D The primary sector in the rural areas of the Sudoe area, in addition to bringing together a very important part of its fabric, represents a key activity from the point of view of economic development, the maintenance of the population, the conservation of the environment, the modeling of the landscape and the preservation of local traditions and heritage. In addition, it plays a key role in the implementation of the European Green Deal and is the best guarantee of the quality, sustainability and safety of agri-food systems. However, this sector also faces a number of pressing challenges, resulting from narrowing profit margins, competition from external productions, difficulty in generational replacement and the need for adaptation to climate change, among others. In this context, the diversification of sources of income through agrotourism represents a good opportunity for agricultural producers and livestock farmers in the different regions that make up the Sudoe space, also allowing the valorisation of their products among consumers, the attraction of young talent that ensures the generational replacement and the revitalisation of local economies in the rural environment. Although there have been some attempts, mostly linked to the development of rural tourism, the potential for the development of this niche market in the Sudoe is very high, as it connects with the values and the shared strengths in the territory. The Agrotour Sudoe project will bring together the skills and knowledge of the SUDOE space for the development of innovative pilot experiences that contribute to a greater rapprochement between urban and rural society, while promoting a paradigm shift in the consumer in relation to both tourism products themselves and agri-food products (added value of local products, short supply chains, seasonal products, etc.). These experiences will be designed, monitored and evaluated by experts at the academic level, so that their outcome is objective and transferable to the corresponding public policies.

Climate change increases hot and dry conditions that boost the increase and intensity of fires in the SUDOE area. The 2022 fires in rural interior areas particularly affected natural parks and protected areas. Being more aggressive fires, the use of fire foams containing flame retardants has increased. These foams contain PFAS (perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances), highly persistent, mobile and harmful “eternal compounds” for the environment and health. The degradation of PFAS in soil and water integrates these compounds into the water cycle, causing fluorinated gases that are emitted into the atmosphere, contributing to global warming and climate change. Also, the degradation of gases in the atmosphere causes pollution of water and soil through acid rain, constituting a cycle of environmental pollution. The main objective of ALERT-PFAS is to design and implement a transnational strategy to detect and prevent PFAS pollution in SUDOE natural spaces, as well as to mitigate its effects on ecosystem biodiversity and climate change. The project offers an innovative solution to detect and monitor PFAS in real time and prevent them from forming part of the water cycle, polluting air, soil and water. Pilot actions will be developed in natural parks or protected areas in Portugal, Spain and France, affected by recent fires. Alert-PFAS also aims to train and sensitise all actors in the value chain, including the population. The partnership consists of 10 beneficiaries and 12 associates from the 3 SUDOE countries, who will contribute with their complementary competences. Alert-PFAS will apply innovative technologies such as optical sensors, adsorption and degradation processes, polymeric materials, nanotechnology and AI. The solution, transferable to all SUDOE regions, is aimed at public authorities, natural park managers, water managers, firefighting organisations, civil protection, among others.

Although intuitively the process of climate change and global warming is associated with droughts, heat waves or forest fires, it also causes very negative effects on agriculture, by altering the natural cycle of development of plant species. Thus, progressively less cold winters favor the early flowering of crops, increasing the vulnerability of plants to spring frosts. Frost is therefore not more intense than in the past, but affects crops in critical stages of their development, causing catastrophic effects, with up to 100 % losses in some fruit and vineyard productions. Most of the Sudoe’s representative agricultural productions do not have the means of preventing and combating this risk and, those that do, are based on systems with very high energy consumption, very expensive and unsustainable. In this context, the An-Gel Sudoe project brings together the most representative scientific and technical capabilities of the Sudoe space for the development and testing of innovative solutions for the prevention and adaptation to the risk of frost, as well as an early warning system for producers. It will also emphasise the assimilation of the results of the project by producers, through an accompanying system, and on their transfer to public policies, through a series of recommendations reports. Finally, from an interdisciplinary point of view, a socio-economic evaluation of the solutions developed with respect to pre-existing alternatives will be developed. The results expected by An-Gel Sudoe provide a tangible and assimilable transnational knowledge base for adaptation to frost risk, increasing the resilience of Sudoe space representative productions through sustainable, low-cost and transferable solutions to other Sudoe or EU territories.

Research in advanced technologies and its application in the SUDOE space to a topic of economic and social relevance such as thermalism, helping from innovation centers to the most depopulated territories and strengthening networks already established in previous projects such as TERMARED, is the basis of Aquapred. Aquapred is a multi-territorial, multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary project of physics, medicine, pharmacy, chemistry, biology and computing focused on the monitoring and control of thermal/mineromedicinal water of spas and the prediction of contaminants based on the digitisation of real-time data of the fundamental parameters of mineral-medicinal water. The project will determine the fundamental parameters of thermal waters, as well as their ranges of thermal water fluctuation within a thermal facility; its influence on therapeutic safety and water quality and possible relationship models will also be studied. A thermal water hydrobiome model will be established in the project and will be associated with its therapeutic properties. Pilot real-time data collection systems will be developed and installed in resorts in the SUDOE area, in which the parameters will be monitored, using devices specially designed for the function, for subsequent digitisation and analysis. An intelligent system will be developed that, based on these data, allows a control on the elements of water treatment (disinfectants...) and a Deep Learning model that allows predicting the possibility of contaminants in these waters (Legionela, E coli, etc.). Energy efficiency models that optimise consumption and reduce demand will also be applied on the basis of the captured data.

