Direct Air Capture Pre-Commercial EPIC Prize

Advancing integrated scenarios and prediction models for informing transition to a nature positive society is sponsored by European Commission — Horizon Europe. Expected Outcome: Project results are expected to contribute to all the following expected outcomes: advanced knowledge and understanding how ecosystems respond to multiple plausible futures shaped by human-induced pressures, supporting the design of long-term, nature positive and equitable policies; strengthened collaboration across bio-physical , socio-economic and humanities disciplines, resulting in more integrated and robust scenario frameworks that capture interactions, trade-offs and synergies across biodiversity, climate, food, water, air, health, energy and economy; advancement of comprehensive ecosystem prediction models and scenario-based assessments that integrate direct and indirect drivers of biodiversity loss, applicable across terrestrial, freshwater and marine ecosystems; a consistent and transparent framework for model intercomparison and cross-scale scenario building, improving the relevance and usability of modelling outputs for policy , business and international assessments (e.g., IPBES, International Panel on Climate Change - IPCC). Scope: To address the objectives of the European Green Deal, the EU biodiversity strategy for 2030, the EU Nature Restoration Regulation and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), as well as Sustainable Development Goals, actions funded under this topic should support the scientific development of A) integrated scenarios, B) predictive models and C) model intercomparison experiments for Member States and Associated Countries. Developments should be verified in case studies covering at least 2 European biogeographic regions [1] and spanning key economic sectors to inform systemic policy transformations and enable long-term planning for a nature positive society. Proposals should: design and develop components of a European integrated prediction and scenario framework to forecast how natural ecosystems respond to a wide range of human-induced ecosystem interactions including climate change, pollution, socio-economic transitions such as conflicts, pressures, and policy interventions. These frameworks should link ecosystem functions with key economic sectors, such as agriculture and fisheries, and test their resilience and tipping points under multiple plausible futures; make use of long-term monitoring data across biodiversity, land use, climate, and socio-economic variables to improve reliability and real-world relevance. They should also quantify uncertainty in model projections and ensure scenarios incorporate dynamic feedback loops between ecosystems and socio-economic systems, and identify risk distributions relevant to frontline socio-ecological communities; test and assess the suitability of the IPBES Nature Futures Framework for European application and align modelling approaches with international efforts and assessments under IPBES and IPCC. Proposals should seek to address knowledge gaps identified by the relevant IPBES assessments and if appropriate provide recommendations to policymakers; advance model intercomparison capabilities to improve robustness, consistency and transparency in scenario-based assessments. To this end, the suitability of remote sensing data for scalability and intercomparison between different models and across different regions should be assessed. Proposals should include case studies that cover at least two European biogeographic regions with global relevance to verify the developed scenarios, models and intercomparison experiments. Case studies should consider different geographical scales and explore ecosystem tele coupling across Europe and beyond. Scenario development should involve relevant stakeholders—including public authorities, economic sectors, and civil society—in co-creating narratives and ensuring policy applicability. Socio-economic transitions and equity and justice considerations concerning trade-offs and distributional impacts across regions and communities (i.e. across biodiversity, climate, food, water, Programme areas: Horizon Europe (HORIZON), Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness, Food, Bioeconomy Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment, Biodiversity and Natural Resources Keywords: Biodiversity conservation, Biological systems analysis, modelling and simulation, Earth Observation / Services and applications, Ecology, EU biodiversity strategy, Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, biodiversity, climate change, drivers of biodiversity loss, earth observation, freshwater ecosystems, intercomparison, marine ecosystems, model, modelling, nature conservation, scenario, terrestrial ecosystems

Digital solutions for regulatory compliance through data is sponsored by European Commission — Digital Europe Programme. Expected Impact: The objective is to deliver three to four projects that demonstrate the streamlining of regulatory reporting through automated and trusted sharing of compliance data. Each project will address the governance, technical, legal, and processing aspects of the solution. Objective: Specific Objective 2 of the Digital Europe Programme aims to reinforce the EU’s core Artificial Intelligence (AI) capacities as a crucial driver for the digital transformation of the public and private sectors. The vision is to make Europe an AI continent, thriving on the development, integration and adoption of AI. As one of the financial instruments of the upcoming Apply AI Strategy, SO2 will support the development of world class AI models in the EU and foster the integration of AI technologies into EU’s most strategic sectors, including healthcare, energy and research. It will stimulate new industrial uses of AI and improve the delivery of various public services. In addition, it will support the deployment of new digital solutions for regulatory compliance through data. The objective is to reduce the administrative burden of enterprises by applying advanced digital technologies to automatise the reporting process. Objectives This objective will support projects testing digital solutions for transmitting information relevant for compliance with EU legislation (e.g. regulations on environmental issues) and automate the compliance process for a number of pilot use cases. These projects will target regulatory reporting requirements, from aggregate data (e.g., company balance sheets) to detailed data (e.g., transactions, events, and product registrations). The aim is to leverage advanced technologies, including data capturing technologies, automatic transmission, analysis, cloud storage, and encryption, to ensure data security, confidentiality, and regulatory compliance. The strong focus should be given to privacy-preserving technologies to ensure trust between the reporting entity and regulatory authorities, safeguarding data confidentiality while enabling secure and efficient compliance processes. Additionally, the projects will identify burdensome administrative challenges in the selected sectors that could be addressed by automated data-driven solutions, while close collaboration with reporting entities will be essential to enable direct communication with regulatory agencies for automated updates and ensure compliance with evolving regulations. The approach will prioritize access controls and audit trails to enhance transparency and reduce the risk of non-compliance and penalties. Furthermore, the projects could incorporate the European Digital Identity Wallet, when available, to securely identify individuals and legal entities in data spaces, alongside trust services like electronic seals and ledgers. Scope: The activities funded under this initiative will focus on the following aspects: Technical aspects: Utilize advanced technologies such as privacy-preserving technologies, data capturing technologies, automatic transmission and analysis, cloud storage and encryption for data security and compliance with regulations. Implement comprehensive APIs to enable real-time compliance and self-compliance checks. Employ machine learning algorithms for automated monitoring and reporting. Where possible , use precisely defined concepts available in the data catalogue entries of Common European Data Spaces enabling deterministic data collection. Establish direct communication channels with regulatory authorities for automated updates and reporting, keeping the system updated with changing regulations (e.g. by expressing the reporting requirements in machine readable and executable way). Ensure robust access control and maintain audit trails for transparency and accountability. Minimize the risk of non-compliance and potential penalties through these technological and procedural safeguards. Integrate the European Digital Identity Wallet for se Programme areas: DIGITAL Keywords: Artificial intelligence, Cloud, Edge and Virtualisation, Digital Services and Platforms, advanced digital technologies, cloud storage, data capturing technologies, data security, digital solutions, regulatory compliance through data, regulatory reporting requirements, reporting process