Successful Horizon Europe Pillar 2 projects with New Zealand partners

This funding was used to pay for overheads associated with a New Zealand organisation's participation in a Horizon Europe Pillar 2 project HyDRA - Diagnostic Tools and Risk Protocols To Accelerate Underground Hydrogen Storage.  Further information about this Horizon Pillar 2 project is available at the website below or contact GNS Science

HyDRA(external link)

Contact us(external link) — GNS Science | Te Pῡ Ao

The HyDRA project aims to understand how hydrogen-consuming microbes interact with geological formations used for hydrogen storage. This research seeks to establish guiding principles to mitigate risks and accelerate the development of porous underground storage systems for hydrogen.

The project has 10 clearly defined objectives, including:

• Developing standardized protocols for field sampling and bio-geochemical laboratory methods.
• Mapping microbial taxonomic and functional diversity in Europe and New Zealand.
• Creating models to upscale laboratory findings for site-specific microbial risk assessments.
• Delivering a fast-track site selection tool with a predictive microbial risk index.
• Updating guidelines to support storage site operators in identifying and managing site-specific risks.

GNS Science, led by Dr Peter Rendel and Dr Karen Houghton, will work to identify microbes present in existing and potential hydrogen storage sites, understand their metabolic capabilities, and investigate geochemical interactions between hydrogen, reservoir rocks, and fluids. The team will also conduct combined microbial and geochemical experiments to assess how rock properties influence microbial activity and how microbial processes, in turn, affect the rock.

The GuardIAS project is an ambitious initiative aimed at transforming aquatic environment governance and management in Europe. Its primary goal is to align with the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 and the IAS Regulation, focusing on mitigating the impacts of invasive alien species (IAS) on biodiversity, ecosystem services, and human health. GuardIAS plans to utilize advanced science, technology, and artificial intelligence to develop innovative tools and methodologies. These tools will be instrumental in preventing, detecting, eradicating, and managing IAS.

The project is set to advance through interdisciplinary collaboration, integrating data from various sources to create comprehensive IAS impact profiles and management strategies. A significant aspect of GuardIAS is stakeholder engagement and societal involvement. This will be achieved through Citizen Science initiatives and innovative engagement strategies (such as serious games and BioArtBlitz events), aiming to involve the wider community in addressing IAS challenges.

GuardIAS will also establish robust solutions for IAS management at multiple governance levels, from local to international. The project will include the development of beyond-the-state-of-the-art technologies and methodologies, such as nano-coatings for marine vessels to prevent IAS spread and eDNA approaches for efficient detection. Additionally, GuardIAS will conduct macroecological and biogeographic analyses to assess IAS risks under various future scenarios, including climate change.

The project's comprehensive approach, encompassing science, technology, and community engagement, positions it as a key player in the EU's efforts to preserve biodiversity and protect ecosystems from the growing threat of invasive species. GuardIAS is not only a response to current environmental challenges but also a proactive step towards sustainable management and conservation of aquatic environments in Europe.

This funding was used to pay for overheads associated with a New Zealand organisation's participation in a Horizon Europe Pillar 2 project, "GuardIAS".

Further information about this Horizon Pillar 2 project:

GuardIAS - Guarding European Waters from IAS(external link) — European Commission

Contact info@nai.org.nz

The University of Auckland is a proud leading partner in the Horizon Europe-funded project “Intercultural and Transcultural Competence Through Collaborative Cultural Expression” (INTRACOMP). This initiative addresses critical global challenges such as forced migration, social inclusion, and cultural diversity by fostering intercultural and transcultural competence through the performing arts.

Globally led by Professor Nicholas Rowe, the project brings together a consortium of 13 universities and arts organizations. At the University of Auckland, the research is led by Professor Marek Tesar, Principal Investigator and Lead Researcher. The University’s contributions focus on creating transformative educational frameworks and innovative policy interventions, particularly for global and regional arts education systems.