The overall objective of the project is to improve the prevention and management of fire risk in the forests of the SUDOE space, consolidating the viability of prevention plans through the valorisation of extracted biomass and helping to develop the resilience of forests without compromising their ecosystem, economic and social services. The main challenges addressed by the project are forest fire prevention; forest resilience and biodiversity prevention; the generation of employment and economic activity in rural areas for the maintenance of the population; decarbonisation and use of biomass as a renewable energy source. Biomass reduction is one of the priority actions in fire prevention plans, but the lack of personnel and resources sometimes renders their extraction from forests unfeasible. The project promotes the extraction of this biomass, ensuring to minimise the impact on biodiversity and facilitating an economic viability of the endogenous resource as a source of renewable energy with a positive impact on the economic development of rural areas and maintaining the population. The main achievements will be: A joint biomass recovery strategy that improves the viability of fire risk prevention plans. Exemplary solutions: 1.System of Biodiversity Indicators for Measuring the Impact of Biomass Extraction on Forests 2.New Mechanical Methods of Biomass Extraction 3.Integrated Forest Management Model and Short Circuit Local Biomass Use 4.Training Plans in Forest Works These achievements will be jointly developed by a transnational and multidisciplinary consortium and will be made available to forest owners, local and regional authorities, biomass processing companies and their value chain and other actors from SUDOE territories with forest areas thus contributing to the resilience of forests and rural environments.

The SUDOE has extensive and varied forest areas that provide numerous services (wood production, soil stabilisation, CO2 storage, water quality, rich biodiversity...). The forest and the services it provides are increasingly threatened by various hazards such as anthropisation, fires, pathogens and climate change. The COOPTREE project aims, therefore, to preserve these resources for their current and future value (both economic and ecosystem), and to provide future foresters with a corpus of knowledge and experiments that allow them to make informed decisions. These strategic objectives are based on the creation of an expert knowledge base in this field, applied to the forests of the territory. Therefore, it is proposed to design a transnational strategy for the knowledge and conservation of genetic resources of interest. This work will be complemented by a better understanding of the ability of these forest species to resist water stress and drought. It will also build on the valuable legacy of the many experiments (plantations and management) that have taken place in the past. As the problems have evolved, the project will finally propose the implementation of pilot actions to preserve and improve the forest resilience of the territories. The southern location of SUDOE places it as a sentinel of European territories that will have to cope with major climate developments and, therefore, consequences on their forests. Working on the SUDOE scale offers considerable gradients of situations (pedological, biological, topographical and historical) and climatic influences. Forest actors are numerous and have a wide variety of skills and complementary experiences. The diversity of ecosystems and species developed there is unique and must be preserved, while constituting a decisive element for the adaptation and resilience of forests.

The mountain sectors of southwestern Europe are experiencing a critical situation of depopulation and ageing, which makes it essential to revitalise their social and productive structure. This project faces this challenge through the development of the internal potential of five pilot cases, which seeks to value the heritage associated with their cultural landscapes as a tool for social innovation that offers new development opportunities to mountain communities, improving their quality of life, territorial cohesion and the development of new economic resources. This will help mitigate the significant territorial, social and economic imbalances that exist today. In recent decades, archaeological research carried out in mountainous regions of southwestern Europe has shown that these are not only natural and biodiversity areas, but also contain an important cultural legacy resulting from the intense human activity that has shaped these cultural landscapes over time. However, this cultural background characteristic of mountain areas is little known and has been underestimated as a tool for the dynamisation, innovation and sustainable transformation of these territories. It is proposed to enhance the cultural landscapes of mountains and their heritage to offer new opportunities for development to local communities. This will improve their quality of life, strengthen territorial cohesion and diversify services and employment options in the territory, promoting the self-esteem of the local population and increasing the capacities of public bodies to attract visitors, integrate new population and fix young people to their territories. The creation of an international cooperative network linked to mountain cultural landscapes is a milestone for the development of joint strategies between Spain, Portugal and France to enhance and exploit cultural heritage as a resource for sustainable territorial development.

In recent decades, agriculture has adopted productivist practices based on industrial models to meet the food demand associated with population growth, creating homogeneous production patterns that have transformed landscapes and ignored the multiple functionalities offered by nature. The ECOSPHEREWINES project focuses on improving the landscapes linked to vine cultivation, a fundamental economic and tourist resource in the SUDOE space, especially in the interior territories, affected by depopulation and ageing, where the preservation of natural and environmental capital is crucial for rural communities as it is a source of wealth. The objective of the project is to improve the ecosystem services provided by the agricultural landscapes of the vineyard through the implementation of a green infrastructure network (IV) in areas of high ecological value as a strategy focused on its conservation and sustainable management, improving biodiversity and increasing its resilience to climate change. The ecosystem-based territorial planning approach has already been tested as an effective method for sustainable management and management, especially in urban environments. However, the application of this method in rural areas faces the challenge of the lack of specific data. To address this challenge, the project will analyse the state of the art in terms of IV at various scales of the landscape, identify the factors that drive or hinder its implementation in vineyard landscapes and design and test in two pilots a methodology that allows to select, calculate, measure and map the most relevant ecosystem services at different scales to establish future scenarios that allow to make planning decisions of those vineyard landscapes with similar characteristics, allowing the transfer and capitalisation of the solutions tested at transnational level to develop a more global and holistic management that improves biodiversity, the environment and the tourist and cultural services in the rural areas of the SUDOE space.

The EU textile and fashion industry is facing an unprecedented challenge stemming from the European Green Deal that translates into a series of new mandatory requirements in the management of textile waste, advocating for a circular and sustainable model. Among others, they highlight the recycling of textile waste separately by municipalities and the need for companies to use recycled fibres in their garments. This paradigm shift reaches a very fragmented sector in which the interests of the agents of the value chain (mainly public entities, companies, waste collection associations, consumers) are not aligned, basically because so far there has been no need. Fashion Forward addresses this challenge in the SUDOE area, with a special focus on rural areas, a territory in which textiles and fashion have an enormous economic, social and environmental impact. And it does so through the concertation of a holistic transnational strategy, designed by a consortium made up of representatives of the recycling value chain, which promotes circularity in the SUDOE fashion industry (through the activation of the value chain of textile materials from post-consumer textile waste and the incorporation of this material in the fashion collections of companies in the territories). The strategy, which combines information, training, mentoring, awareness raising and pilot actions, will be deployed through local action plans in Catalonia, Balearic Islands, Galicia, Occitania and Vale do Ave. Each action will be adapted to the needs of the target group, in order to accompany them in adapting to change. Fashion Forward will raise 5 pilots (3 technology linked to companies, one on environmental impact measurement and another on gamification in primary and secondary schools). It plans to impact 115 companies, 300 municipalities and local authorities, 16 waste management associations, 50 schools and a significant fraction of consumers through a strategic awareness campaign.

