SMILE CITY provides realistic circular systemic solutions to support the evolution towards a carbon-neutral, environmentally sustainable, toxic-free, circular economy by 2050. The contribution to C02 reduction works on two levels: - an intensive use of recycled materials in replacement of virgin ones, without decreasing the performance of final products; - the use of such products and applications to increase sustainable mobility. The project aims to integrate innovative systemic solutions in up to 100 km of cycling paths and implement 20 e-bike charging stations, developed using different types of recycled urban waste: construction materials, EoL tyres and EoL batteries from Electric Vehicles. The foreseen innovations include the creation of e-bike charging stations made of recycled concrete precast elements and PV panels equally produced with recycled materials, the installation of recycled rubber moulded products for urban furniture such as rubber bollard, lane dividers, and rubberized asphalt, which contributes both to increase sustainability and safety. SMILE CITY will thus assemble the technological state of the art of the different value chains involved to implement circular systemic solutions in 7 different EU and non-EU countries, backing the transition towards a regenerative, inclusive and circular economy at local and regional scale across Europe and therefore boosting interregional and cross-border cooperation. In addition, the project will also increase resource efficiency, reinforcing Europe’s strategic autonomy and reduce the negative environmental footprint related to current recycling techniques of the considered urban waste value chains. By supporting awareness raising and information spreading, SMILE CITY will engage both citizens and industrial leaders in the green transition towards climate-neutral solutions for Circular Cities, bolstering the market uptake of circular solutions through regional and local actions. Two partners are CCRI members.

The turnover of mining and quarrying in Europe reaches up to 224 billion Euros and has generated EUR 64.9 billion of value added, 1% of the non-financial business economy total. The rise of key enabling technologies and the urbanisation and industrialisation of emerging economies in combination with increase in population and living standards will continue to drive growing demand for raw materials. The need to extract raw materials in a profitable, environmentally sound, and safe way for both mining workforce and communities is driving the mining industry towards innovative approaches to transform operations. Even though Industry 4.0 offers a wide spectrum of solutions, and intelligent technologies to address respective challenges, the mining industry hesitates to adopt such innovative approaches when compared to downstream industries. In addition, the need for a human-centred, environmentally oriented and society-driven approach is emerging in developing Industrial Internet of Things technologies for mining. Dig_IT will address the needs of the mining industry to move forward towards a sustainable use of resources while keeping people and environment at the forefront of their priorities. In order to achieve that Dig_IT proposes the development of a smart Industrial Internet of Things platform (IIoTp) that will improve the efficiency and sustainability of mining operations by connecting cyber and physical systems. The platform will collect data from sensors at 3 levels: (i) human, (ii) assets, (iii) environment and will also incorporate both market real time and historical data. The impact of Dig_IT to the European Mining industry, but also the society itself, can be summarised in the following (with a horizon of 4 years after project ends): (i) increase of the mining efficiency by 17%, (ii) increased OEE for machines and loading by 20% and 18% respectively, (iii) 19% reduction of CO2eq, (iv) about 310 new jobs created and (v) over 28M EUR ROI for the consortium.

EmergeNOW uses digital, molecular tools for rapid CBS, HLB detection, enabling early warning at EU import points. Consortium introduces novel tools and autonavigated robots for inspectors: a) on-site Phyllosticta citricarpa (P.c) and Candidatus Liberibacter’ (Ca. L) species rapid detection a molecular tool based on Recombinase Polymerase Amplification kits, b)Fluorescent Array-based Sensing Technology for P.c and Ca.L rapid detection, c) Artificial Intelligence- powered mobile apps for rapid CBS and HLB image analysis detection integrated with low-cost hyperspectral imagers, d) UAVs for AI-based RGB and hyperspectral imaging of abiotic and biotic symptom response of CBS and HLB and similar to these; e) Autonomous Mobile Robots for HLB and CBS AI imaging symptoms detection discriminate from abiotic stress. Also, deployment plans are in place for detecting the vector Diaphorina citri (ACP), Trioza erytreae (T.e ), and Cacopsylla citrisuga (C.c) by: f) e-Nose sensors, g) AI - based robotic traps for real time detection and monitoring, and h) AI-powered mobile apps for their early detection. Τhese systemic innovations could be incorporated in the EFSA Survey Cards. Digital tools link in systemic alert system with blockchain, ML analytics and will enable informed decisions for import control. Focusing on showcasing real problem scenarios, the developed tools and methods will be initially tested and optimised in biosecure enviroments at Plant Health Centers (PHC) and afterwards validated in citrus orchards in USA (CBS, HLB, ACP), Uganda (CBS, HLB, T.e), Vietnam (HLB, ACP, C.c), and in Cyprus (ACP). The optimised tools will be demonstrated in authorized Border Control Posts in Greece, Italy, Spain and Cyprus.