The INTRACOMP project integrates expertise from diverse disciplines, as It aims to challenge outdated cultural hierarchies and foster equitable spaces for cultural expression and collaboration. A key aspect of the University of Auckland’s involvement is its focus on redefining how arts education supports inclusion, diversity, and sustainability, extending the project’s insights to the Global South. Through a transdisciplinary approach, the University of Auckland is helping to develop comprehensive frameworks for lifelong learning in the performing arts. These frameworks aim to empower educators, learners, and cultural practitioners with tools to address the complex demands of global collaboration and cultural interaction.

By participating in INTRACOMP, the University reaffirms its dedication to transformative research and innovation, fostering equity and cultural democracy worldwide. This project represents a vital opportunity to bridge global divides, inspire creative solutions, and ensure that diverse voices find meaningful spaces to contribute to our shared futures. This commitment aligns with the University’s broader mission to engage in impactful research, address global inequities, and support inclusive societies through education and collaboration.

This funding was used to pay for overheads associated with a New Zealand organisation’s participation in a Horizon Europe Pillar 2 project (OneSTOP). Contact philip.hulme@lincoln.ac.nz

The overarching objective of OneSTOP is to pioneer an innovative and joined-up approach to biosecurity for terrestrial invasive alien species, strengthening the interconnections between animal, plant, human and environmental health.

OneSTOP aims to harness current technologies and citizen science, while overcoming challenges posed by dispersed and fragmentary processes, policies, and knowledge, to deliver methods for identification, early detection and surveillance of invasive alien species. OneSTOP aims to achieve transformative results to minimise the introduction, establishment and spread of invasive alien species by integrating cutting-edge detection methods, underpinned by prioritisation and robust models, alongside stakeholder engagement to inform harmonised policies and facilitate knowledge exchange.

Lincoln University will contribute expertise in biosecurity culturomics and e-biosecurity by assessing the trends in public information on biosecurity in multiple regions of the world, assess its accessibility to the general public, identify the sector interests most heavily represented and explore temporal trends in information content. The outcomes will be relevant for invasive alien species policy, noting the importance of enhancing collaboration and coordination across local, national, and regional scales, recognising that geographic boundaries do not confine the impact of these species. By adopting a holistic and interconnected approach, we will establish a strategy to achieve rapid and transformative progress in detecting, eradicating and controlling invasive alien animals and plants, ultimately contributing to a more secure and resilient environment.

This funding was used to pay for overheads associated with a New Zealand organisation’s participation in a Horizon Europe Pillar 2 project (REDESIGN). Contact andreas.wesener@lincoln.ac.nz

REDESIGN will support the transformation of local urban food systems by creating Food Value Systems (FVS). FVSs aim to strengthen urban resilience through food-led green urban and peri-urban infrastructure enhancement, foster participation in the food system of local communities, contribute to the quality and beauty of living places, and mitigate climate change through the integration of urban agriculture with the built environment. The FVSs will operate through the development and application of a “Learning Loop” methodology to accelerate innovation in all the steps of the food system and expand beyond the notion of ‘food chain’ to integrate the cultural, social and political dimensions of the transformation. To do so, it will feed on a newly created network which will consist of three main groups of actors: ‘observation’ cases, ‘implementation’ cases, and a board of cities.

The observation cases exemplify consolidated best practices involving local stakeholders. The implementation cases will become Living Labs, through which innovation in local food value networks will scale up at metropolitan and international levels enhancing the observation cases (closing the ‘learning loop’), and informing policy innovation and learning. Results will include regenerated neighbourhoods in the implementation cases, the setting of three Living Labs steering the Food Value Network, and a Learning Loop methodology, all scalable and replicable in other contexts.

Lincoln University (LU) is a specialist land-based university with focus areas in agriculture, ecology, landscape architecture, and environmental management. The School of Landscape Architecture at LU contributes expertise in urban design and resilience, urban agriculture and community gardens, urban ecology, and the design of integrated green-grey infrastructure.

