SPECTRA
The SPECTRA project aims to enhance the research and innovation (R&I) capabilities of AUTH in Greece, focusing on Water Quality and Food Safety, Quality & Traceability (WQ&FSAT) to address climate change-related challenges. By combining research, training, and collaboration, SPECTRA will boost scientific excellence, facilitate knowledge transfer, and improve networking both locally and internationally within the European Research Area (ERA). The project seeks to strengthen AUTH’s scientific standing, support the development of skilled researchers, and promote industry-academia partnerships. Expected outcomes include enhanced water quality and food safety, increased consumer confidence in Greek food products, support for monitoring and decision-making, and economic benefits for regional businesses through innovation, new product development, and job creation.
SITES Role
SITES plays a pivotal role in SPECTRA, bringing private-sector expertise in innovation consultancy, eco-innovation strategies, and sustainable development trends. Their contributions include high-level strategic market research, monitoring and evaluation, and strategic planning, ensuring that project outcomes are economically viable and widely applicable. Leading the economic component (WP6), SITES focuses on communicating and exploiting outputs from case studies, managing outreach, and promoting responsible research and innovation (RRI), open science practices, and gender inclusivity. This multifaceted role supports the effective dissemination, commercialization, and long-term impact of SPECTRA’s research innovations.
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Other Projects
Equal Arts project
EQUAL ARTS
A New Erasmus+ Project Takes Center Stage to Promote Gender Equality in Performing Arts Across Europe Through Research, Collaboration, And Innovation.
Project Name: Equal Arts project
Project Call: Call 2024 Round 1 KA2 - KA210-VET - Small-scale partnerships in vocational education and training (KA210-VET)
Project ID: 2023-1-IT01-KA220-ADU-000159913
Start date: 1st October 2024
End date: 30th September 2026
We are proud to announce the start of the Equal Arts project, a forward-thinking Erasmus+ initiative addressing gender inequality in the performing arts. The project officially began on 1 October 2024 and will run for 24 months, bringing together a diverse consortium of European partners to foster gender balance, empower women, and raise awareness across the cultural and creative sectors.
Background and Objectives
The Equal Arts project (Project ID: 2023-1-IT01-KA220-ADU-000159913) was born out of the pressing need to tackle gender-based disparities in the performing arts sector—particularly within leadership and decision-making roles. Despite ongoing societal progress, women remain underrepresented in key managerial positions. The project sets out to identify existing gaps, explore good practices, and co-create strategies that promote equal opportunities in artistic environments.
With a focus on adult education, the initiative aims to enhance skills, support inclusive professional development, and contribute to the cultural sector's transformation. Planned activities include research, interactive toolkits, digital resources, stakeholder training, and public engagement through artistic performances and awareness campaigns.
Partnership and Collaboration
The project is coordinated by InDance (Italy), and brings together a strong network of partners from across Europe:
- InDance International - Project Coordinator - Applicant/Leading Organisation in charge of the project management and coordination, and referent for the Spanish NA.
- SiTeS - Dissemination Coordinator - Leading Organisation for the Dissemination activities spread across the project, reporting to the Project Coordinator, defining and planning activities and their scheduling.
- Le Voci di Astarte - Quality Assurance Coordinator - Leading Organisation in charge of Quality Assurance activities, the development of guidelines and research of good practices. It will also be responsible for developing the “Equal Arts Digital Portfolio” in the form of a digitized document.
Project Timeline and Activities
Following the official project start on 1 October 2024, the consortium prepared internal frameworks and coordinated key project documents including the Quality Plan, Management Plan, and Risk Mitigation Strategy.
The Kick-off Meeting, hosted online by InDance on 3 December 2024, laid the groundwork for smooth cooperation. Partners introduced their organisations, reviewed the timeline, and agreed on next steps.
Key milestones to date include:
- 12 December 2024 – First Erasmus+ down payment received to initiate project activities
- 3 January 2025 – Branding and QA Plan (v1.0) completed
- 26 March 2025 – Landing page launched (https://eqa.levocidiastarte.com/), online questionnaire and Quality Plan published
Expected Impact
The project is expected to produce a transformative effect across the European performing arts sector. It will benefit adult educators, cultural professionals, and civil society organisations by providing tools to address gender imbalances and promote inclusive leadership models.
Through knowledge sharing, training, and artistic engagement, Equal Arts will contribute to a more equitable and innovative cultural landscape—building momentum for long-term systemic change.
"The performing arts have long been a sector marked by significant issues related to the gender gap, particularly in managerial roles. The Equal Arts project aims to shed light on this challenge by building on the current context to design pathways toward genuine equality. This project is especially important to SITES, given its alignment with our core objectives."
– Leonardo Piccinetti, Managing Director, SITES
Overview
FREECOVER is a cutting-edge research initiative funded under the Horizon Europe MSCA Staff Exchanges program (Grant Agreement :101182579). Running from January 1, 2025, to December 31, 2028, the project brings together academic and industrial partners across Europe and beyond to address one of the most pressing challenges of our time: the sustainable recycling of Rare Earth Elements (REEs).
REEs are critical for green technologies such as renewable energy systems and electric mobility. However, their supply faces significant risks due to limited natural resources and high environmental costs associated with traditional extraction methods. FREECOVER aims to develop an eco-friendly, innovative hydrometallurgical process to recover REEs from metallic waste, contributing to a circular economy and a sustainable future.
Objectives
FREECOVER’s mission is to revolutionize the recycling of REEs by achieving the following objectives:
- Sustainability: Develop a green recycling process using natural, eco-friendly materials.
- Circular Economy: Strengthen the REE supply chain by creating closed-loop recycling systems.
