Project description
Strengthening Central Europe’s green mining capacity
The EU relies almost exclusively on imports of so-called critical raw materials (CRMs) –economically and strategically important materials for the EU economy whose supply is associated with high risk. The Critical Raw Materials Act was enacted on 23 May 2024 to simultaneously mitigate future supply risks while accelerating the development of green technologies dependent on CRMs. The Technical University of Kosice (TUKE) is coordinating the EU-funded WIDEX project which aims at enhancing the exploration and mining of Slovakia’s geological reserves, increasing sustainability and circularity, and strengthening TUKE’s capacities. It will have a broader impact via the creation of a new cluster in Central Europe, a virtual centre, a stakeholder platform, and dissemination of lessons learned.
Objective
Critical minerals and elements are highly significant for Europe's economy, particularly within strategic sectors. However, the demand for new, often essential materials conflicts with the decreasing activity in primary raw material mining. As a result, there is an impending need to fulfil these demands within European borders, reducing reliance on third countries. This was recently reflected in the European Raw Materials Act as a clear necessity from the EU, being a potential solution the use of green and non-invasive technologies to recover and refine CRMs. Besides this, it is known that the reserves and productions of mineral resources in Slovakia are mainly located in Kosice region (46% Slovak geological reserves), thereby, enhanced networking and positioning activities between TUKE and the top-class leading research institutions are needed in order to close the still apparent research and innovation gap within the EU. Furthermore, TUKE is a distinguished mining university and serves as the primary reference centre within Slovakia, which will be boosted and reinforced in three main strategy lines through several learning tools and materials. These will be focused on: 1) exploration, recovery and mining monitoring exploitation, 2) capacity to drive sustainability, circularity and social assessment 3) Strengthening TUKE’s research management & coordination capacities, and administrative skills. The WIDEX implementation will include the creation of a new cluster in Central Europe, an excellent Virtual Centre, as well as a Stakeholder platform around the green and non-invasive technologies ecosystem, and a WIDEX’s WHITEBOOK based on the lessons learned.
Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.4.1 - Widening participation and spreading excellence
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-CSA - HORIZON Coordination and Support Actions
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) HORIZON-WIDERA-2023-ACCESS-02
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
042 00 KOSICE
Slovakia
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.