The Horizon 2020 Green Deal Project Support Office (GD‑SO) marked a major milestone with its flagship final event, which convened a diverse community of policymakers, researchers, industry leaders, local authorities and civil society on 28 April 2026 in Brussels and online.
The event, which attracted more than 300 participants, highlighted the collective achievements of 73 projects funded under the €1 billion Horizon 2020 Green Deal call.
Turn research into real-world solutions
By showcasing concrete achievements and real-world impacts, the gathering highlighted how EU-funded research and innovation is driving practical and scalable solutions in support of the European Green Deal. From clean energy and climate resilience to biodiversity, sustainable food systems, the circular economy, nature-based solutions and citizen participation, these projects represent a strong foundation for accelerating Europe’s green transition.
The Green Deal Call funded 73 projects across five core transitions that correspond to the project’s thematic working groups: Clean Energy, Food and Health, Climate and Biodiversity, Urban Environment and Mobility, and Knowledge and Citizenship.
Taken together, they represent something relatively rare in EU research funding: a tailored and thematically coherent portfolio designed not only to generate knowledge but also to create solutions ready for real-world deployment.
Breakout sessions focus on integrated approaches
Building on the plenary discussions, three interactive breakout sessions explored key aspects of the transition, including the One Health approach, the path to a competitive, low-pollution system, and citizen and society engagement. These sessions highlighted the importance of integrated, participatory and innovation-driven approaches in accelerating the realization of the European Green Deal.
Europe’s first green technology offering
Across the portfolio, projects have achieved a number of European firsts, from circular solutions and cutting-edge monitoring tools to new technical and social approaches. Notable achievements include the installation of a 100 MW renewable hydrogen electrolyser, CO₂ capture rates reaching up to 99%, and a renewable energy pilot generating over 110 MWh.
These achievements have gone beyond technological milestones to expand access to clean energy, support job creation at the local level, and demonstrate how research can lead to tangible societal benefits.
Collaboration is at the heart of the green transition
The strategic value of collaboration was a central message throughout the event. Astrid Radeforgid, Head of the Green Transition Unit at the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Research and Innovation (DG RTD), emphasized that cooperation between projects and sectors is key to increasing impact. He emphasized that the results presented demonstrate the added value of European scientific cooperation, which brings together expertise, technology and stakeholders across disciplines and borders.
The discussion also reinforced the important role of the EU’s funding framework in bridging the gap between innovation and implementation. These frameworks help ensure that research findings translate into real-world change through coordinated governance, policy alignment, and strong partnerships.
Strengthening the link between research and policy
In line with this, Ivona Marbasic, Coordinator of the Green Deal Project Support Office, highlighted the role of GD-SO in bridging the gap between research and policy by strengthening coherence between projects and extracting evidence to support decision-making at European, national and local levels.
By fostering collaboration, enabling knowledge exchange and increasing the visibility of results, GD‑SO helped create the necessary conditions for scaling up proven solutions and integrating them into policies driving Europe’s green transition.
From the final event to the next action stage
As the day-long discussion made clear, the focus has now shifted from showcasing the results to ensuring their dissemination and long-term impact. In that sense, the final event of the Green Deal Project Support Office is not just a conclusion, but a passing point.
Rather than marking an end point, this marks the beginning of the next stage, where years of research and collaboration will be translated into real-world change, scaled up across sectors, and embedded in policies and investments that will shape Europe’s green future.
Under the Horizon 2020 Green Deal call, the European Union is funding 73 research and innovation projects to accelerate a just and sustainable transition to a climate-neutral Europe by 2050. The Green Deal Project Support Office was established under an agreement with the European Union to support projects funded under the Green Deal Call and to help foster cooperation, share best practice and increase their impact.
The projects mentioned in this article have received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement numbers 101036702, 101036631, 101036449, 101036599, 101036245, 101037509, 101036763.
The information and views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official views of the Commission. The Commission does not guarantee the accuracy of the data contained in the article. Neither the Committee nor its agents can be held responsible for the use of the information contained therein.
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