- Innovation: Demonstrate the effectiveness of novel materials, such as ionic liquids and natural polymers, in REE recovery.
- Knowledge Exchange: Foster interdisciplinary and cross-sectoral collaboration through international secondments and training activities.
Key Innovations
- Eco-Friendly Processes: Utilize natural acids and low-cost minerals to extract and separate REEs with minimal environmental impact.
- Advanced Materials: Develop polymeric membranes supported by ionic liquids for efficient REE separation.
- Water Recycling: Implement closed-loop water systems to reduce waste and enhance sustainability.
- Catalyst Development: Transform metal-loaded adsorbents into catalysts for wastewater treatment, creating additional value streams.
Consortium
The FREECOVER consortium consists of 10 partners, including leading universities, research institutions, and companies from Europe and Cuba. These partners collaborate to bridge the gap between academic research and industrial application, ensuring real-world impact.
Impact
FREECOVER will:
- Provide sustainable solutions to critical raw material shortages.
- Enhance Europe’s competitiveness in green technologies.
- Reduce the environmental footprint of REE extraction and recycling.
- Promote global collaboration and knowledge sharing in sustainable innovation.
SITES’ Role in FREECOVER
As a key partner, SITES leads Work Package 5 (WP5): Communication and Dissemination. Our responsibilities include:
- Developing the project’s Communication, Dissemination, and Exploitation (C&D&E) strategy.
- Managing the project website and social media platforms.
- Organizing training events, Science Cafés, and outreach activities to engage stakeholders and promote FREECOVER’s objectives.
FREECOVER KICK-OFF MEETING
ON 16th January 2025, at the University of Udine, the Polytechnic Department of Engineering and Architecture hosted the kickoff meeting of the highly anticipated interdisciplinary project FREECOVER at the “Rizzi” Campus. The event saw the participation of SITES, represented by Alessandro Tiraborelli, alongside other key stakeholders and experts contributing to this groundbreaking initiative.
Stay Updated
Follow FREECOVER’s journey toward sustainable innovation:
- Website
- Social Media
Together, we’re building a sustainable future by redefining REE recycling.
New Steps Safe Future
Project partners
- CIFP Hosteleria LHII (Spain)
- Multi-Act STD (Türkiye)
- Rödabergsskolan (Sweden)
New Steps Safe Future aims to contribute to reducing the carbon footprint to fight against climate change. We aim to support the development of teachers, school leaders, and teaching professions with activities planned according to the STEAM approach. We want to provide students with STEM skills that are scientifically based, based on inquiry and collaboration, and emphasize process evaluation.
At the end of the New Steps Safe Future project, a data guide, module guide, web portal, mobile application, and policy guide will be produced with activities aimed at the goals and objectives of the project. With these results, teachers, school leaders, teaching professionals, and students will gain STEM skills to fight against climate change and reduce the carbon footprint at European, national, and local levels. 168 teachers and 120 students will be involved in project activities, and 247 students in multiplier events.
The New Steps Safe Future project wants to carry out activities to reduce the carbon footprint of our students in order to fight against climate change. The project objectives, activities, and intellectual outputs are planned to fight against climate change and reduce carbon footprint, which are the priorities of the Erasmus+ program, and to increase interest in the environment, science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) skills and the STEAM approach, to support teachers, school leaders, and teaching professionals. We want to realize the project at the school level together with our partners by receiving funding support for the project. By creating our activities with the STEAM approach, we aim to provide teachers and students with scientific thinking-based, inquiry-based, problem-solving skills, collaborative, interdisciplinary learning, contextual learning, and process evaluation skills. These skills will equip teachers and students with competencies to fight against climate change.
The New Steps Safe Future project target groups are students aged 13-18, teachers, school leaders, and professions in education and training. Other target groups include municipal officials, government officials, university professors, young people, families, the public, digital/environmental entrepreneurs and employees, experts, and representatives in sectors such as agriculture, food, industry, transportation, and energy. Within our partnership structure, PT (University) consists of university employees, IE (SME) consists of professional experts, TR (NGO) consists of teachers and students between the ages of 14-20, HU (School) consists of students between the ages of 14-18, ES (School) consists of students between the ages of 14-18, and SE (School) consists of students between the ages of 13-17. Our aim is to leave an impact on climate change and education, as well as on relevant families, businesses, energy, transportation, industry, and agriculture sector representatives, start-ups, universities, municipalities, and youth centers at local, national, and European levels.
The goals of the New Steps Safe Future project are to carry out activities to fight against climate change and produce a data guide, module guide, web portal, mobile application, and policy guide. Within the scope of the partnership and beyond, dissemination activities at local, national, and European levels and activities to expand the impact of the project results will be carried out.
New Steps Safe Future Project Kickoff Meeting
The kickoff meeting took place on 2nd and 4th June 2024 in Budapest. The Project Start Date was 01/01/2024. The Project total Duration is 24 Months. The Project End Date is 31/12/2025.
SITES’ Role in the Project
- Expertise in Digital and Environmental Innovation: SITES brings its experience in sustainable innovation consulting, focusing on areas like energy, smart agriculture, and the environment.
- Leadership in Mobile Application Development: SITES is responsible for leading the development of the mobile application, one of the project's intellectual outputs, which aligns with their expertise in digital tools and smart solutions.
- Contribution to Climate Change Goals: By leveraging their background in innovative technologies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, SITES supports the project's overall aim of fighting climate change and reducing the carbon footprint.
- Multidisciplinary Collaboration: SITES integrates their competencies in law, finance, engineering, and IT to provide comprehensive support for the project's objectives.
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