Projects Database

Innovative Belgian funding scheme helps vulnerable homeowners renovate their houses

In Ghent, in Belgium’s Flemish Region, the ICCARus project is helping homeowners living in poor-quality housing who lack the means to renovate. ICCARus provides up to EUR 30 000 towards renovations per household. This amount – plus part of any increase in the value of the house – is only repaid when the house is alienated. The repayments finance new renovation projects. Residents do not supply financing themselves; rather a EUR 50 000 mortgage is taken out on each house as a guarantee.

  de | fr | nl

RANTA: Finnish project improves demolition waste reuse

To promote the circular economy, Finland’s RANTA project identified and tested innovative ways of reusing construction material from public buildings after their demolition. It worked on three test cases to give local authorities practical examples for making procedures more resource efficient and meeting targets set in the EU’s Circular Economy Package and Finland's National Waste Plan.

  fi

Blue Circular Economy: turning waste fishing gear into business opportunities in the far north

An initiative based in the Northern Periphery and Arctic regions of Europe is cleaning up the environment while helping local SMEs turn waste into new opportunities. Blue Circular Economy (BCE) is a transnational project that supports the transformation of discarded fishing gear and marine plastic waste into recycled products. The project covers some of the most distant oceans and seas around Norway, Greenland, Ireland, and the United Kingdom.

  fr

European cities join forces to deliver blue-green infrastructure projects

Ten European cities are delivering a range of socially innovative blue-green infrastructure (BGI) pilots through the BEGIN cross-border project. Initiatives such as building green corridors and sustainable urban drainage systems are helping cities respond to extreme weather, while boosting community cohesion and improving the environment. As well as making participating cities healthier and better places to live, the project is reducing flood risks by up to 30 %.

  de | fr | nl | sv

Cross-border project between Sweden and Denmark tackles infertility

According to the World Health Organisation, 15 to 20 % of all couples experience infertility, which is a huge medical and social problem. A cross-border project covering the Öresund region of Denmark and Sweden is examining this issue and aims to become a world leader in overcoming infertility by developing new prevention strategies and more effective treatments. And thanks to specially designed agreement, patients can cross the border to find the most effective help. 

  da | sv

Zero-emission heating provided by geothermal energy in Montieri, Italy

Thanks to a completely new, geothermal steam heating system, the entire region of Montieri can now access an emission-free heat source. An EU-funded project sustainably provides hot water and heating all year round to homes and local buildings. As a bonus, prices for the energy-efficient heat source are low – a better deal than gas or methane.

  it

A cure for the medical research-to-market gap

To tighten up the medical value chain, the EU-funded InfectoGnostics Research Campus Jena project brings together science, industry und clinics in Germany’s Thuringia region. The result is more devices for diagnostic testing being brought to market quicker.

  de

Increasing political consciousness among young people in Berlin

Based in the Berlin district of Moabit, the High Five project has increased political awareness among local 15-25-year-olds through the organisation of year-round weekly workshops, 14-day summer schools and two annual youth assemblies in autumn. These events helped young people recognise opportunities for political participation and gave them a platform on which to express their views – in some cases directly to politicians.

  de

France, UK take the Cool Food Challenge

Food accounts for nearly a fifth of our individual carbon footprints. Although this can be lowered, doing so requires individuals to adopt more sustainable food choices – choices that most people simply don’t know about. But thanks to the Cool Food Challenge, an EU-funded initiative between the UK and France, there’s a fun, interactive way to make smart, sustainable food choices.

  fr

Promoting 3D metal printing in South Karelia, Finland

To promote the use of 3D printing for producing metal industrial parts, the Metal 3D Innovations (Me3DI) project has formed a regional knowledge cluster in South Karelia, Finland. Comprising engineers, designers, providers of industrial systems and materials, research centres and users of metal parts, the cluster has gained wider access to 3D printing expertise, resources and services. The resulting digitalisation of cluster members’ work processes increases their capacity to innovate and gives them a competitive advantage.

  fi