NRRP, RETURN project on climate change: the call for innovation clusters
Participants can apply until July 14
The time for applications for the first public notice launched by the Return Foundation within the framework of the investments envisaged by Mission 4 'Education and Research' of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan-NRRP is 12 PM of Friday 14 July 2023.
Return (Multi-risk science for resilient communities under a changing climate) is the extended partnership - in which the Civil Protection Department also participates along with 25 other partners including universities, public research bodies and economic entities - which, thanks to 115 million euros allocated by the Ministry of Universities and Research (MUR), aims to strengthen research on environmental, natural and anthropogenic risks at national level and promote their participation in strategic European and global value chains.
The public notice for 'the submission of proposals for intervention in activities of animation, scouting and selection of start-ups, spin-offs and innovative small and medium-sized enterprises operating in the field of environmental, natural and anthropogenic risks', which counts on 400,000 euro available, is intended for incubators, accelerators, technology transfer and research organisations, science and technology centres, innovation hubs and poles, digital innovation hubs, competence centres, technology districts and clusters and/or Regional Innovative Networks (RIR).
The objective of this selection is to identify 20 entities from the innovation ecosystem that, in turn, can then identify start-ups, spin-offs and innovative small and medium-sized enterprises capable of carrying out specific activities in the prevention, management and mitigation of natural and man-made environmental risks (such as seismic and volcanic risks, meteo-geo-hydrological risks, marine and coastal risks, atmospheric risks, and risks to the cultural heritage) as envisaged in the project.
These 20 enabling bodies will be selected on a regional basis and throughout the country, and may have either a public or private legal form.
RETURN is one of the 14 large Partnerships extended to universities, research centres, and companies on the national territory selected by the MUR, which manages a total of EUR 1.61 billion of the NRRP for this specific activity. Through the Partnerships, the ministry's objective is to finance basic research projects to strengthen, as in the case of RETURN, research supply chains at national level and promote their participation in strategic European and global value chains.
RETURN aims to contribute to the strengthening of key competences, technology and knowledge transfer, and Italian governance in disaster risk management, a better understanding of environmental, natural and anthropogenic risks and their interrelation with the effects of climate change, the development of new monitoring methodologies/technologies through the enhancement of the knowledge base towards the application and exploitation of technologies, with the involvement of public administrations, stakeholders and private companies.
According to the Civil Protection Code, the research aimed at producing products useful for risk management, is one of the activities through which the scientific community participates in the National Civil Protection Service.