The territories of the SUDOE space are home to exceptional biodiversity, but the acceleration of the consequences of global warming, together with the intensification of human activities in some cases, and the abandonment of territories associated with the depopulating process in others, are causing the degradation and fragmentation of ecosystems. In this context, the challenge of the Flore project is to demonstrate the economic and organizational viability of the large-scale implementation of a package of ecological restoration solutions based on the exploitation of a local resource such as wild and native herbaceous seeds. To do this, first, practical tools adapted to the current needs of the target groups (administrations, companies, prescribers, owners, managers...) will be designed based on the lessons learned in previous projects. A network of demonstration sites will then be established in environments with different challenges, to show different solutions (including at least 3 ecological restoration modalities and different seed multiplication sites). In parallel, a multi-stakeholder participatory process will be led to design and test new models of economic cooperation aimed at the self-production of seeds by users or the supply of products and services to third parties according to a common catalogue. Public authorities and companies wishing to introduce local herbaceous seeds into their catering processes will also be accompanied, and public awareness days will be organised. The planned actions will also contribute to preserving the quality of life and the development of rural areas. The consortium consists of 8 partners (3 in France, 3 in Spain and 2 in Portugal). The pilots are located in Occitania, Auvergne, Extremadura, Soria, Murcia, Serra da Estrela and on the left bank of the Guadiana River. Transnational cooperation will allow adapting the range of restoration solutions proposed to the normative contexts of each country and to the realities of each territory, affecting the diversity of representative environments of the SUDOE space.

Rural areas of SUDOE present multiple common challenges in relation to the integral water cycle: the scarcity of water resources (aggravated by climate change), the impact of agricultural activity on water quality (and the consequent difficulty of making compliance with the European directive compatible, the continuity of economic activity and the availability of drinking water) and the lack of efficiency and profitability in management (with obsolete facilities and few personal resources). It is essential to strengthen collaborative networks between the multiple actors involved in the management of water resources in order to implement efficient, sustainable and cost-effective water purification, reuse and purification techniques. This requires the creation of a new system of governance based on territorial cooperation. Water is a common good and as such, it does not understand borders. The project will develop a strategy to improve water efficiency and quality in SUDOE rural areas in a climate change context, 5 action plans for 4 organisations to improve water supply and treatment services, 3 pilot tests of cost-effective and sustainable solutions for water purification, purification and reuse, and a digital tool for 2 entities to improve water management. In addition, it will improve the capacities of public authorities in 3 countries and the knowledge about purification, reuse and purification techniques of 3 scientific institutions. GestEAUr will adopt an innovative approach, addressing the integral water cycle holistically (taking into account all its stages) and will go beyond the existing practice, which usually applies the same solutions whatever the characteristics of the territory where they are implemented. Thus, it will analyse and test cost-effective, avant-garde and nature-based (SBN) techniques (and combinations of techniques) specific to meet the needs of SUDOE’s rural areas. In addition, it will provide digital tools to optimise and facilitate its management and planning.

In Spain, only 49.2 % of patients receive them of the total number of people in need of palliative care (PC). In France, 85 % of people would like to die at home, yet only 37 % do. In Portugal, the Portuguese Association of CP has warned that some 70.000 people do not have access to them. And yet, such care is crucial as it makes it possible to control symptoms, which is an ethical obligation to alleviate and respect people’s dignity. When applied at home, patients experience greater well-being. Henko means in Japanese profound and transformational change. Thus, Henko NET aims to create a knowledge community to strengthen palliative care systems and carry out an organizational transformation, by promoting innovation and the adoption of innovative digital technologies that will enable patient home care on a continuous basis and also in rural areas. To this end, the partners will design a joint strategy and action plan aimed at promoting an innovative attitude among professionals, advanced training and an exchange of good practices in new care models and the adoption of effective digital technologies. One of the most innovative results will be the development of the artificial intelligence-based Henko platform for early detection of the need for CP and the anticipation of unwanted events (medical or social). This will allow better organisation of care, more effective home monitoring and reduction of hospitalisations. The process of developing the tool will involve the active participation of patients, family members and professionals and will be piloted with 100 patients to determine its effectiveness and efficiency. Cooperation between the beneficiaries of the three countries (ES, FR and PT) is essential since innovation is very low in this area, so that expanding the work scenario at transnational level will allow sufficient knowledge for the development of the solutions.

Hitts faces the following challenges common to the SUDOE space: depopulation, ageing and the leakage of high value-added human resources; Lack of value for heritage, including artistic and cultural heritage, as a driver of eco-tourism; low level of adaptive reuse of heritage and lack of coordination and awareness of all local actors. Therefore, the main objective of HITTS is the valorisation of the cultural, natural and heritage singularities of the rural areas of SUDOE, based on the revitalisation of cultural and natural heritage, artistic creation and the development of public-private collaboration through innovative methodologies and tools to promote sustainable and ecological tourism. Hitts is an innovative project that aims to carry out transnational actions to promote sustainable tourism based on the valorisation of the cultural and natural heritage of the rural areas of the SUDOE space, mobilising and involving local actors and agents throughout the implementation of the project, encouraging the adaptive reuse of heritage based on artistic and cultural productions and the development of public-private strategies with the perspective of a renewed governance. The project will start with actions focused on the involvement of all actors in rural intervention areas (GT1) through the territorial laboratories. A participatory diagnosis will be developed by territory to evaluate endogenous heritage, cultural and artistic resources and 15 good practices will be detected. A common strategy will be designed for the innovative and sustainable socio-economic development of rural areas in the SUDOE (GT2) space, which will be the main realisation of the project, based on the touristic valorisation of its cultural and natural heritage. Finally, HITTS proposes the implementation of pilot actions of the strategy, adapted to the uniqueness, conditions and needs of each territory.