The VALPOP project employs a multidisciplinary approach grounded in the social sciences and humanities (SSH) to better understand the fundamental transformation experienced by society, economics, and politics due to rising autocratisation and the global expansion of authoritarian rule.

The overarching aim of the VALPOP project is twofold. First, to explain how the structure of societal networks allows sub-groups to skew the creation and distribution of public goods in their favour. Second, to explain how the rule of law and populist politics affect the outcomes of such misappropriation and the attempts to turn public goods into club goods.

The project’s aims are broken down into 4 objectives that all contribute to safeguarding the democratic governance of institutions distributing public goods:

1. raise awareness about the importance of networks for constraining access to public goods,
2. enhance the control mechanisms governing the access to public goods,
3. increase the transparency of institutions, and
4. strengthen their legitimacy and trustworthiness through active citizen participation.

The VALPOP project will improve the under-standing of the creation and distribution of public goods and, thus, contribute to safeguarding fundamental rights related to active citizenship. It will ensure greater accountability, transparency, efficiency, and trustworthiness of institutions. This protects the rule of law and democracy in the context of public institutions and bridges gaps be-tween regions and generations regarding their access to public goods.

For further information about this Horizon Pillar 2 project, please contact Associate Professor Matt Raskovic at Auckland University of Technology at matt.raskovic@aut.ac.nz

This funding was used to pay for overheads associated with a New Zealand organisation's participation in a Horizon Europe Pillar 2 project (micro2MACRO).  Further information about this Horizon Pillar 2 project is available from tim.woodfield@otago.ac.nz 

Joint damage and tissue degeneration leads to osteoarthritis (OA) – the most prevalent of all musculoskeletal diseases – affecting 10-15% of all adults globally over the age of 60. The economic burden of OA-related care is rapidly increasing, putting pressure on already burdened global healthcare systems. Currently, the only real treatment for damage to joints, such as the hip or knee, is total joint replacement.

Emerging approaches to repair damaged joints only temporarily resolve symptoms and are not suitable for long-term repair or prevention of OA. A fundamental limitation is an inability to generate engineered tissues which mimic the complex structure and function of normal healthy musculoskeletal tissues (e.g. articular cartilage, meniscus), required to support joint-loading and pain-free joint motion.

Advances in 3D bioprinting have underpinned numerous important developments in the field of musculoskeletal tissue engineering, allowing more complex patient-specific implants and cellular architectures to be fabricated. However, current bioprinting strategies fail to address the different stages of tissue development known to direct functional tissue formation.

The goal of this micro2MACRO (m2M) project is to develop a new 3D bioprinting platform capable of printing cellular aggregates into personalised load-bearing grafts and guiding tissue growth into fully functional tissues, even within damaged or OA environments. This will be achieved via bioprinting aggregates into guiding scaffold structures in a highly accurate, scalable and automated manner. These scaffolds further organise tissue formation and provide medium-term (3-5 years) mechanical support to the regenerating tissue. These ambitious goals are realistically achievable as they build on the vast expertise of the project team in the field of bioprinting and cell-therapies.

The d@rts project aims to find out whether performing art forms such as music, dance and drama can help people to create dialogues and live together better across different cultures. The 3 year project is led by NORD University, Norway and involves 10 Research Partners and 17 Associate Partners. It is organized into 9 works packages, each with a leader, a team of researchers and with distinct outputs.

Dance Studies at University of Auckland, is one of the research partners and involved in 5 of the Work packages. The staff involved are Dr Sarah Foster-Sproull and Prof. Ralph Buck. Aotearoa/NZ is one of the Non-European countries invited to participate, valuing our expertise in developing dance curriculum and researching pedagogies within decolonial contexts.

The research question driving the 3 year project is: How can performing arts education, in formal and non-formal contexts, reimagine cultural literacy as a dialogical practice that enhances social cohesion and inclusion? That is, can dance, drama, music help people be more tolerant, understanding, empathetic in school and non- school contexts, and therefore help build more inclusive and cohesive societies.

dialoguing@rts(external link)

This funding was used to pay for overheads associated with a New Zealand organisation’s participation in a Horizon Europe Pillar 2 project EU-CIEMBLY: Creating an Inclusive European Citizens' Assembly.

