AGROECOLOGY, the European Partnership ‘Accelerating Farming Systems Transition: Agroecology Living Labs and Research Infrastructures’, is an ambitious, large-scale European research and innovation endeavour between the EC and 26 Member States (MS), Associated Countries (AC) and Third Countries. AGROECOLOGY will support an agriculture sector that is fit to meet the targets and challenges of climate change, biodiversity loss, food security and sovereignty, and the environment, while ensuring a profitable and attractive activity for farmers. Major change is needed to make the agriculture sector more sustainable, resilient and responsive to societal and policy demands. Agroecology builds on natural, biological interactions while using state-of-the-art science, technology and innovation based on farmers’ knowledge. It represents a promising approach with the potential to respond to challenges faced by the European agriculture sector and to meet its needs. Real-life testing and experimentation environments, living labs are an appropriate instrument to accelerate the agroecology transition. Research infrastructures will also contribute to making scientific knowledge on agroecology available for this transition. Together these instruments will allow for ambitious experimentation at different scales, merging science and practice, to provide science-based evidence on the effects of novel approaches and accelerate the agroecology transition. AGROECOLOGY will pool the resources of the EC and the states involved to fund high-level research generating appropriate knowledge and technologies aligned with the core themes described in the Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda, while also implementing a series of supporting activities to inform, consult, advise and involve different stakeholders to build capacities, raise awareness and manage and exchange the knowledge and data created.

Duration: 01/01/2024 - 31/12/2030

Principal researcher: prof. Ing. Vladimír Sedlařík, Ph.D. 

About the project

This project, undertaken in partnership with AGRICO Qatar, Qatar Petrochemical Company (QAPCO), and Qatar University's Center for Advanced Materials (CAM), aims to develop and test thermal storage systems optimized for cooling in greenhouses.

Project duration: 07/2022 -07/2024 

Principal researcher: Ing. Miroslav Mrlík, Ph.D. 

Project titled "Biodegradable metal development and surface functionalization V4 network" funded by Visegrad Fund.

The project aims at a creation of a network of biomaterial scientists based in V4 countries (Slovakia, Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland) in the process of a new biodegradable metallic scaffold development and surface funcionalization.

The project starts on May, 20th 2023 and ends at September 30th, 2024.

Partners: 

Project coordinator: Jozef Pavol Šafárik University in Košice, Slovakia

Project partner: Budapešti Múszaki és Gazdaságtudományi Egyetem, Hungary

Project partner: Uniwersytet Medyczny v Lublinie, Poland

https://biomatv4net.science.upjs.sk/

The EU project SMHYLES is developing novel salt- and water-based hybrid energy storage systems on an industrial scale. SMHYLES started in January 2024 and will run until December 2027. The project is coordinated by the Fondazione Bruno Kessler, Centre for Sustainable Energy (Italy), and is being carried out in cooperation with 15 other partners from Germany, Italy, Portugal, Switzerland, Spain, the Czech Republic, and Tunisia. The EU is funding the project under the European Framework Programme for Research and Innovation "Horizon Europe" with around €6 million.

Project name: SMHYLES (Grant Agreement Nr. 101138029) - Safe, sustainable and modular Hybrid systems for Long-duration Energy storage and grid Services
Duration: 01/2024 – 12/2027
Programme: Horizon Europe
Total EU funding amount: approx. EUR 6 million
Funding: European Union

Project coordination: Fondazione Bruno Kessler, Italy, https://www.fbk.eu/en, Centre for Sustainable Energy (https://energy.fbk.eu)

Project partners:
Landshut University of Applied Sciences, Germany, https://www.haw-landshut.de/en

Fraunhofer Institute for Chemical Technology ICT, Germany, https://www.ict.fraunhofer.de/en  Bavarian Research Alliance, Germany, www.bayfor.org/en 
CIRCE, Spain, https://www.fcirce.es/en/
SCHMID Energy Systems GmbH, Germany, https://schmid-group.com/de/

C2C-NewCap, Portugal, www.c2cnewcap.com
SONICK S.p.A., Italy, https://www.fzsonick.com/
Capwatt, Portugal,  https://www.capwatt.com/en

Capwatt Services, Portugal, https://www.capwatt.com/en
Graciolica Lda., Portugal, https://www.linkedin.com/company/graciolica/
INESC TEC, Portugal, https://www.inesctec.pt/en
Tomas Bata University in Zlín, Czech Republic, https://www.utb.cz/en
INDRIVETEC AG, Switzerland, https://www.indrivetec.com/

RINA Consulting, Italy, https://www.rina.org/en
Comete Engineering International, Tunisia, https://www.rina.org/en/companies/comete-engineering

Press contact

Project coordinator:

Edoardo Gino Macchi
Head of Battery and Electrification Technologies Unit – BET

Centre for Sustainable Energy – SE

Fondazione Bruno Kessler - FBK
Phone: +39 0461 314 887
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  

Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or CINEA. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.