I-REwater analyses the current state of water resources in the SUDOE space, paying particular attention to the use of reclaimed water in irrigated agriculture, and its effects on crop production and quality, fostering water resilience and safety. The dynamics of available volumes of regenerated water and its quality will be considered in the comprehensive analysis of water resources, evaluating its potential use, in addition to the usual sources of water in irrigation (surface and underground waters). The project will obtain the Action Strategy at the transnational level, which establishes the steps to be followed to incorporate regenerated waters into the whole of water for irrigation, reducing extractions from conventional sources, improving the volume and quality of water resources available for other uses (circularity). The design of the Strategy is based on the study of the available water resources, and the assessment of the environmental impact of irrigation with regenerated water through the use of the Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) methodology, paying particular attention to the impact on eutrophication and water acidification, ecotoxicity and water footprint quantification. The approach of socio-economic analysis of the future set of waters for irrigation, and citizen awareness of the use of regenerated water in crop irrigation is included in the drafting of the Strategy. Two pilot actions will be carried out demonstrating the good use of regenerated water in irrigation, in horticultural crops and woody crops, with 16 experiences in total, contemplating different sociocultural and environmental contexts. From I-REwater, tools for improvement in decision-making will be developed, integrating existing models/applications establishing a strategy of deficit irrigation sustainable over time, benefiting farmers and the general population. The transnational approach of the project with irrigated crops in different locations and the integration of the previous experience of the Beneficiaries is one of the innovative aspects of the proposal.

The main objective of Newpower is to solve the problems associated with the high generation of agricultural and forest waste, which accumulate more and more due to the abandonment of the rural environment, and that cause a large number of fires. Newpower will create a network of collaboration between public and private organisations of the SUDOE space, seeking the sustainable management of this waste, developing new conversion processes, obtaining renewable energies and new products with high added value, which will imply socio-economic benefits and the creation of qualified jobs. The innovative character of Newpower is based on harnessing agricultural and forest waste in a comprehensive way, reusing it rather than eliminating it. Obtaining high added value ingredients will generate benefits for companies in the sector and lead to new lines of business. The project aims to obtain attractive biofunctional products to be used in food, pharmaceutical, biotechnology and organic farming industries. To achieve the objective it will be necessary to establish a strong transnational cooperation, where each entity contributes its knowledge in the different stages. Some will be involved in innovative and ecological processes for the extraction of value-added products based on a multi-product biorefinery in a circular economy context; others focused on characterisation and encapsulation of active compounds of interest; and others in the formulation of functional foods, nutraceuticals, smart packaging, natural plant protection products, biofuel production, bioplastics and platform chemicals. Finally, a technical-economic and environmental study of all the processes developed in Newpower will be carried out to study their industrial feasibility. The organisation of the civil society involved will play a key role in raising awareness and disseminating results, promoting sustainability, responsible consumption, healthy habits and diets and reducing waste, in order to achieve the well-being of society as a whole.

Pollution of water and land is a common challenge in the SUDOE space. Deficiencies in the management of agricultural and livestock soils, and in particular the inadequate application of fertilisers in agricultural holdings, favour the pernicious concentration of nutrients in both surface and groundwaters, as well as soil deterioration. There is growing concern in the SUDOE space about the contamination of water and soil by phosphates from agricultural and livestock activity. Phos4Cycle seeks to promote the protection, conservation and recovery of soils and bodies of surface and groundwater affected by or at risk of phosphate contamination. To this end, the project proposes, on the one hand, to develop a common strategy and an action plan for the management of phosphates associated with agricultural and livestock activity in rural areas to improve agricultural practices, and to establish a pilot project to improve the monitoring of phosphate flows and the forecasting of the risk of eutrophication in river basins. It is expected that the project will support farmers and ranchers thanks to management that favors the sustainability of water and soil, as well as the authorities and agency with competence in the matter. The project benefits from transnational collaboration to combine efforts of entities that can carry out phosphate flow monitoring pilots with a high degree of technology in different contexts (in terms of watershed, climate, soil, agricultural activity and management system), and that have identified soil and water phosphate pollution as a priority. Phosphate pollution, unlike nitrate pollution, is a relatively little-known topic. Phos4Cycle is an opportunity to apply cutting-edge technology in remote control of water thanks to the analysis of physicochemical and biological parameters through surface images, as well as the environmental monitoring of micro contaminants and inorganic pollutants.

Europe is moving towards an ageing society, with the SUDOE territory, and specifically rural environments, with the highest percentage of elderly and depopulation. Ageing leads to the emergence of fragility and disability, associated with the increased use of health resources and hospital admissions. France, Spain, Portugal and Andorra have different models of elderly patient care based on the prevention of the onset of disability, with strengths and points of improvement. The main achievements will allow the implementation of a model that reduces the imbalance between regions in the management of the prevention of hospital disability and in the transition of the patient to Primary Care (AP) and their family environment, establishing an integrated and coordinated model among professionals, facilitated by the use of technology and the promotion of healthy aging, in order to improve health care, strengthening the resilience of health systems. The cooperation will allow the joint development of new integrated care strategies that promote better monitoring and coordination of the care of the elderly, homogenising protocols and methodologies. Thus (i) a multicenter clinical trial will be carried out that will show the benefits of a training program during hospitalisation ii)the continuity of the program and the transition to PA of the hospitalised patient and of the one who goes to the consultation of the specialist from rural environments implementing innovative technology will be facilitated, and iii) the model of active aging in rural settings will be promoted and equal access to health will be promoted through coordination models between professionals facilitated by the use of technological tools, avoiding unnecessary displacement and income. PreDisc is innovative because it develops a novel care model that will improve the quality of life of elderly people and promote equal access to health care, with the participation of different key actors such as reference hospitals, PA teams and other Public Health Organisations to achieve their sustainability.

