The EU-CONEXUS ENABLES project has produced results that move significantly beyond existing practices in research capacity building and the application of digital tools for sustainable coastal development.
One of the main achievements is the creation of an integrated framework for applying Digital Twin technologies to Smart Urban Coastal Sustainability (SmUCS). While Digital Twins have been used in specific sectors such as energy or manufacturing, ENABLES is among the first initiatives to systematically identify, adapt, and share Digital Twin tools that address the complex needs of coastal cities—combining infrastructure resilience, climate adaptation, sustainable agriculture, and public health monitoring in one coherent approach.
By assembling a catalogue of tested Digital Twin solutions, the project enables research institutions, public authorities, and businesses in widening countries to adopt advanced simulation methods more quickly and cost-effectively. This framework supports better-informed decision-making and helps regions prepare for climate and environmental challenges.
Another result beyond the state of the art is the development of a replicable capacity-building model. ENABLES combined interdisciplinary research planning, targeted training, and researcher mobility into a structured process that can be reused by other alliances. The Expanding Your Horizons training programme and the dedicated track for Research Management Administrators went beyond traditional courses by focusing on practical skills, including grant preparation, ethics, open science, and career development.
The project also demonstrated new ways to link research and policy through the launch of CoReS – Coastal Resilience and Sustainability, an open-access journal that makes scientific knowledge freely available and easy to use by policymakers, practitioners, and communities.
These results are expected to have significant impacts, including:
- Strengthening research ecosystems in widening countries by giving institutions access to tools and methods that were previously out of reach.
- Accelerating the digital and green transitions in coastal regions through practical applications of Digital Twin solutions.
- Improving the resilience of coastal cities to climate change by supporting better planning and risk management.
- Enhancing career prospects for early-career researchers and research managers trained in open, interdisciplinary approaches.
- Stimulating innovation by building stronger connections between universities, businesses, and public authorities.