Interreg Programme Danube Region Co-funded by the European Union

Project duration: 01.01. 2024- 30.06 2026.

Mission:

"Transformation of the PLASTICS and MACHINE INDUSTRY into a circular economy, using a design thinking methodology"

To develop a vision for a transformed plastics value chain designed for circularity, demonstrating the benefits of reuse/recycling of plastics and maintenance, redistribution, refurbishing/remanufacturing and recycling of machines. Prototype solutions of plastics products + machine concepts designed for circularity to demonstrate the benefits of recycling/reuse/remanufacturing through innovative business cases.

Working Plans:

Transformation of the PLASTICS INDUSTRY into a circular economy, using a design thinking methodology

Transformation of the MACHINE INDUSTRY into a circular economy, using a design thinking methodology

Circular Transformation Roadmap of PLASTICS VALUE CHAIN- plastics processing firms +machine manufacturers

The project Plan-C is mostly targeting the mobilization of the plastics and plastics processing machine industry for a clean and circular economy and follows the goal of leaving no one behind and understanding the economic challenges and financial opportunities of the transition into a greener industry.

This project aims to enable companies to recognize the potential of a green and circular economy in the Danube Region.

The project Plan-C combines both, a wide deployment of its results and objectives but also close support and assisting activities for specific SMEs + small midcaps that will then be part of a greener and more sustainable industry and strategic development of an Action Plan.

Project Summary:

Plastics are a versatile material omnipresent in modern life, but by far not sufficiently recirculated after first use. The goal of the EU circular economy action plan, i.e. a recycling quote of plastics packaging of 50% until 2025, remains challenging, for the Western countries and even more for the South/Eastern Danube region that shows severe deficits in waste management systems and a lack of industrial processing knowledge for the recirculation of secondary plastics materials. The Plan-C project consortium of 14 partners from DE, AT, CZ, SK, HU, RS, BiH, RO, and MD aims to boost the transformation of the plastics value chain in the Danube Region towards circularity through the transnational cooperation of plastics processors/producers and the machine industry. Close cooperation among partners across the Danube Region countries is required to introduce a fundamental change in this complex plastics value chain,
implying a radical shift of mindsets, behaviour, and business paradigms. As a result, the main actors in the value chain - plastics producers and machine firms - increase their competitiveness, which contributes to the achievement of the EUSDR PA8 goals. Based on a transnational technology transfer and utilizing a design thinking process, the PPs + plastics producers co-create and immediately demonstrate circular plastics prototypes. The resulting Circular Plastics Guideline aims at building up knowledge and capacities for its practical implementation in regional companies. The Associated Strategic Partners ASPs together with further involved policy stakeholders ensure the transfer of the related Strategy for enhancing circularity
in the plastics industry to RIS3. Similarly, PPs + machine firms analyze, ideate, and prototype circular solutions for each machine life cycle phase and create related digital business models along the whole machine life cycle, summarized in a Guideline for circularity in the machine industry. The related Strategy for boosting circularity in the machine industry ensures transfer to the RIS3 of the partner countries, with strong support from ASPs. Both actor groups - PPs and at least 140 enterprises from the plastics + machine industry in the Danube region - are joining forces to develop a vision for a transformed plastics value chain designed for circularity, demonstrating the benefits of reuse/recycling of plastics and
maintenance, redistribution, refurbishing/remanufacturing and recycling of machines. The final Transnational Action Plan to anchor circular economy in the holistic plastics value chain addresses SMEs,
large enterprises, BSOs, sectoral agencies, and public authorities. At least 70 organizations will increase
their capacities to implement circular concepts along the plastics value chain.

Data Management Plan (DMP) is a mandatory annex to the research project.

You can fill out the DMP for any project or the form for reporting to the ethics committee on the website dsw.ptlab.utb.cz.  In case of access to the system outside the university network, you must use VPN.

Rector's Directive SR/10/2024 Responsibility of the operation principal including project investigators

Rector's Directive No. SR/42/2023 - Secure Research Data Management at Tomas Bata University in Zlín

Presentation of the concept of development projects for the following period

Call for Proposals CPS 24+ DP

Terms of Reference CPS 24+ DP

Project proposal

Definition of indicators

RP/CPS/2024-28/001 - Composite Biopolymers, 2024-2028, Research team Biomaterials
Mgr. Jan Vícha, Ph.D.