources and preserve biodiversity are among the basic challenges of mankind. A step towards the effective implementation of these tasks is conducting the periodic, systematic inventory of natural resources and their constant monitoring. Such activities require modern tools to assist in protecting the most valuable natural resources, including forests. In terms of monitoring and inventory of forests, there is planned an autonomous device, capable of navigating in a diverse environment and recording a wide variety of data. The main aim of E-FORESTER (Effective FOrest Research Electronic System Terrain Exploration Rover) project is to create and integrate, through staff exchange, an international team capable of responding to the challenges posed by the European Green Deal in the field of forestry. Such a large-scale project requires the selection and cooperation of an interdisciplinary team, which will include foresters, fauna and flora specialists, archaeologists, as well as engineers and machine learning analysts. The result of their work should be a rover with research tools, capable of operating continuously, regardless of terrain diversity and weather conditions, providing data and cartographic materials constituting documentation presenting the diversity of the forest environment. By detailed documenting plant and animal species, and through appropriate algorithms, also natural habitats, the project should also meet the challenges posed by of the European Union's tasks, which is the Natura 2000 network. Identification of archaeological relics through non-invasive methods will fulfil Valetta Convention (1992) recommendations and open a new area for archaeological/historical investigations.