CALABRIA REGIONE

Their core work

Calabria Regione is the regional government of Calabria in southern Italy, participating in EU-funded projects that support regional policy on energy efficiency, sustainable buildings, and materials innovation. They coordinate public procurement reform for green and energy-related goals, fund transnational materials research through ERA-NET mechanisms, and run large-scale science communication events (European Researchers' Night) to engage the public. Their role is that of a policy-level enabler — channeling EU frameworks into regional action on sustainability, energy transition, and research culture.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In 2015-2018, Calabria Regione focused on green public procurement, energy-spatial planning for public authorities, and early participation in materials research ERA-NETs. From 2020 onward, their portfolio shifted noticeably toward science communication (multiple Researchers' Night editions emphasizing social inclusion and "scientainment"), battery and circular economy topics via M-ERA.NET3, and building sustainability with smart readiness indicators. The evolution shows a region broadening from internal institutional reform toward public-facing engagement and alignment with the European Green Deal.

Moving toward Green Deal-aligned topics (batteries, circular economy, building sustainability) while maintaining a strong public engagement function — likely to seek partners in applied sustainability and citizen science.

How they like to work

Calabria Regione participates exclusively as a partner, never as coordinator, which is typical for regional public authorities joining large EU consortia. With 105 unique partners across 37 countries from just 8 projects, they operate in very large consortia (averaging ~13 partners per project). This makes them an accessible consortium member — experienced in multi-country collaboration and comfortable in supporting roles where they bring regional policy implementation capacity.

With 105 unique partners across 37 countries from only 8 projects, Calabria Regione has an exceptionally wide network relative to its project count, driven by participation in large CSA and ERA-NET consortia spanning most of Europe and beyond.

What sets them apart

As a southern Italian regional government, Calabria Regione brings a perspective often underrepresented in EU consortia — that of a less-industrialized region navigating energy transition and innovation policy. They offer direct access to regional policy implementation, public procurement channels, and citizen engagement infrastructure in Calabria. For consortium builders needing a public authority partner in southern Italy with experience in CSA and ERA-NET formats, they are a proven and well-connected choice.

Highlights from their portfolio

• M-ERA.NET3
  Longest-running commitment (2021-2026) and the project most aligned with current EU priorities — batteries, circular economy, and Green Deal materials research.
• SuperScienceMe
  Three consecutive editions (2018-2022) of European Researchers' Night show rare sustained commitment to science-society engagement at the regional level.
• EUB SuperHub
  Their most recent and largest-funded project (EUR 93,750), introducing smart readiness indicators and geolocated building sustainability databases.