Work structure

We will set out to characterise the diversity of available and prospective decarbonisation and circular economy policies, technologies, opportunities and risks, before reviewing how current models can represent these and understand the research capacities needed to develop state-of-the-art typology and databases. We will use bottom-up analytical techniques to capture the costs and potential to reduce energy-and carbon-intensive materials, energy use, and carbon emissions. These insights will be enriched with an analysis of EU industrial competitiveness in the global context and a series of sociotechnical analyses from a systems of innovation perspective, aiming to drive the project’s model development and data management strategy.

We will develop a strategy and database for continuous, vivid stakeholder engagement with EU and national policymakers, EU industry associations, representatives of the selected regional industrial clusters, the modelling community and civil society. We will then discuss existing capacities, foster expectations, and gain perspectives of technical requirements to develop MIC3, in order to co-design the most pertinent questions to be mapped onto the developed modules, allowing stakeholders to validate their performance and usability. We will, finally, translate industry and policy stakeholder needs into scenario frameworks to co-produce pathways of European industrial transformation towards net-zero and give stakeholders the chance to validate MIC3 and exploit the new toolbox.

This component entails the development of standalone modules that correspond to the needs identified in the previous two blocks, including a socioeconomic module, a service and product database, a series of material flow modules for Europe and the globe, a series of industrial modules for the European Economic Area (EEA), a dedicated energy system module at the national level for the 27-member bloc and associated countries and an environmental impact assessment module. After their validation, the modules will be fully integrated into the MIC3 framework, also leading to the development of a simplified version to be released online and facilitate non-expert use.

Here, we will collect and map stakeholders’ overarching questions onto the new modules and carry out case study scenario exercises to demonstrate each module’s capabilities for stakeholders to validate. Following the finalisation of these individual modules and the development of the MIC3 framework, we will then use MIC3 to assess the transformation of European industries towards a circular economic net-zero future that aligns with the bloc’s vision for neutrality by 2050 and broader sustainable development.