TiCCA4DANU – Transformative Innovation for Climate Change Adaptation in the Danube Region

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TiCCA4Danu (Transformative Innovation for Climate Change Adaptation in the Danube Region) is an international research and innovation project under Horizon Europe that develops and tests a transformative innovation framework to accelerate just climate change adaptation (CCA) in Danube city‑regions. The project focuses on four “anchor cities” and their surrounding regions, representing different bio‑geographical settings in the Danube macro‑region (coastal, mountain and continental).

Funded by: Horizon Europe, co-funded by the European Union
Total eligible costs: €382,866.34​
Net EU contribution: €382,866.34​
Project duration: 36 months

Objective

TiCCA4Danu aims to remove structural barriers to climate change adaptation at city‑region level by applying a systems‑level Transformative Innovation Policy (TIP) approach. The project links TIP with Local Green Deals and other local governance instruments to ensure that CCA is just, inclusive and aligned with broader EU climate and regional strategies.

Project approach

The project combines analytical work, experimentation and stakeholder engagement to co‑design adaptation pathways with public authorities, businesses, vulnerable groups and civil society. It tests novel governance models, policy mixes and financing approaches, aiming to upscale successful solutions through the EU Strategy for the Danube Region and EU‑wide dissemination events.

Pilot regions

TiCCA4Danu concentrates its activities on four anchor cities and their wider territories in the Danube macro‑region: Burgas and the surrounding Burgas District (Bulgaria), Debrecen and Hajdú‑Bihar County (Hungary), Maribor and the Podravje region (Slovenia), and Suceava and the Nord‑Est region (Romania), including links to neighbouring areas in Turkey and Ukraine. These demonstration territories allow the project to explore climate risks, adaptation options and governance innovations across different climatic and socio‑economic contexts.

Project partners

  • VDI/VDE Innovation + Technik GmbH (Coordinator), Berlin, Germany​
  • ICLEI European Secretariat GmbH, Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany​
  • Stichting VU, Amsterdam, Netherlands​
  • Fondazione CMCC – Centro Euro‑Mediterraneo sui Cambiamenti Climatici, Lecce, Italy​
  • Universität Wien, Vienna, Austria​
  • International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), Laxenburg, Austria​
  • ANTEJA ECG D.O.O., Ljubljana, Slovenia​
  • Obshtina Burgas (Burgas Municipality), Burgas, Bulgaria​
  • EDC Debrecen Város- és Gazdaságfejlesztési Központ Nonprofit Kft., Debrecen, Hungary​
  • Regionalna razvojna agencija za Podravje – Maribor (RRA Podravje – Maribor), Maribor, Slovenia​
  • Municipiul Suceava (Suceava Municipality), Suceava, Romania​
  • Lucia Seel International Consulting GmbH, Linz, Austria​
  • INFRAS AG, Zurich, Switzerland​
  • District Government Burgas, Burgas, Bulgaria​
  • Hajdú‑Bihar County Government, Debrecen, Hungary​
  • North East Regional Development Agency (ADR Nord‑Est), Piatra Neamț, Romania​
  • Odessa Regional State Administration, Ukraine​
  • Municipality of Uzunköprü, Turkey​

Useful links

Expansion and Deepening of Value Chains in Somalia: Supporting Women in Business

In Kismayo and Baidoa, women’s entrepreneurship relies largely on short-term humanitarian livelihood support. Limited access to finance, market information, skills and gender-responsive business services prevents women from growing their businesses. The GIZ project aims to improve women’s economic participation by strengthening women-led enterprises along selected value chains and improving the quality of entrepreneurship support services.

Anteja deepens up to four value chains, addressing technical, organisational and market bottlenecks. It trains local trainers as multipliers, with follow-up sessions and one-on-one mentoring, and facilitates linkages between suppliers, processors, vendors and consumers.

