Drawing on the existing capacity in AI, big data and analytics, associated with SFI research centres, there is a clear opportunity to develop a virtual ‘Living Lab’ within the region. As part of a European network, this will enable iterative testing of new ideas across the region, offering a single point of contact to coordinate data research at scale in a living lab. A key enabler at a global level for a living lab as a data testbed is the protections offered by GDPR as the main English speaking country within the EU.

Tags: Digitalisation, Health, Energy

Radical innovation in technology and the economy can enable social transformation. To tackle the big challenges society faces, we need to embed social innovation in business models. We need to think differently about social business and shift the mindset of investors and consumers to move away from the 3rd sector towards a more sustainable business model, which is “Social Enterprise”.

Tags: Digitalisation, Health, Energy

There are approximately sixty-five million displaced people around the world today, with twenty-five million of those living as refugees. For context, this level of forced displacement has not been witnessed since the end of the Second World War[1]. Seeking International Protection (IP) is a fundamental human right, and each signatory of the 1951 Geneva Convention on the Protection of Refugees must assess any application for IP sought within their sovereign territory. There were 400,000 applications for IP in Europe in 2020, with the majority of refugees fleeing war-torn regions in the Middle East and Africa[2]. This level of displacement is only set to rise in future years due to the impacts of climate change, geopolitical instability and other rights abuses. For these reasons there is a need to assess how Europe treats those seeking IP within its borders.

Tags: Equity

In 2018, ESET in Slovakia, in cooperation with other companies, launched the Digital Skills initiative.As a member of Business Leaders Forum, an association of companies promoting corporate socialresponsibility, we wanted to show computer science teachers new ways of working with students (using the playful methods offered by Code.org) while presenting the importance of digital security.We believe that the quality of education influences the quality of life of individuals, families, andcommunities both in Slovakia and abroad. This is why we are concerned over the alarming state ofSlovak education system.

Tags: Digitalisation

International human rights standards require states to guarantee women's access to quality care throughout pregnancy. Human rights mechanisms have also clarified that states must ensure adequate standards of care and respect for women's rights, dignity and autonomy during childbirth and in maternal health care settings.

Tags: Health, Equity

In the city of Bratislava we believe that public servants could become a fuel for change in the cities. They need to be well educated in topics such as digitalisation, power of those tools in everyday life, climate change and its impact on the cities and circular economy as a new way of consuming goods.

Tags: Digitalisation, Climate Change, Energy

The citizen and the entrepreneur want to be as interconnected as possible when interacting with the state. The concept of proactive public administration services is an ideal situation for citizens and entrepreneurs. This means that many processes take place in the background, the citizen and the entrepreneur are unaware of them and are contacted by the public administration only in situations where it is necessary. This is a paradigm shift "citizen and entrepreneur as a postman for the authorities".

Tags: Digitalisation

CERVENY NOS Clowndoctors is an organisation that uses the art of professional clowning to bring humour and laughter to people in need of joy. Our core values are: Respect, Courage, Creativity, Responsibility, Professionalism, Authenticity, Joyfullness.

Tags: Health

The four-day meeting partly consists of workplace visits and partly by group work in the Innovation House at the Dutch Embassy.

During the meeting students will work on a challenge provided by the organization, dealing with digital innovation in health and welfare. This could be provided by the embassy or by one or more corporate partners in Sweden that want to sponsor the event.

Tags: Digitalisation, Health

The main objective is the design and development of a creative platform (Living Lab) with activities and solutions that encourage the local economy and culture towards a sustainable specialization in Urdaibai’s Biosphere Reserve- Basque Country, listed as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.

Tags: Health, Climate Change, Energy

Infectious diseases caused by pathogens (bacteria, viruses, fungi) are undoubtedly a rising threat to public health very much linked to the impact of environmental exposures. The multiple paths ofpathogens transmission can lead to the exponential spread of infectious diseases, leading to apandemic. The current COVID-19 pandemic is already the sixth pandemic in the current century, afterthose originated by HIV-AIDS (starting in 1981 but lasting until today), the H1N1 flu virus (2009), SARS(2002), the ebola virus (2014) and MERS (2015). This, together with the increasing bacterial resistance to antibiotics, suggests that current canonical treatment methods (antibiotics or vaccination) need reinforcement through reliable frontline diagnostic tools to raise an alert of eventual risk to public health. It will only in this way be possible to keep the health system prepared against future pandemics.

Tags: Digitalisation, Health

Climate change is one of the main challenges of the current society and the energy transition from Climate change is one of the main challenges of the current society and the energy transition from polluting fossil fuels to clean energy sources is the key to stopping this trend. However, society is a great energy consumer and oceans are the principal energy container of the world. Effective harnessing of Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) sources is thus, the main goal.

Tags: Climate Change, Energy

Today, education is often locked up in a building. This is strange because there is a lot to learn outside of those specially designed buildings. So let's reframe this and see what opportunities there are to learn in the city. Where did we learn as a child? By walking around, playing, just doing things, start a small business, make friends, argue, build camps, organize parties or sport competitions. Let's dream!

Tags: Digitalisation, Health, Equity

For a long time, the debate on the sustainability of European Union Free Trade Agreements concentrated on the stand-alone ‘trade and sustainability’ chapter of these agreements. The critique centred around the fact that while the wording in these chapters is commendable, the promises made by the contracting parties are not binding nor enforceable. This leads to the observations that these chapters solely pay lip service to sustainability issues, effectively ‘greenwashing’ or ‘fairwashing’ the agreement as a whole. More recently, this stand-alone approach to sustainability is being strengthened with propositions to include separate chapters on sustainable food.

Tags: Climate Change, Equity, Energy

The objective: Ghent climate-robust by 2030

Climate change makes Ghent vulnerable to more and more intense heat waves, more extreme showers and longer droughts. That is also felt today. We must prepare our city for these change: keep them pleasant, liveable, healthy and safe for our residents, institutions and businesses. We have set an ambitious goal from the City: by 2030 we want to be climate-robust. One of the objectives is to make the underground of Ghent work like a sponge. A rain shower that occurs once every 20 years may not cause damage to buildings, roads or other urban infrastructure in Ghent, now and in the future.

Tags: Health, Climate Change, Equity

ENLIGHT challenge : How can the monitoring of air quality be carried out precisely? How can this inform local decision-making? And development of sustainable development policies?

ENLIGHT challenge - how can cities develop sustainable eco-resilient housing?

Management of urban heat islands – role of micro forests in urban settings, education and understanding related to climate change and pollution, urban well-being.

The community foundation East Flanders supports various bottom up projects of social importance. We note that the majority of the projects applying for project support are driven by organisations and/or highly educated middle class citizens.

Tags: Equity