Much of the industrial fabric in the SUDOE space belongs to traditionally manufacturing sectors characterised by small and medium-sized companies that have a low technological level in their production processes, due especially to the high cost associated with the development and implementation of new technologies. In addition, these sectors are responsible for the manufacture of a variety of commonly used products that have a short life cycle, either because the acquisition of a new one has a relatively low cost or due to the difficulties they encounter with regard to repair or renewal. All this results in an enormous amount of waste discarded inappropriately. In this sense, this project will seek to introduce the remanufacturing process as part of the business model associated with these industries, highlighting the importance of design for the development of products that are more easily repaired or recycled. For this purpose, new tools will be developed to detect damage to used products and a multirobot system that is able to disassemble them and prepare them for reintroduction in the manufacturing chains of these products. In short, it is intended that repairing a product is viable, as an alternative to buying a new one or discarding the used one. On the other hand, the progress in the development of this remanufacturing system will represent benefits for the industries, which may have a new line in their business that contemplates the reduced use of raw materials; for consumers who will find it easier to repair their used products or buy used goods at a reduced cost and, above all, for the environment due to reduced waste produced and reduced pressure on natural resources, favoring life and ecosystem dynamics on the planet.

Can the SUDOE space be recognised as being of excellence in the area of “drug repurposing”? Currently, the development of new drugs has high failure rates, costs and delinquency. This justifies the emergence of drug repurposing, allowing new therapeutic indications for drugs already available on the market, with benefit to the pharmaceutical industry, society and patients. The RePo-SUDOE project seeks to develop and disseminate technologies for drug repurposing with the aim of increasing the competitiveness of the SUDOE space in this area of R & D, promoting the biopharmaceutical industry and capturing trained human resources. This objective will be achieved through 3 specific objectives: 1) Promote scientific knowledge and disseminate drug repurposing technology together with public and private actors, raising the groups and R & D centers of the SUDOE space to the level of European excellence in this area of R & D; 2) Enhance multidisciplinary collaboration and identify opportunities and innovative initiatives in the SUDOE territory for drug repurposing, through the implementation of a transnational network. A database with information on therapeutic targets and drugs with biological activity will be created. As the main case study, drug repurposing methodologies will be developed for the treatment of cancer; 3) Create a three-dimensional (3D) display room prototype of biological systems, which will function as a pilot in the SUDOE territory. It will be a space with virtual reality technology and augmented reality that allows the 3D visualisation of therapeutic objectives and their interaction with drugs, in an interactive and pedagogical way, dedicated to young students and researchers from STEAM areas. This project brings together, for the first time, partners from different SUDOE regions and different areas of the drug development value chain, in a common drug repurposing project. The RePo-SUDOE will put at the service of the scientific information society of easy consultation and open access, and decisive visualisation technologies for the affirmation of the area of drug repurposing in the SUDOE space.

RESINSURF responds to the need to apply alternative surface technologies through research and generation of a homogeneous strategy of action against a common problem in the SUDOE territory. It aims to contribute to the technological modernisation of the surface treatment sector and its transition to digital manufacturing, in line with Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 (REACH, Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals). It contributes to the development of specific methods of monitoring treatment lines, making them more sustainable, competitive and intelligent. It offers alternatives to current technologies, whose impact on workers’ health and the environment is negative. The development, evaluation and transfer of new electrochemical treatment technologies together with advanced process monitoring and surface characterisation techniques, for the transport, energy production, construction and manufacturing tools sectors, will drive smart and sustainable growth of SUDOE companies and space industry. The development and adoption of the Common Strategy (E.S.) includes a line of action aimed at the transfer of knowledge, focuses on population growth, proposes training for students and professionals and applies solutions in companies in the area. Pilots in FR and ES will generate knowledge and solutions. The capitalisation of existing knowledge in the territory is the source of return for professionals in the sector, academia and future generations. The problem of depopulation in rural areas is directly addressed by promoting knowledge. The knowledge capital of the consortium and the direct application of solutions in the territories, make RESISNSURF an ambitious and innovative project in the SUDOE space, “from SUDOE to SUDOE”.

The SUDOE is a demographically aged territory that in its interior rural areas presents a situation of increasing depopulation leading to their disappearance. Examples of these territories with low population density are the regions of Castile and Leon (Spain), Beira Baixa (Portugal) and Pays Basque (France). COVID has made clear the health and care gaps for people in these rural settings, especially elderly and dependent people. On the other hand, the difficulty of finding niche markets in which to develop sustainable economic activity, leads young people and highly qualified professionals to leave for cities, further weakening the interior rural environment SUDOE. The common challenge and need of these inland rural areas is to revitalise their economic and social fabric, enhancing employment opportunities that solve societal challenges from the perspective of innovation, combining social needs with development opportunities. Revital seeks to cover the need to provide specialised health care and physical and neurological rehabilitation services (especially to dependents and older people), through technological tools that allow to offer tele-care and tele-rehabilitation services, which will also help to create qualified employment and establish a new population that will energise the rural economy. The project has a clear strategic orientation towards strengthening social cohesion and territorial and demographic balance through social innovation and endogenous development. The challenges and needs to be met are clear: respond to the depopulation and ageing of inland rural areas by establishing a new population with socio-health training, preventing elderly and dependent people from having to migrate to urban areas to access advanced clinical services, as well as developing sustainable production systems based on tele-assistance and tele-rehabilitation technologies, responding to the social needs not sufficiently met in the area of social and health care services.

The common challenge addressed by the project is the technological modernisation of the economic sectors of the SUDOE area, in particular the agri-food industry and plastics, contributing to the transfer of knowledge and innovation to less developed territories and traditional and artisanal sectors, where traditional automation cannot be applied. The main objective of the project is to improve competitiveness and boost the growth of SMEs through collaborative robotics solutions that respond to endogenous challenges and ensure respect for the environment. Innovation will be put at the service of territorial actors to improve the quality of life and increase the potential and attractiveness of the entire SUDOE space in particular rural areas. The expected outputs are the creation of a network between the SCT entities for knowledge exchange and technology transfer to SMEs; the creation of new collaborative robot applications; the use of innovative and differentiating approaches and technologies for object manipulation and support for work on grueling tasks; the implementation of these techniques in real productive environments such as meat cutting, fruit packaging, and doll assembly; the creation of three “living labs” to promote solutions developed among the other sectors and SMEs present in the territories. Cooperation between innovation centres and territories will be crucial to contribute to territorial rebalancing, promote the transfer of innovation and strengthen economic activity in these territories. Transnational cooperation is essential as the sectors covered and the challenges faced are similar, however, the level of knowledge and skills of the different entities are complementary so that the joint work will lead to more effective and innovative solutions. The innovative aspect of the project is related to the application of innovative technologies and advanced AI techniques developing collaborative robotics solutions adapted to the traditional and artisanal sectors.

