REGION REUNION

Their core work

Région Réunion is the regional government of Réunion, a French overseas territory in the Indian Ocean. In H2020 projects, they serve as a real-world demonstration site and policy partner for island-specific challenges — biodiversity conservation in tropical ecosystems and energy transition for isolated island grids. Their value lies in providing access to a unique European overseas territory where climate adaptation, nature-based solutions, and decarbonisation strategies can be tested under real island conditions with direct policy relevance.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Their early H2020 work (2015-2018) centred on biodiversity fundamentals — ecosystem services, conservation, restoration, and building science-society dialogue in European overseas territories. By 2019-2025, they shifted toward applied challenges: climate change adaptation, socio-ecological governance, and island energy transition including renewables and storage. The trajectory shows a clear move from understanding island ecosystems to actively decarbonising and climate-proofing them.

Moving from passive biodiversity research participation toward active island decarbonisation and climate resilience demonstrations — expect growing involvement in clean energy and adaptation projects.

How they like to work

Always a participant, never a coordinator — consistent with their role as a regional public authority providing territory access and policy context rather than leading research. Despite only 3 projects, they have worked with 70 partners across 32 countries, reflecting participation in large ERA-NET cofund networks and an Innovation Action consortium. This makes them easy to integrate into large consortia where a real-world island demonstration site with government backing is needed.

Through just 3 projects, Région Réunion has connected with 70 partners across 32 countries — a remarkably wide network driven by their participation in large ERA-NET cofund programmes. Their geographic reach spans Europe broadly, with a natural link to other island and overseas territories.

What sets them apart

Région Réunion offers something few European partners can: a tropical island territory under EU jurisdiction, providing a living laboratory for testing biodiversity, climate adaptation, and energy solutions under island-specific constraints. As a regional government, they bring direct policy authority and can facilitate real deployment — not just research. For any project needing an island demonstration site with institutional backing in the Indian Ocean, they are a rare and valuable partner.

Highlights from their portfolio

• MAESHA
  Their largest funded project (EUR 70,000), focused on smart energy decarbonisation for island territories — marks their pivot into applied energy transition.
• BiodivClim
  Bridges biodiversity and climate change at the transnational level, reflecting the region's evolution toward integrated climate resilience.