Project duration: June 2026 – February 2027
Region: Kismayo and Baidoa, Somalia

Client: GIZ

Headline photo: Pexels

Exploring the Potentials of Green Hydrogen for Local Economic Development

Connective Cities, implemented by GIZ, connects municipal practitioners from Germany and partner countries to initiate local reform measures. Its green hydrogen working group brings together municipalities from Sub-Saharan Africa and Germany to explore how renewable resources can supply local industries, create jobs and build a local hydrogen economy. The working group now focuses on concrete solutions, pilot measures and project applications. Anteja provides the technical steering, expertise and moderation of the working group. It moderates peer-learning workshops, organises expert missions and contributes to virtual insight sessions on good practice. It initiates and supervises short analyses, feasibility checks and pilot measures, including cooperation models between investors, companies and municipalities.

Project duration: May 2026 – July 2027
Region: Sub-Saharan Africa and Germany

Client: GIZ, Connective Cities

Strengthening Women’s Economic Participation: Promotion of Value Chains in Somalia

The project aimed to strengthen women-led micro and small enterprises in selected value chains by improving their competitiveness, market integration and employment opportunities. It covered milk, fish, meat, waste management and IT, and addressed both structural and capacity barriers faced by women entrepreneurs.

In Kismayo and Baidoa, the team developed urban support strategies to reduce bureaucratic barriers for women in business. Anteja mapped the value chains in a difficult environment where data collection and access to women entrepreneurs were limited, drawing on existing studies, interviews, focus groups and workshops. It conducted end-market, gap, and binding-constraint analyses, facilitated public–private dialogue, trained women entrepreneurs, and developed reform recommendations and instruments.

Project duration: March – November 2025
Region: Kismayo and Baidoa, Somalia

Client: GIZ

Sustainable Textile Value Chain Development in Uzbekistan

The assignment assessed how far circular economy principles, in particular the 7R strategies, are understood and applied in Uzbekistan’s cotton and textile clusters, with a focus on textile companies in Samarkand. It identified the knowledge gaps and barriers that limit adoption at company level. It also examined whether international customers already expect sustainable practices from Uzbek producers, and whether companies communicate their existing circular activities effectively. A second focus was the policy and regulatory framework: how well it supports circular textile and garment production, how women can be better integrated into sustainable value chains, and where targeted policy interventions could accelerate the transition.

Anteja reviewed existing studies, analysed the textile value chains and visited companies. It conducted interviews, focus groups and workshops. It then identified gaps and binding constraints, and developed reform and policy recommendations for greening textile value chains through circular technologies and for strengthening social and environmental sustainability in the sector. The findings were discussed at a validation workshop.

Project duration: October 2023 – April 2024
Region: Uzbekistan (Samarkand)

Client: GIZ

European Horticulture Investment Mapping

The assignment assessed opportunities for European horticulture companies to set up or expand operations in Africa and provided IFC with an actionable framework for engaging investors in sustainable, high-end agricultural supply chains. It confirmed interest from credible horticulture players. Their motivations are to extend production periods, reduce reliance on fossil-fuel-heated greenhouses and limit exposure to volatile energy prices. Africa offers them diversification, competitive costs and the potential to meet EU deforestation-free and sustainability requirements.

Because horticulture is capital-intensive, even sophisticated European players need tailored support to enter African supply markets and comply with EU standards. Anteja mapped European horticulture players and prioritised a pipeline for African expansion by company size, sustainability posture and market readiness. It assessed horticulture supply chains, including environmental and social aspects, and grouped opportunities into sub-asset classes that define investable themes.

Using a selection framework, Anteja shortlisted companies and prepared company briefs and investor-ready pitch materials. It facilitated IFC’s engagement with priority firms and refined the prioritisation based on those discussions. It also outlined EU market-access compliance and financing considerations to inform outreach to financial institutions.

Project duration: June – December 2024
Region: Africa and Europe

Client: International Finance Corporation (IFC)

Enhancing Brewery Operations with New Digital Tools: The HIGHFIVE Project

Funded by: HIGHFIVE Innovation Project, that has received funding under the European Union’s I3 programme under grant agreement 101083989.