No rural Sudoe, or increase in temperatures, or increase in dryness, to water shortages and conflitos hair use da terra, ameaçam as Produções agricultural, to solidity das infraestruturas and to qualidade de vida dos cidadãos rurais, contributed to or rural depovoamento. These vulnerabilities afetam as urban areas: Segurança feed, energy sovereignty or urban expansion depends on the capacity of areas rurais to adapt to climate change. As zones rurais têm um fundamental role to desempenhar na Transição Verde da Europa e devem be reconfected as locais de inovação. The communities rurais do Sudoe also confronts semelhantes challenges as democratic practices and a dificuldade de passar do planmento à implementação. O Rural Transition Lab aims to stabel Rurais communities as centers of inovação, experiencing novas soluções based in ecossystems and participatory, increasing to rural resilience and adaptability of climate change. UMA strategic partilhada e um plano de ação serão desenvolvidos na implantação dos Labs, com or conhecimento and experience of each Parceiro (territorial dialogue, ação on climate change and GIS, ecossystems locais). As 3 communities-piloto irão implement strategy, training-se na Mudança systemic, Desenvolvendo projectos-piloto addressing the challenges of adaptão às alterações climatic no Sudoe. You projectos-piloto irão experiment uma Solução concrete and demonstrate to relevância two Rural Transition Labs as engines of inovação for adaptão às mudanças climas e resiliência nas areas rurais do Sudoe. These soluções serão recolhidas num catalog and transferred to outras regiões do Sudoe. A inovação do projeto resides as a assume to Dimensão territorial da adaptção às alterações Climas. Fastando-it is given usual approach of silo, or projecto is basedia em uma uma ongem sistêmica, na qual atores definem uma visão Compartilhada e assumem um ativo em alcançá-la. Isso means developing new forms of cooperation that are facilitated by uma ferramenta GIS innovator to promote synergies, stimulate ação e o envolvimento da Comunidade em geral.

While manufacturing companies place innovation as a top priority to address the environmental crisis, most lack solutions tailored to current and future challenges to be implemented at their facilities. In addition, as innovation in a corporate environment is quickly hampered by the complexity and duration of implementation, innovation is now shifting towards start-ups. This global landscape is also necessary for the SUDOE area, where the capacity for innovation in industrial ecosystems must be improved. To this end, the SCAIRA project aims to develop a personalised training program to support the creation and acceleration of new companies in rural areas for the green transition of the production sector focused on the Aerospace and Automotive sector. Both sectors have a historical anchor in the SUDOE field with a significant number of companies to accompany in their transition. SCAIRA’s ambition is to create and attract new economic assets in rural areas while providing innovative responses to industries in green manufacturing and reducing their environmental footprint. SCAIRA will be developed by 5 incubators (2 beneficiaries of research infrastructures) located in rural areas of Portugal, Spain and France, contributing their experience and best practices to the project. Industrial, territorial and environmental challenges will be identified and defined by 5 clusters of partners’ regional ecosystems. The various clusters, Airbus Atlantic and the industry involved, will complete the program by providing their expertise and knowledge in industrialisation, market analysis, and customer and investor identification. Beyond the project, 45 start-ups will be created and accelerated that will benefit from long-term support through their regional incubator and participation in relevant clusters. The SCAIRA project will restore the attractiveness of the production sector and rural areas, while increasing business culture and labour well-being in the production sector.

The Project will demonstrate the feasibility of low-cost wireless sensor networks (WSNs) for application in forest fire surveillance and early warning systems. To assess the risk and detect forest fires in the Sudoe, meteorological data and satellite images of the Earth’s surface (telection) are currently used with low spatial and temporal resolution and unreliable (high rate of false positives). In addition, weather and remote sensing equipment have a high cost. WSNs use electronic modules with sensors that measure the meteorological and environmental parameters involved in forest fire risk in real time. They are also endowed with computing and wireless communication, with each other and with the cloud. WSNs adapt to the characteristics of risk zones, are easy to deploy and scalable. They are a proximity tool that complements remote sensing and facilitates co-responsible risk management by municipalities, local communities and the inhabitants of risk areas. The Project will carry out Pilot Activities in areas of the Sudoe of different climate, orography and vegetation with objectives of prevention or early detection. It will also develop an Action Plan for the adoption of WSN in municipalities for meteorological and environmental monitoring purposes and an Action Plan for the training of professionals in WSN for environmental risk management. The WSN integrates multiple technologies with unequal levels of development in the Sudoe countries, so transnational cooperation is essential for the realisation of WSNs, Pilot Activities and Action Plans. These outputs will benefit municipalities (innovative technology for the effective management of environmental risks), land owners and users (protection of crops, pastures, forests and livestock), SMEs (high value added products and services and skilled professionals), young population (quality work and entrepreneurship) and the general population (health protection, property, infrastructure, natural and cultural heritage) of rural Sudoe.

The European purpose of achieving a climate-neutral economy by 2050 has revived the interest in renewable hydrogen, which is currently postulated as the main player in achieving the goal of an emission-free economy. In this context, SharedH2-Sudoe becomes aware of the shared territorial imbalances and, in turn, of the renewable energy generation capacity of the Sudoe territory. For this reason and as beneficiaries, the participating entities decide to combine their knowledge and experiences to, through a collaborative action and from a transnational approach, soften the urban-rural imbalance between the three participating countries. The main objective of the project is to promote and validate the use of renewable hydrogen as a flexible and distributed energy storage solution in local energy communities, which serves as an alternative for the empowerment of strategic rural areas through the development of new sustainable economic activities, the mitigation of environmental impacts and the improvement of the quality of life of its inhabitants. SharedH2-Sudoe will deepen the technical and scientific knowledge of the sector and test innovative solutions developed in a common way, through the development of pilot actions for the generation of renewable hydrogen from photovoltaic energy for its implementation in sectors such as transport. These pilot experiences will be carried out on Spanish, Portuguese and French territory.  In addition, a joint strategy for the social and economic revitalisation of rural areas will be developed, helping to retain and even attract people, with renewable hydrogen integrated into local energy communities as a tool to achieve this purpose. In addition, the project will lay the strategic basis for a roadmap in the European economy based on renewable energies, especially renewable hydrogen, and will contribute to increasing the added value of the future transfer of the solutions found to sectoral public policies.