EU-CIEMBLY addresses the need for the introduction of new forms of citizens’ participation and deliberation in EU political life and, particularly, an EU Citizens’ Assembly whose design and implementation fully addresses issues of intersectionality, inclusiveness, and equality.

This project focuses on creating new ways for EU citizens to participate in politics, through an EU Citizens' Assembly that prioritises inclusion and equality.

While there has been interest in improving how citizens can take part in EU democracy, past efforts have often failed to ensure all groups, especially marginalised ones, are included. This project aims to address these gaps.

It will create a framework and prototype for a Citizens' Assembly, which can be used at both the EU level and adapted for national and local use across EU member states.

The consortium includes the University of Coimbra (Portugal), University of Essex (UK), Universidad Complutense de Madrid (Spain), European Citizens Action Service (Belgium), University of the Witwatersrand Johannesburg (South Africa), Institute for Methods Innovation (Ireland), Aspon Consulting (Cyprus), Universita' Degli Studi Di Bergamo (Italy) Victoria University of Wellington (New Zealand), University of Waikato (New Zealand) and Make.Org (France). The total funding is EUR 2,998,845 for 48 months.

The funding was used to pay for overheads associated with the University of Waikato’s participation in the Horizon Europe project titled EU-CIEMBLY: Creating an Inclusive European Citizens’ Assembly (“Horizon Europe Project”).

This Horizon Europe Project focuses on enhancing the participation of EU citizens in the political process through the development of an inclusive and equitable EU Citizen’s Assembly.
 
While prior initiatives have explored avenues for increased citizen engagement within the EU, ensuring the inclusion of all groups, particularly those facing multiple, intersectional disadvantages, has often proven challenging. This Horizon Europe Project aims to address these shortcomings. At EU-CIEMBLY, the team is dedicated to advancing the principles of intersectionality, inclusiveness, and equality in deliberative democracy.

Creating an inclusive European Citizens’ Assembly(external link) — University of Waikato

This funding was used to pay for overheads associated with a New Zealand organisation's participation in a Horizon Europe Pillar 2 project (STELLA - Digital technologies for plant health, early detection, territory surveillance and phytosanitary measures).  Further information about this Horizon Pillar 2 project is available on the Horizon Europe NI website or contact Armin.werner@lincolnagritech.co.nz 

Pillar Two(external link) — Horizon Europe NI

Plant diseases cost the global economy >NZ$360 billion per annum. The project objective is to provide tools to establish a digital monitoring system for crop diseases and pests, focussing on eight diseases in six EU countries and New Zealand. Combining data from multiple sources, such as remote and proximal sensing of a crop, STELLA will develop models to assess the risk of a crop becoming infected with a targeted disease in any given season. A monitoring system that can access data from multiple sources to detect early disease outbreaks will contribute to global food security.

Lincoln Agritech is one of 14 research partners from research, SME, and governance contributing to this four-year project. Lincoln Agritech brings expertise in digital crop assessment for decision support, including early detection of the apple disease Neofabraea alba, which causes apple bull's eye rot in storage before export. 

Lincoln Agritech will lead one of STELLA’s six pilot use cases. The pilot will be established in two commercial orchards in Hawkes Bay to monitor the rain-splash spread and infection of N. alba and the impact of the disease on crop management and canopy features (e.g. density) in-orchard. 

The STELLA project complements work undertaken by New Zealand’s apple industry, including a Sustainable Food and Fibre Futures-funded project on N. alba. The STELLA project is enhancing New Zealand's research and development capabilities through new collaborations with international researchers. With 50% SME partners, the STELLA project also facilitates new European industry connections for New Zealand.

This funding was used to support the University of Otago’s participation in a Horizon Europe Pillar 2 project: ERDERA - European Rare Diseases Research Alliance. This is a significant consortium dedicated to improving the lives of people with rare disorders.