Project duration: December 2023 – November 2024

Anteja ECG is working on a new project titled ‘Digitalizing Value Chains in the Brewery Industry for the Twin Transition.’ This project focuses on improving our main platform, the Value Chain Generator (VCG.AI®), by using artificial intelligence and big data to help create better business connections. Our aim is to adapt this platform specifically for breweries, testing and applying it in real-life situations on a large scale. We plan to add more data sources, improve our AI models for handling bigger datasets, develop a module for simulating business scenarios, and thoroughly test everything in real working conditions to help breweries work more efficiently and sustainably. To facilitate decision-making process and implementation, business case simulation module will evaluate also economic impact of building new value chains and act as a sales accelerator/tool.

The HIGHFIVE project is set to tackle specific problems faced by the brewing industry, especially the low rates of recycling and reuse in the EU. We’re focusing on BioLink models for breweries to help them find new ways to connect with other sectors, create more business value, and speed up the shift towards greener practices by finding better uses for waste materials. By incorporating VCG.AI in their operations, breweries could significantly cut down on waste and greenhouse gas emissions, while also seeing economic advantages. This project is not just about improving how breweries operate, but also about helping Anteja ECG grow and expand its market reach.

EU Horizon CEE2ACT

Empowering Central and Eastern European countries to develop bioeconomy strategies and action plans


Funder: European Commission
Call for proposal: HORIZON-CL6-2021-Governance-01-10, Horizon Europe Coordination and Support Action project
Duration: 36 months (1 September 2022 – 30 September 2025)
Overall budget and funding source: EUR 3.9 million
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe Research and innovation programme under grant agreement no. 101060280.

The European Green Deal has set Europe on its path to become the first climate neutral continent by 2050. Achieving green transition must be just, fair and inclusive. One of the seven core pathways to deliver on climate neutrality is the bioeconomy. The 2018 updated EU bioeconomy strategy has highlighted the relevance of developing national bioeconomy strategies and action plans to deploy a sustainable and circular bioeconomy across Europe considering economic, social and environmental aspects. 

To date, there are still Member States, including many from Central and Eastern Europe that do not have a national bioeconomy strategy and action plan despite their high biomass resource base and new bioeconomy potential, although there are relevant regional initiatives to develop bioeconomy strategies. 

The objective of CEE2ACT is to empower countries in Central Eastern Europe (Hungary, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia) and beyond (Greece, Republic of Serbia) to develop circular bioeconomy strategies and action plans, through knowledge transfer and innovative governance models, to achieve better-informed decision-making processes, societal engagement, and innovation, building on the practice of experienced countries (Austria, Belgium, Finland, Germany, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden). Knowledge transfer and inspiration in creative formats that address the motivations, needs and knowledge gaps of each CEE2ACT target country will be realized through the CEE2ACT National Bioeconomy Hubs. 

A bottom-up approach will be applied throughout the project activities, tackling specific knowledge gaps and shortcomings of the top-down conventional approach, building closer interconnections between actors across public institutions, private sector, industry, energy, SMEs, feedstock providers (e.g., waste, side streams, farmers, foresters, fishermen), academia and research, NGOs, CSOs in the target countries. 

To achieve this, a baseline assessment will be carried out, and stakeholder engagement activities will be implemented ensuring the active participation of all relevant stakeholders. Digital solutions for sustainable governance will be created, supporting the exchange of best practices on technology transfer, and building the capacities of the stakeholders to develop bottom-up bioeconomy strategies. 

Findings will be used and disseminated through practical tools, guidelines, and policy recommendations to support beneficiary countries to develop flexible and inclusive bioeconomy strategies and action plans, boosting societal engagement in the countries’ transition toward a circular bioeconomy. 

