The European Commission’s final call for innovation projects under the Horizon 2020 research program aimed to fund technical and social innovations that accelerate a just and sustainable transition to a climate-neutral Europe by 2050, with a remarkable budget of €1 billion. Among the 73 selected projects was AURORA.
The Board of Coordinators, a gathering of project coordinators from these selected initiatives, convened to foster networking and idea exchange. The meeting, featured Dr. John Bell, Director at the Healthy Planet Division of DG-RTD, and Emilie Vandam, a policy officer in DG-RTD. They informed coordinators about the 30 legislative proposals currently under development by the European Commission, with a detailed focus on the 8 directives already adopted by the European Council. Some directives are particularly relevant to citizens, such as those within the consumer package, aiming to legislate product information for clearer consumer choices and to combat greenwashing. The focus is on promoting product repair rather than replacement with new items.
During the meeting, progress updates were provided for projects across various Green Deal areas: Health, Food, Knowledge and Citizens, Clean Energy, Urban and Environment, and Mobility, Climate Change, and Biodiversity.
AURORA is part of the Knowledge and Citizens cluster alongside projects like COMPAIR, SOCIO-BEE, GREENSCENT, ECF4CLIM, PSLIFESTYLE, and i-change. The event featured presentations from SOCIO-BEE and GREENSCENT, showcasing their developments in the field.
