Submissions Open: Towards Human-Centric, Sustainable and Resilient Energy-Intensive Industries

Scope

• Industry 5.0 recognises the power of industry to achieve societal goals beyond jobs and growth to become a resilient provider of prosperity. It focuses on making production respect the boundaries of their planet improving competitiveness of European process industries and placing the wellbeing of the industrial worker at the centre of the production process, while increasingly embracing digital and green technologies to remain the solution provider for all Europeans.
• Coordination and support activities should address all of the following:
  • Prepare an overview of the state of the preconditions for adding the Industry 5.0 perspective to energy intensive industries – this includes human-centric, gender-specific, resilience and sustainability aspects;
  • Map technologies (e.g., industrial wearable, human digital twin, extended reality) integrating individual competences and increasing usability, specifically applicable to energy intensive industries sectors and processes. For example, technologies:
    • supporting the co-design of processes and workplaces, enhancing the remote monitoring experience and creating new capabilities for operating;
    • supporting new forms of human-machine interaction by providing real-time feedback on personal performance and holistic intuitive workplace interfaces; or
    • co-designed in accordance with user expectations and the integration of workplace experience;
  • Explore through a practical assessment how the process automation technologies currently in use in Process Industries are making use of innovative the industry 5.0 technologies (the practical assessment is expected to cover several companies and at least five industry sectors);
  • Develop an Industry 5.0 framework and engage with a wide range of stakeholders including labour authorities and ongoing relevant sectoral social dialogues at European level. This should include empower employees in a participatory approach for adding the industry 5.0 dimension to the industrial processes including the reduction of risk and health issues;
  • Dissemination and communication of information and knowledge to stakeholders including industry, policy makers, research and education actors, civil society and general public;
  • Proposals should specifically address gender, age, and disability considerations, recognising potential variations in technological adoption and impact across diverse demographic groups.
• This topic implements the co-programmed European partnerships Processes4Planet and Clean Steel partnerships.

Funding Information

• Budget (EUR) – Year 2025: 2 000 000
• Contributions: around 2000000

Expected Outcomes

• Proposals should contribute to the following outcomes:
  • Facilitate radical workplace innovation, optimising human-machine interactions and capitalising on the added value of human workers via digital technologies;
  • Contribute to the development of innovative technologies in a human-centric way while reducing the risk and negative health impacts at work;
  • Incorporate new breakthrough technologies and realise new production processes with respect to human-centric design, environmental- and societal impacts and resilience;
  • Improve the capacities of actors to integrate Industry 5.0 (human-centricity, sustainability, and resilience) in the technological development processes by at the same time increasing the competitiveness of the industry.

Eligibility Criteria

• Entities eligible to participate:
  • Any legal entity, regardless of its place of establishment, including legal entities from nonassociated third countries or international organisations (including international European research organisations) is eligible to participate (whether it is eligible for funding or not), provided that the conditions laid down in the Horizon Europe Regulation have been met, along with any other conditions laid down in the specific call/topic.
  • A ‘legal entity’ means any natural or legal person created and recognised as such under national law, EU law or international law, which has legal personality and which may, acting in its own name, exercise rights and be subject to obligations, or an entity without legal personality.
• To become a beneficiary, legal entities must be eligible for funding.
• To be eligible for funding, applicants must be established in one of the following countries:
  • the Member States of the European Union, including their outermost regions:
    • Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden.
  • the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) linked to the Member States:
    • Aruba (NL), Bonaire (NL), Curação (NL), French Polynesia (FR), French Southern and Antarctic Territories (FR), Greenland (DK), New Caledonia (FR), Saba (NL), Saint Barthélemy (FR), Sint Eustatius (NL), Sint Maarten (NL), St. Pierre and Miquelon (FR), Wallis and Futuna Islands (FR).
  • countries associated to Horizon Europe;
    • Albania, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Canada, Faroe Islands, Georgia, Iceland, Israel, Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro, New Zealand, North Macedonia, Norway, Serbia, Tunisia, Türkiye, Ukraine, United Kingdom.

For more information, visit EC.