Nature uses foam or sponge-like structures in various organisms for purposes like shock absorption, noise reduction, and vibration compensation in a remarkable example of evolutionary adaptation and functional design. On the other hand, many products still rely on non-sustainable materials of fossil-based origin, for example foams and elastomeric used for vibratory motion, sound, harshness, energy, and shock-impact absorption in industries such as automotive, aerospace and marine. Example of such Noise Vibration and Harshness (NVH) materials are rubber and engineering resins. Bio.3DGREEN develops and demonstrates a novel manufacturing approach for a cost-effective bio-inspired platform of bio-based components based on graphene foam (GF) to meet the industrial needs, i.e. vibration, sound and shock-impact absorption and durability in extreme conditions. Bio.3DGREEN democratizes graphene technology and enables the unscalable fabrication of graphene-based components of complex geometries to be demonstrated at TRL 6 through a high throughput, laser-based Additive Manufacturing (AM) procedure. The procedure is bio-inspired, mimicking structures such as the human bone, and is based solely on bio-based graphene system with vegetable oil as the raw material, resulting in carbon-positive manufacturing of the new components. Bio.3DGREEN demonstrates the superior bio-based GF parts in four different industries, aiming to drive the optimization of the new manufacturing approach through an application-driven approach: Automotive suspension systems & isolation panels, aerospace applications and quiet shipping. Bio.3DGREEN achieves a multi-disciplinary approach to develop, optimize, and improve smart manufacturing application-driven, bio-based GF components, also considering the performance of current materials used, their cost, market size, wastage and recyclability, sustainability of manufacturing process, inclusion in Europe’s circular economy and LCA, LCC aspects.

The industry is facing surmounting challenges today, such as deeper mining, social license to operate, access to land, higher production rates, but at a lower cost and more challenging environments, both underground and on the surface. Innovative mining technologies, research and education are required through bridging of business, research, and education, to enable a sustainable, efficient, and successful mining industry now and in the future. MASTERMINE proposes a structural multilevel change for the mining operations, focusing on the top-down axis of Culture, Strategy and Tactics. Culture refers to the intrinsic change for the EU mines, to understand the value of digitalization and environmental sustainability We address the Strategy pillar for the mine, by designing high-level modules that address real industrial challenges. We lead the digital transformation of mines through CYBERMINE, we foster autonomous and electric operations along with smart monitoring and maintenance through AUTOMINE, we ensure safety and stability in critical structures using GEOMINE, in GREENMINE we enhance the environmental sustainability of the mines by improving energy consumption, air quality and GHG emissions, water savings and waste valorisation. In METAMINE, we build a virtual world for the EU mines, introducing the concept of the mining metaverse hosting all the technologies, along with Digital Twins and Business Intelligence to provide simulation and decision support. Finally, we make the EU mine OURMINE, by bringing the communities together, build trust around the sustainability compliance of the raw material and fostering social innovation. We are going to demonstrate our approach in 5 EU demo cases and one replication demo in South Africa. Our mining partners offer access to a total of 11 mines around Europe, producing 10 different raw materials, including 5 CRMs (Cobalt, Tungsten, Coking Coal, Phophate Rock and Platinum).