More than 170 organisations from 37 countries are members of the consortium, and this is the first time New Zealand has been able to join such an initiative.

The University of Otago will represent New Zealand in accessing advanced systems and approaches to help improve diagnosis rates for people with rare disorders both here and internationally. Additionally, the University of Otago is being funded to establish an inclusive national group to share knowledge, activity and provide momentum to help drive improvements for diagnosis and care for rare disorders in New Zealand.

ERDERA - European Rare Diseases Research Alliance(external link)

Contact: louise.bicknell@otago.ac.nz

Minority Report will develop and implement a co-creation framework, which will support the design and development of an integrated, people-centric technology platform, integrating:

1. innovative predictive digital technologies,
2. rigorous scientific baselines and models for risk (including vulnerability and uncertainty) assessment and categorisation,
3. advanced weather forecasting and early warning for climate events,
4. BIM, digital twins, monitoring systems and decision support tool,
5. energy simulations and behavioural models based on Artificial Intelligence (AI),
6. and newly developed approaches from social sciences and humanities (SSH).

The final objective is to deliver the Minority Report technology platform for a functional, environmentally, and economically sustainable circular value chain for the construction and renovation of built environments, which enables to develop climate change and natural risks mitigation, and resilience enhancing strategies to improve climate change mitigation (heat waves, category 5 storms, wildfire) and disaster resilience (floods, earthquakes, etc.), through AI-assisted holistic solutions, that combine building adaption and renovation and Nature-based Solutions (NBS), at city and building scale. These types of solutions will be co-selected and co-created with the participation of citizens by means of the Minority Report people-centric technology platform, targeting expert and non-experts to collaborate over bespoke interventions for each site, ensuring the most impactful and appropriate interventions that are most acceptable to the local community and most effective for mitigating disproportionate impacts on vulnerable populations are applied, within the project’s innovative co-creation framework.

Digital predictive systems have advanced our ability to forecast the impact of disruptive climate events. However, significant areas remain vulnerable due to data limitations and the intricate nature of urban environments. Factors such as climate change, burgeoning urban populations, and inadequately prepared building stocks further compound these challenges. In this context, the EU-funded Minority Report project seeks to address these issues by developing a technology platform centred around people.

This platform will integrate predictive digital technologies with robust risk assessment models, weather forecasting, building information modelling, digital twins, monitoring systems, and AI-driven behavioural models. The goal is to support a functional, environmentally and economically sustainable value chain for the construction and renovation of urban environments, enabling the development of dedicated strategies to improve climate change mitigation and adaptation and disaster resilience through holistic solutions. Implementation will initially focus on demonstration sites across three locations: Dublin (Ireland), Patras (Greece) and Wellington (New Zealand).

University of Canterbury (UC) will firstly contribute to rigorous scientific baselines and models for risk assessment, quantification and mitigation. This involves characterising (i) the dynamic multi-hazard physical fragility and vulnerability buildings & urban infrastructure, and (ii) the dynamic multi-hazard social vulnerability. Secondly, UC will play a key role in the development of the people-centric resilience & adaptation toolkit, with a focus on the development of the mobility & behavioral prediction module. Lastly, UC will contribute to the demonstration site implementation.

This funding was used to pay for overheads associated with New Zealand organisations' participation in a Horizon Europe Pillar 2 project (Minority Report). Further information about this Horizon Pillar 2 project is available by contacting niall.byrne@iesve.com

Urban Intelligence Limited (UI) leads key technical components of this international project, including the development of data-driven resiliency models and an early-impact system for climate-related events. Working alongside The University of Auckland, University of Canterbury, and Wellington City Council, UI contributes to developing innovative predictive technologies that will help vulnerable infrastructures and communities prepare for and respond to environmental disruptions.

As part of New Zealand's demonstration site team, UI plays a crucial role in testing and validating these digital solutions in real-world conditions. Our work focuses on creating practical tools that will help communities better understand and prepare for climate-related risks, while ensuring solutions are accessible and effective for the people who need them most.