One of the great challenges of agriculture in SUDOE is to deal with the consequences of climate change, in particular the increasingly early droughts. Freshwater availability will continue to decline, making the agricultural sector, highly dependent on water resources, particularly vulnerable. Therefore, conditions must be created to promote the resilience of agriculture by improving the use of an increasingly scarce resource. To meet this challenge, the digital transformation of agriculture is essential. In support of this transition, SMART GREEN WATER project partners will promote the implementation of smart specialisation strategies (S3) for a more sustainable agricultural sector based on increasing the sector’s digital capacities, thus strengthening the socio-economic fabric of rural areas. Thanks to transnational cooperation, the project partners will take advantage of the wealth of diverse contexts: regions of Spain and Portugal where historical water shortages have favored their collective management, while, in southwestern France, irrigation is more recent and individual. The proposed solutions, tested through pilot and transferable actions, to the different contexts, will allow to identify the best tools to meet the needs of farmers. Innovative irrigation optimisation technologies will be consolidated and disseminated through experimentation in partner regions. In short, digital tools will be made more accessible through a transnational training programme and the link between innovative companies and the agricultural sector. The transnational strategy developed and validated thanks to proven solutions will connect innovation ecosystems and public administrations with the agricultural sector as an end user. Support for digitalisation will ensure a more water-efficient agricultural sector and rural territories that are more resilient to the effects of climate change.

The forest systems of the SUDOE space are affected by specific climate risks such as droughts, pests, fires, the risk of desertification and biodiversity loss. These are aggravated by other socio-economic circumstances such as rural abandonment and the loss of the landscape in mosaic of the mountains, the lack of management of the forest masses by both public and private owners, and the problems of commercialisation, loss of competitiveness and lack of labour in agroforestry systems. Although the risks associated with climate differ in intensity and frequency between regions, for all the territories of the project (Region of Murcia, Castilla-La Mancha, Castilla y León, Alentejo, Occitania and Nueva Aquitaine), these risks present challenges in terms of agroforestry and associated biodiversity, forest management and socio-economic development. The objective of SocialForest is to contribute to climate adaptation in Spain (Castilla La-Mancha, Castilla y León, Region of Murcia), France (Occitania and Nueva Aquitaine) and Portugal (Alentejo) by developing a comprehensive forest management strategy, which increases resilience to climate change while enhancing the socio-economic development of rural areas. The feasibility of the selected measures will be planned and demonstrated through the development of 7 pilot actions. The pilot actions will address both biophysical and social risks of the territory and will be designed thanks to transnational cooperation. They will be implemented through the combined use of cutting-edge methodologies such as remote sensing, decision support software Café (quantifier of forest ecosystem services), reflectometry sensors and strategies for relinking exiled owners with their forest heritage (digital marketing strategy to contact and motivate to develop adaptive forest management).

SOLLAGUA aims to promote nature-based solutions (SBN) for water reuse in SUDOE that currently faces significant challenges related to water scarcity due to its semi-arid environment, climate change and population growth. The project will address these common challenges by implementing sustainable water management strategies in three rural communities in PT, ES and FR. The goal is to provide a more consistent water supply, while at the same time offering collateral benefits such as climate change mitigation/adaptation. The project aims to change public procurement practices by encouraging the adoption of green/innovative technologies. These changes promote a circular economy based on the reuse of wastewater at the local level, while at the same time providing a new water resource and an alternative to the classic linear scheme (end-of-pipe). This transition is particularly suitable for rural areas, generally less populated and with a weaker economy than urban areas. To achieve these objectives, capacities will be developed in SBN for the reuse of domestic wastewater and 3 study sites (demo sites) will be created. These demo sites (location, solution, capabilities,...) will be carried out through the strategy of creating a Living Lab focused on water and SBN (NB-Woll) and its action plan. The Woll will promote cooperation between governments, universities, businesses and users in an innovation environment. The NB-Woll i) will develop co-creation, ii) be oriented to the SFN with iii) adaptation to the need for water. The action plan will mobilise tools on the costs and benefits of SBNs. This will help raise awareness and show the viability of these technologies and innovations to public/private users. The project will benefit all stakeholders in water management. Transnational cooperation makes it possible to share experiences and lessons learned from the project and encourages its reproduction. The strategy will also ensure that results are aligned with the EU legal framework for re-use.

The STOP-iatro project brings together a consortium of 6 entities from 3 European countries. The project aims to ensure that professionals involved in care for older patients are aware of the risks associated with iatrogeny (adverse effects associated with care and care on people’s health). The objective of the project is to adopt collective strategies to avoid complications associated with care and care that could lead to the loss of autonomy of the elderly, based in particular on the recommendations of the WHO (ICOPE programme). Indeed, the COVID pandemic has particularly affected fragile populations, including the elderly. The negative effects are mainly due to increased barriers to access to essential health services and to the deterioration of the quality of patient care. Despite the existence of national recommendations on the prevention of adverse reactions to care or medicinal products in the territories of the consortium, there has been a clear setback in their implementation. These recommendations, mostly established before the COVID crisis, no longer take into account the current constraints on hospital or primary care actors. Our project is structured around several axes. The first axis aims to identify the obstacles and factors to the implementation of recommendations related to the prevention of iatrogenic dependence, but also to establish a state of knowledge of the professionals identified in the chain. . The second axis is aimed at offering a non-segregated territorial strategy immediately, which breaks down the barriers between city and hospital and is multiprofessional, through innovative methods of collective and social intelligence. The third axis will be to develop training plans on the prevention of iatrogenic dependence. Finally, the fourth axis will allow pilot actions identified jointly by territorial actors for professionals and patients.

