Project description
Greening the digital brain
Europe’s digital and green future hinges on AI, but its massive environmental footprint (from energy surges to high water consumption) often remains invisible. While the EU AI Act sets global standards for safety, it leaves a significant sustainability gap. Supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the SUSTAIN-IA-PUB aims to develop robust regulatory strategies for the public sector. The project will map existing practices, design a comprehensive lifecycle methodology to measure AI’s direct and indirect impacts, and create actionable tools like green procurement criteria. By integrating law and computer science, SUSTAIN-IA-PUB empowers public bodies to adopt AI that is ecologically responsible, securing Europe’s leadership in a truly sustainable digital transformation.
Objective
The project “Regulating the Environmental Impacts of Artificial Intelligence in the Public Sector” (SUSTAIN-IA-PUB) addresses the urgent need to govern the environmental costs of AI, which remain largely invisible and unregulated despite AI’s role as a driver of the digital and green transitions. Current EU legislation, including the AI Act (Reg. EU 2024/1689), pays only marginal attention to sustainability, leaving a regulatory gap that this research seeks to fill. The main objective is to promote environmentally responsible AI adoption in the public sector through the development of methodologies and regulatory strategies that are adaptable, transparent and operational. The project pursues four goals. First, it will map and compare how public administrations in Europe and beyond currently assess the ecological footprint of AI, identifying gaps and best practices. Second, it will design an interdisciplinary methodology, grounded in lifecycle analysis and enriched by legal and technical expertise, to measure both direct impacts such as energy and water use and indirect effects such as rebound phenomena. Third, it will translate these findings into actionable regulatory instruments, including procurement criteria, reporting obligations and soft law tools that public bodies can realistically adopt. Finally, it will engage society through a citizen guide, a policy brief and an open-access repository to raise awareness and empower informed debate. By integrating law, environmental studies, computer science and governance, SUSTAIN-IA-PUB contributes directly to Horizon Europe’s priorities on the twin transitions. It will strengthen the capacity of Member States and public institutions to adopt AI systems that are lawful, effective and ecologically sustainable, positioning environmental responsibility as a core dimension of trustworthy AI and supporting Europe’s ambition to lead the digital and green transformation.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- natural sciences computer and information sciences artificial intelligence
- social sciences sociology governance
- social sciences law
- social sciences political sciences public administration
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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.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
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-TMA-MSCA-PF-GF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - Global Fellowships
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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-MSCA-2025-PF
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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.
00193 Roma
Italy
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.