The 11 and 12 July at the premises of Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) the project launch meeting of 5TOI_4EWAS (Quintuple Helix Targeted Approach to Open Innovation in Energy, Water Agriculture in the south Mediterranean Neighborhood), was held. The kick off meeting saw the participation of most of the 25 partners coming from 7 European countries and 9 countries of the southern Mediterranean (Lebanon, Palestine, Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria, Libya, Egypt, Jordan, Turkey). The project will enhance and support regional smart specialization and development by increasing research capacity, effective mobility of young innovators/researchers and shared knowledge to improve their participation in the EU research area. It will contribute to the establishment of favorable and stable conditions for international cooperation and the set-up of a Common Knowledge and Innovation Space of specialization in the SMN for a real socio-economic impact, based on co-ownership and mutual benefits. The project focuses on three vertical and strictly interconnected sector: the management of water, energy and food.

The meeting took place in Barcelona, with two days of intense work with the aim of setting the first activities to be launched and representing at the same time an excellent opportunity for partners to better know each other.

The first activities will be focused on the creation of an inventory of researchers in the target countries and in the three key sectors in order to constitute a database of actors involved, and the establishment of a High Level Expert Network which will act as a sort of “think tank” that will define the strategic lines of action for the project.

In this framework, UNIMED will play an important role in the project as responsible for the establishment of the inventory and for the coordination of the work package number 4 in charge of the think tank exploitation.