ERA-MIN 2 is a pan-European network of public research and innovation (R&I) funding organisations consisting of 21 funding organisations from 12 EU Member States countries/regions (Belgium-Flanders, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Spain-Castilla y Léon, Sweden), one EU Associated Country (Turkey) and four non-EU countries (Argentina, Brazil, Chile and South Africa).
Built on the experience of the EU project ERA-MIN (2011-2015), ERA-MIN 2 aims to enhance and strengthen the coordination of R&I programmes in the field of non-energy, non-agricultural raw materials (construction, industrial and metallic minerals) to support the European Innovation Partnership (EIP) on Raw Materials, the EU Raw Materials Initiative and further develop the raw materials sector, in Europe and globally, through funding of transnational R&I activities.
ERA-MIN 2 aims to support demand driven research on primary and secondary resources, and substitution of critical raw materials under a circular economy approach, to give the opportunity to the R&I community to apply to world-wide coordinated funding, gaining access to leading knowledge and new markets, while reducing fragmentation of R&I funding across Europe and globally. This was achieved through one EU co-funded call for R&I proposals in 2017 and two additional joint calls, in 2018 and in 2019, designed and developed specifically for the non-energy, non-agricultural raw materials sector.
Furthermore, ERA-MIN 2 liaison with existing initiatives in the raw materials sector, projects and industrial associations to ensure complementarity and avoid duplication of efforts.
The network addressed four key objectives:
1. Support and promote R&I cooperation in Europe.
2. Reduce fragmentation of R&I funding in the area of non-energy non-agricultural raw materials across Europe and globally.
3. Provide a pan-European support network and financial resources to improve, synergies, coordination and collaboration.
4. Improve the efficiency and impact of human and financial investment in R&I activities in the area of Raw Materials.
Through the launch of three joint transnational calls, 40 top quality transnational R&I projects were supported through the mobilization of almost 30 M€ public national and regional funding in total, including 5M€ of EU contribution. The portfolio of funded R&I projects constitute a Raw Materials R&I programme that was monitored to guarantee the achievement of project’s objectives and promote the up-take of R&I results by end-users and/or society.