SCENARIOS is part of the European Green Deal, and last week we have a meeting as part of the group activities where we held a strategic discussion, strengthen connection with peers, and position SCENARIOS  at the forefront of the EU’s next phase in the green transition. The Green Deal Projects Support Office (GD-SO) non-public workshops have been a space for projects to connect with EU priorities, unlock funding opportunities, and learn how to amplify their impact. Each session has built on the last, offering practical insights and strategic guidance to help projects thrive.

In January 2023 we explored key Commission policy priorities across climate, biodiversity, energy, food, health, and urban mobility. In February 2024 we turned to the topic of investment, and how projects can access funding and scale their implementation or continuation. In February 2025, we focused on maximising impact, highlighting support services and tools to help the projects to boost their dissemination and exploitation.

Now in our fourth and final non-public workshop, we continued to look ahead. This session will explored the evolving EU policy landscape: What progress has been made under the European Green Deal? What priorities are emerging for 2026 and beyond that will shape the future of research and innovation on sustainability and the green transition? At this last session we also highlighted key achievements from the Working Group Action Plans and share lessons learnt on the projects’ collaborations to inform and inspire future initiatives.

As sated by the Directorate-General for Environment from the European Commission “The shadow of “forever chemicals” has long loomed over the global water supply, more so now than ever. But in the laboratories and industrial hubs of Europe, the fight back against PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) has begun.”.

One of the key results from the meeting held yesterday was the need to make and impact and this can be made though engagement with policy makers, other similar research and society. While projects can join forces to promote and achieve policy changes, we are on the midst of this journey of green transition where data and results are fundamental and this is what we are trying to achieve in SCENARIOS as well as in all other projects funded under the same H2020 programme call. 

Effective stakeholder engagement is crucial to the success of mission projects, but access to key authorities differs across member states. Through soft mandates, guidance, recommendations, or coordinated actions, it’s important to actively facilitate introductions and collaboration with relevant national and regional actors. This would create a more enabling environment for stakeholder participation and strengthen consistency across Europe.

In SCENARIOS we will carry on working till the end of te project and sharing results and promoting synergies with similarly oriented research interest groups and people.