BRIGAID Connect: Partner in two EU Projects

BRIGAID Connect Association, in which Prof. Phoebe Koundouri is a founding member, is a research driven incubator that turn innovation ideas into real climate adaptation solutions. BRIGAID Connect is a solution provider for the ambitious climate adaptation strategy .  This Association is the outcome of an EU-funded project BRIGAID (2016-2020) and engages over 120 climate adaptation innovations in an advanced stage of development. The project evaluated 125 innovations from across Europe, selecting 40 of them to participate in a collaborative technical readiness assessment, and accompanying 26 more through its market readiness programme. These innovations are showcased in the project’s “shop window”, the Climate Innovation Window (CIW). This platform is now operated by BRIGAID Connect, an international association of former BRIGAID consortium partners whose aim is to continue the project’s mission and build upon its legacy.

BRIGAID Connect is a partner of (H2020) ARSINOE: Climate Resilient Regions Through Systemic Solutions and Innovations project with a total budget of 15 million euros and coordinated by Prof. Chrysi Laspidou, University of Thessaly and co-led by Prof. Phoebe Koundouri and Prof. Lydia Vamvakeridou-Lyroudia. It brings together 41 partners from 15 countries and intends to be a game-changer for shaping pathways to resilience by delivering regional innovation packages that build an ecosystem to develop and implement innovative climate change adaptation measures and solutions across Europe. In ARSINOE, already at the proposal-writing stage, the Climate Innovation Window (CIW) acts as a precursor portfolio of solutions for the case studies. All the innovations published in the CIW benefit from BRIGAID Connect’s integrated network, which includes various stakeholder groups from across Europe. This network was built through: i) the involvement of end-users in the identification and testing of BRIGAID’s most promising innovations; ii) the creation of eight ‘communities of innovation’ for knowledge exchange and to foster mutual learning; and iii) the participation in the design and implementation of demonstration events. Access to this network has often translated in direct exchange with potential paying customers and end-users, generating valuable insight into their needs, priorities and requirements. By incorporating this first-hand market intelligence into their product development process, innovators can build more user-centric solutions, increasing market fit and competitiveness. As a result, BRIGAID Connect effectively provides a preliminary portfolio of solutions that are in most cases currently ready for market uptake or in their final stage of development, and that can be considered for ARSINOE’s Regional Innovation Packages. Furthermore, BRIGAID Connect has recently established strong and active links with other related projects and initiatives in the fields of Climate Change Adaptation, Disaster Risk Reduction and Nature Based Solutions (e.g. weADAPT, PLACARD Connectivity Hub, MyClimateServices.eu, Connecting Nature) and therefore is in a very good position to expand its inventory of solutions with the climate innovations developed and identified in other actions. ARSINOE will exploit the BRIGAID CIW by introducing the Innovation Bazaar Funding Scheme for innovators. This consortium brings together more members of the Alliance of Excellence for Research and Innovation on Αephoria (AE4RIA), directed by Prof. Phoebe Koundouri, besides BRIGAID Connect. Research Laboratory on Socio-Economic and Environmental Sustainability (ReSEES) at the Athens University of Economics and Business is the Leader of WP7: Financial issues and financing instruments/Business models, the leader of “Case study 2: Mediterranean ports” and is heavily involved at the Athens & Black Sea case studies. The Sustainable Development Unit, at “Athena” Research Center will contribute to the project through its valuable experience and know-how in innovation (Systems Innovation Approach-SIA), in the participation and activation of stakeholders (Stakeholders Engagement) and as a hub for intelligent data and virtual reality (VR and Data Intelligence Hub).

BRIGAID Connect is also partner in (H2020) ΜΑΙΑ+ (Maximising impact and accessibility of European climate research) project, which will act as an impact multiplier by providing social structures, technological and outreach activities to accompany, potentiate and help maximise the impact of climate research projects funded under Horizon Europe. MAIA constitute the response from a group of coordinators and core partners from seven H2020 precursor projects in climate change research (BINGO, BRIGAID, CLARITY, Connecting Nature, DRIVER+, PLACARD and RESCCUE). In these projects, driven by the EC’s advice to identify synergies and spark collaboration, we liaised and detected a clear need for increased connectivity and a more robust approach to synergies management as means to unlock more meaningful and impact-oriented interactions. MAIA pivots around connectivity as a key enabling factor for an effective outreach. Therefore, we are envisioning specific actions for enhancing i) the connectivity of existing communities (consolidation and activation of a Pan-European community of problem owners, solution providers, and enablers); ii) the connectivity of knowledge and technological infrastructure (creation of the MAIA Portal); and iii) the connectivity of the EU climate research (coordinating an EU climate change research Cluster).

MAIA will apply behavioral psychology coupled with behavioral economics to address a core issue for an effective exploitation of solutions and tools: how to transform the scientific knowledge into actionable knowledge. As a testbed for this Approach, MAIA will apply this knowledge to move forward the idea of the “Payments for Adaptation Services” schemes, a social innovation, partly developed within BRIGAID H2020 project, with a high potential for supporting multi-actor agreements that enable the implementation of solutions and actions (that otherwise are not being implemented). We will also build on the experience gained in BRIGAID project, where a group of partners have built a new legal entity (i.e. BRIGAID-connect,) project collaboration platform focusing on the joint exploitation of the methods and tools generated within this project.

More specifically, BRIGAID Connect will contribute at: Task 1.1. Inventory of climate change research groups and social networks: stakeholder characterisation and context mapping, Task 2.5. Initiate the Network of Climate Adaptation and Mitigation Knowledge Platforms, Subtask 3.5.2. Business planning, funding and finance support targeted at independent entrepreneurs, spin-offs, startups and SMEs.