Through this international collaboration, UI is helping to advance technology that will protect communities and infrastructure from climate-related events, contributing to a more resilient future for New Zealand and beyond.

This funding was used to pay for overheads associated with a New Zealand organisation’s participation in a Horizon Europe Pillar 2 project (Randomised Controlled Trial of Preventive Treatment of Latent Tuberculosis Infection in Patients with Diabetes Mellitus).

Professors Philip Hill and Katrina Sharples at the University of Otago are the senior epidemiologist and statistician respectively on this world-first trial. They led the design of the study and play a leadership role in its execution. The goal is to identify whether preventive treatment against the development of tuberculosis should be a priority for people with diabetes mellitus who live in a country with a high incidence of tuberculosis.

About the PROTID Project(external link) — protid-africa.com

Contact: Philip.Hill@otago.ac.nz

This funding was used to pay for overheads associated with a New Zealand organisation’s participation in a Horizon Europe Pillar 2 project UPWEARS.

The textile industry is facing major challenges. It is one of the most polluting industries, and consumers, as well as regulators, are pushing for change. Global demand is changing, and consumers expect more sustainable and smart textiles.

UPWEARS is a four-year EU research and innovation funding programme aiming to develop new fabric materials from hemp, cork, flax and byproducts of paper production for e-textile and sportswear uses. To demonstrate the e-textile, the team will create high-performance clothing for biking that is abrasion and tear-resistant, waterproof or repellant, stretchable, and breathable. The project will also develop ways to recycle and reuse textile waste. The overall aim is to contribute to a sustainable economy by unlocking the potential of bio-based and hybrid fabrics.

Led by INRAE, France's National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment, Scion is among 15 partners globally and is leading a work package to modify and functionalise biomaterials for e-textile applications.

Scion will utilise expertise in sustainable materials and electronics to create flexible sensors and functional materials from biomaterials for integration into fabrics, sending temperature and humidity data to a user’s device. Scion is supporting turning recovered textile waste into filament or pellets for 3D printing meaning the clothing will be recyclable and zero-waste. In addition, Scion is also contributing to AI/machine learning activities to optimise the production process reducing waste and increasing zero-defect products.

Overall, the project will help transition to a modern textile fabrication process using natural fibres and reducing waste during and postproduction. It will also tackle the huge textile waste problem and contribute towards achieving a circular economy.

Contact: funding@scionresearch.com

This funding was used to pay for overheads associated with a New Zealand organisation’s participation in a Horizon Europe Pillar 2 project VITAL (‘Virtual Twins as tools for personalised clinicAL care’).

VITAL will deliver a comprehensive clinically validated multi-scale, multi-organ modelling platform that is driven by and can represent individual patient data acquired both in the clinic and from wearable technology. The platform will create a virtual human twin for individualised and sex-specific optimisation of medical (pharmacological) or surgical (interventional) therapy for complex, multifactorial cardiovascular disorders (systemic hypertension, heart failure and atrial septal defects) that have systemic impact and high risk of comorbidities. User-friendly interfaces, co-created with healthcare professionals, will provide access to the technology. By the end of the project, the predictive value of the platform in optimising the treatment of patients with cardiovascular disorders will have been validated through five clinical studies in Europe involving more than 200 patients. Each clinical study will investigate a scenario where predicting treatment response is a strong unmet need.

The Auckland Bioengineering Institute at the University of Auckland is leading a work package on multi-scale/multi-organ model development. This includes creating computational models that integrate neuro, mechanical, and drug modulation of cardiac function, and developing multi-scale models of the arterial and venous systems that incorporate the effects of the autonomic nervous system on vascular function. These models will be used to gain a better understanding of the underlying mechanisms of cardiac disease, hypertension, atherosclerosis, and other vascular diseases, and to identify new therapeutic targets.

Horizon Vital Project(external link)

Contact: P.Hunter@auckland.ac.nz