The freshwater resources of the SUDOE region are under increasing anthropic pressure, leading to problems of scarcity and water quality, conflicts of use and risks to natural environments. In order to cope with the growing shortage of water resources, a paradigm shift is essential. The adaptation of practices and organisations through the definition of concerted and multi-annual management strategies will ensure access to water necessary for the life of ecosystems and the economic and social development of the territory. To address this challenge, TARGET project partners have identified a need and opportunity for cooperation to integrate unconventional waters into local water management. The objective is to promote, based on prospective analyses, the development and implementation of a territorial planning strategy for sustainable water management and the prevention of crisis situations arising from water scarcity. This strategy will allow the development of action plans that will integrate solutions for the use of unconventional water, including the reuse of treated waste water (Reut). The solutions, tested through demonstration projects, will seek to improve water governance, foster social acceptability, find innovative business models and address quality issues related to emerging pollutants. The project partners benefit from Spain’s experience in Reut, the EU’s most reused country, France’s long experience in water governance and Portugal’s recent experience in water production meeting quality requirements for reuse. Shared experiences and views will enable synergies to be established to propose the most appropriate solutions for each region and thus a planning strategy for sustainable water management and the prevention of water scarcity useful for all. The TARGET project will thus increase the strategic and operational capacities of the actors involved in water management in the SUDOE territory.

Climate observation systems ranked the years 2020, 2022, 2019, 2015 and 2014 as the five hottest of the last four decades in Europe. According to SUDOE, 2022 was the hottest year since 1950. Data on groundwater quality, vulnerability to climate change and the adaptive capacity of territories are heterogeneous, contributing to exacerbating the economic gap. Migratory movements can amplify the pressure on water resources and the economy. The ThermEcoWat project focuses on the recovery and resilience of the fragile thermal spring ecosystem, whose use is fundamental to the economy. The exploitation of the properties of the hot springs is at the origin of the development of many cities. The ThermEcoWat consortium believes that this natural heritage should be preserved, anticipating future tensions in small communities, where the difficulties of the agricultural economy, due to the climate, can be cushioned by the sustainable tourism industry and by green energies. The long-term decrease in precipitation expected in the SUDOE, can alter the natural properties of the hot springs, affecting their anthropic ecosystem. There is no data to assess the impact of climate change, nor an adaptation strategy method to anticipate its socio-economic consequences. Thermal energy could be better harnessed. Technologies that use low-temperature geothermal resources, and heat storage, can contribute to the development of a decarbonised, thermal-based economy without compromising its current use. The ecological hot springs of SUDOE, respectful of the environment, are renewable energies without the inconveniences of deep geothermal energy. The ThermEcoWat project aims to produce transversal actions between scientists, public authorities and economic actors, in order to provide collaborative governance tools for better coordination in the use of thermal sources, stimulating the valorisation of endogenous resources.

Ultreia_Sudoe’s challenge is to boost indoor tourism, activate rural areas by enhancing natural and cultural resources, especially agri-food traditions and craftsmanship, linked to the Caminos to Santiago (CaS). The objective is to generate a shared strategy of the CaS Sudoe for the enhancement of material and intangible natural and cultural resources, as well as the artisanal, creative and agri-food production capacity, to bring it closer to tourists and pilgrims and guarantee a respectful, conscious, authentic and sustainable economic and social development of the CaS. The impact of Ultreia_Sudoe will be a more active rural territory, with more possibilities to sustain the population and promote entrepreneurship in the tourism and productive creative and artisan sectors. The project will benefit local artisans and producers by promoting their product, tourists and pilgrims who will receive valuable information about local offers of products and services, administrations and hospitality entrepreneurs who will have information about the influx of visitors. This will be achieved through local Hub pilots, geolocated databases, influx management systems and physical and virtual shop windows. The focus is on multi-actor collaboration in the Hubs, the promotion of diversity of local production, the digital transformation of tourism management in the CaS and the experience of the pilgrim and tourist. Generating a long-lasting CaS strategy requires transnational cooperation, with a long-term vision, of the entities promoting CaS and representing key stakeholders. It must seek the preservation of the values of authenticity and integrity recognised by UNESCO, fleeing the homogenisation and tourist industrialisation, to offer an attractive experience for pilgrims and tourists. Innovation lies in the combination of multi-stakeholder transnational cooperation, the activation of endogenous resources and digitalisation of the pilgrimage and tourism of the CaS.

In the last decade (2012-2022), Sudoe countries have suffered a high number of fires, with an annual average of 222 in Spain, 213 in Portugal and 105 France, being among the 5 countries with the highest number in the EU (EFFIS). The fact that in the last 6 years there have been 3 of the worst fire seasons in the EU demonstrates the upward trend pointed out by experts and due, in part, to the effects of climate change, a situation aggravated in the Sudoe area by the progressive abandonment of rural areas and the consequent cessation of productive activities traditionally linked to the forestry sector. Given this challenge, it is crucial to adopt preventive measures appropriate to the characteristics of the European southwest (demographic crisis, abundance of forest mass, progressive increase in climatic extremes), the success of which will depend both on the knowledge of the particular constraints, and on the on-site demonstration of the effectiveness of innovative tools, potentially transferable to other areas affected by the same problem. With this perspective, USE4FOREST proposes a strategy for the prevention of fires in the Sudoe by improving forest spaces based on 3 phases: thorough knowledge of the constraints of the problem; development, testing and demonstration in the participating territories of innovative tools for the prevention, management and anticipation of forest fires; and its transfer and capitalisation on a Sudoe scale. USE4FOREST seeks to improve the responsiveness of different administrations through coordination with organisations with extensive experience in forest research and management. The analysis of different variables, such as the environment (vegetation, climate...) and anthropogenic factors (populations, crops...), will allow to reach new solutions and evaluate their impact, effectiveness and transferability, in order to develop smart prevention strategies in forest areas with the greatest risk, considering their natural, socio-economic, technological and management resources to address this need in a global way.