MEMEX Project promotes social cohesion through collaborative, heritage-related tools - methodology and app - that provide inclusive access to tangible and intangible cultural heritage and, at the same time, facilitate encounters and interactions between communities at risk of social/cultural exclusion. The targets of MEMEX are professionals from socio-cultural organisations who work with socially fragile people that are systematically blocked from various cultural opportunities. MEMEX deploys three distinct pilots to analyse different expectations from communities located in different regions of Europe, with inhabitants of priority neighbourhoods (Paris, France), first and second-generation migrant communities (Lisbon, Portugal) and migrant women in the city (Barcelona, Spain).

New and emerging technologies bring with them new ethical challenges and societal consequences. The EU-funded project TechEthos aims to ensure that the highest ethical standards are adopted at the EU and international levels by providing researchers and policy makers with the adequate guidance and tools. In this endeavour, Ecsite and several of its members will play a crucial role in understanding and further developing societal perspectives on Climate Engineering, Extended Digital Reality, and Neuro-technologies through a programme of public engagement events, in-depth dialogues, exhibitions and analyses.

We live in a world where it is now more important than ever to find concrete solutions to pressing health and environmental challenges. Every day, science and innovation is rising up to these global challenges, yet it is still not enough to solve the problems that we face. Europe is on a mission to deliver 100 climate-neutral cities by 2030 and the only way to find workable solutions to achieve climate-neutrality is through the active participation of all concerned. The H2020 project MOSAIC is developing an Open Innovation methodology designed to involve quadruple-helix actors, including and especially citizens, in mission-oriented challenges. The uniqueness of the project is that this methodology will be tested on the ground in cities. Co-creation pilots will offer bespoke mechanisms and tools to engage citizens and all stakeholders in a city’s innovation ecosystem needed to reach the goal of climate-neutrality.

The H2020 project DOORS - Digital Incubator for Museums comes to support museums at a moment in which attitudes towards the digitalisation of the sector are changing. DOORS seeks to give small and medium-sized museums across Europe an opportunity to steer the direction of the sector’s digital transformation. The challenges of digitalisation are disproportionately found within small museums where the technologies and expertise to launch and sustain digital strategies are usually unattainable. The project wants to reduce the digitalisation gap by creating the space for small institutions to voice their needs and offering them access to knowledge, resources, expertise and an incubation and skill-building programme.

Lab in a Suitcase is a low-cost, portable and easy-to-maintain open science experimental kit that allows one to carry out educational and scientific research activities in a more independent manner. By enabling researchers and professors to access low-cost, serviceable equipment, scientists and students have access to opportunities that could otherwise be hindered by a lack of local infrastructure and logistics networks. Collaborations were established with nine scientists from five African Portuguese-speaking countries. One of them performed the first PCR in the history of the University of São Tomé by using ‘Lab in a Suitcase’ in a molecular biology practical.

Aligning the development of technological innovations with societal needs and values is crucial to tackling 21st-century issues in many sectors. Key enabling technologies (KETs) have the potential to shape our future society. The SocKETs project’s ambition is to demonstrate how citizens’ engagement could help realise the potential of KETs-based innovations for societal benefit. The project aims to develop and use co-creation to develop shared new values, and to shape KETs-based innovation toward the needs of all and for the benefit of society. Through social labs implemented in 6 different countries, the SocKETs project experiments and observes how industries and citizens can collaborate to develop the innovations of tomorrow in e-health, construction, and industrial automation.

TeRRIFICA has developed an innovative approach to science communication which is open to individuals and groups to take an active part and influence climate change institutional, governmental and policy adaptations. In a system defined by RRI policy, SDGs, citizen science and climate adaptation and mitigation measures, TeRRIFICA operates in six European regions with very distinctive challenges. Our crowd-mapping tool demonstrates the actual geographical spread of climate changes by showcasing effects which citizens encounter and mark on a daily basis.

Water access and its related energy, environmental and economic costs are one of the greatest challenges for society today. The WATER-MINING project aims to face this challenge and help ensure access to clean water and sanitation by exploring alternative water sources and developing innovative solutions for sustainable water management, including tapping into urban and industrial wastewater and seawater desalination. One of the project’s objectives is to increase public awareness and encourage citizens’ involvement. A modular exhibition, innovative public engagement formats and advanced ICT tools will bring circular water systems to the public's attention.