Coordinator: María Beatriz Rosell, Senior Project Manager, Geonardo Environmental Technologies Ltd., Email: maria.beatriz.rosell@geonardo.com
Media & Communications: Nathalie Bargues, Project Manager, Greenovate!Europe, Email: n.bargues@greenovate-europe.eu
Upcoming website: www.cee2act.eu
Social media channels: LinkedIn and Twitter

Enhancing transparency and sustainability of coffee value chains in Honduras

With corporate due diligence legislations on the rise in Europe and consumer demands for greater supply chain transparency, large companies are compelled to address negative human rights and environmental impacts in their global supply chains. These companies need to be able to collect, retrieve and evaluate information about their products and production conditions along the supply chain in real time. INATrace, an open source traceability system based on blockchain technology, was developed by Anteja on behalf of the Initiative for Sustainable Agricultural Supply Chains (INA) to make agricultural commodities traceable from production up to the final product. It not only promotes trust and security between trading partners but also enhances the efficiency of supply chains, which in the long run should increase farmers’ incomes and a contribute to women’s empowerment. INATrace helps European companies collect, retrieve and evaluate information about their products and production conditions along the supply chain in light of the corporate due diligence legislations on the rise in Europe. It is free to use, adaptable, transferable and scalable.

After successful development and implementation of INATrace in Rwanda (see our project’s Part 1 and Part 2), INA commissioned the implementation of INATrace also for an upscale, focusing on Honduran coffee producers exporting to the European market.

Together with GIZ Honduras we’ve scaled up the system to a robust multi-tenant system and implemented INATrace in Honduras. We conducted a value chain analysis and mapping for the Honduran producer organisations, export companies and trading partners in close collaboration with local consultants to get a better understanding of the requirements for the IT development. Next, we managed the technical system adaptations according to local requirements and circumstances. Afterwards, we conducted the train-the-trainer sessions to build local capacities. We assisted the local consultants in onboarding new INATrace users and in preparation and implementation of user training. Based on the user feedback in both origin and importing countries, the software was further optimised to the local context.

INATrace connects 3 producer organizations in Honduras with their in-country exporters and buyers in Germany and the UK, enabling full blockchain traceability from the moment farmers deliver their coffee to the processing locations until the sales-ready roasted and packaged product.

Client: Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ)

Date: July – October 2021

Read more about INATrace in Rwanda on the INA’s website.

Enhancing transparency and sustainability of coffee value chains in Rwanda (Part 2)

With corporate due diligence legislations on the rise in Europe and consumer demands for greater supply chain transparency, large companies are compelled to address negative human rights and environmental impacts in their global supply chains. These companies need to be able to collect, retrieve and evaluate information about their products and production conditions along the supply chain in real time. INATrace, an open source traceability system based on blockchain technology, was developed by Anteja on behalf of the Initiative for Sustainable Agricultural Supply Chains (INA) to make agricultural commodities traceable from production up to the final product. It not only promotes trust and security between trading partners but also enhances the efficiency of supply chains, which in the long run should increase farmers’ incomes and a contribute to women’s empowerment. INATrace helps European companies collect, retrieve and evaluate information about their products and production conditions along the supply chain in light of the corporate due diligence legislations on the rise in Europe. It is free to use, adaptable, transferable and scalable.

After the first successful development and implementation of INATrace for Rwandan coffee value chains, the second part of the project involved further development of technologies and optimisation of the system to scale up the use of INATrace in Rwanda. Together with INA and partners Safer Rwanda and Rwanda Smallholder Specialty Coffee Company (RWASHOSCCO), we optimised the INATrace based on the recommendations and feedback given by various system users.

We implemented INATrace to several new coffee farming cooperatives that work with RWASHOSCCO and added additional buyers to the system that can now enjoy the full blockchain traceability of the coffee from the moment the coffee is brought to the cooperatives’ coffee washing station until the product is roasted, packaged and ready to sell.

Our user-centered development approach included implementing user feedback from the previous project phase to make the software more intuitive, including new features that were suggested by the cooperative managers, such as exporting of reports, import of data from previously used systems, increased system configurability regarding company-specific processes, facilities and company-internal system access rights, automatic daily currency exchange rate updates etc.

Client: Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ)

Date: July – October 2021

Read more about INATrace in Rwanda on the INA’s website.