INITIATE is a project that aims to empower higher education institutions to develop R&I through institution transformation. INITIATE, in its widening dimension, seeks to raise excellence in science and knowledge valorisation of Europe's universities through cooperation and knowledge circulation. Through stakeholder inclusion and co-design approach, INITIATE will design an approach for institution transformation that will reflect on the current needs and resources of the institution, external elements such as policy barriers, good practices from other initiatives and identification of possible collaboration areas with other institutions including local ecosystems. Through iterative process and R&I Labs supported by online tools such as Knowledge Hub, INITIATE will generate policy recommendations for helping stimulate R&I development and scientific excellence in Widening countries, in addition to research outputs and creation of joint applications for other funding sources (e.g. Horizon Europe). The approach will be demonstrated in Croatia, Portugal and north Macedonia. This will finally result in a roadmap for long term uptake of R&I in widening countries with identified replication cases and forming of the Alliance for green energy transition that will assure the long-term sustainability of INITIATE results. The action focuses on universities in Widening countries, in which the cases for the implementation of INITIATE approach will be conducted. Additionally, the project aims to achieve several outcomes, including the successful institutional reform and upgrade of higher education institutions in the R&I dimension, empowerment to be actors of change, and the mainstreaming of a culture of excellence in science and value creation amongst higher education institutions, particularly in less research-intensive institutions and countries. To achieve these outcomes, the project will engage universities as well as local ecosystems.

The project investigates the types of decarbonisation strategies that comply with the Paris Agreement, whose implementation requires the transformation of several sectors in addition to energy, such as mobility, construction, food and industry. This sectoral transformation raises challenges for the development of countries and regions, which have become particularly pressing as states will have to accelerate the low-carbon transition with more fragile finances and the need for economic recovery after the pandemic crisis. The research combines theories of socio-technical transitions and economic geography to identify low-carbon transition pathways with the greatest transformative potential and to investigate how countries and regions are preparing for such transformation. The focus of this research is on the type of transition strategies that are most beneficial to the economy, that is, that have the capacity to generate changes in other sectors. The project studies the possible directions of the transition and its transformative capacity, assesses the extent to which the system is preparing for this mode of transition and identifies the areas that are leading or delaying change. To this end, it will develop a typology of transformational decarbonization strategies based on a systematic analysis of the literature. The project will also search for patterns of transformation towards sustainable production and consumption already emerging at business level, and match them with the theory-derived decarbonization strategies. The results will contribute to the discussion on the processes and modes of sustainable transitions associated with the economic characteristics of the different regions. The project will also contribute to the discussion on the influence of the context as a facilitator of or constraint on some types of decarbonization strategies, as well as will identify the strategic intervention levers under which policies can intervene in order to amplify the effe...