Derek Baker, coordinator of SolarHub: A Greek-Turkish Solar Energy Excellence Hub to Advance the European Green Deal, introduces us to the newly formed Excellence Hub Community, and the vision for a more sustainable, resilient and collaborative future for Europe’s Widening Countries.
The new collaboration of 25 EU-funded Excellence Hub projects is not simply a network — it’s a growing community united by a shared ambition to amplify impact through collective action. Coordinated by institutions across 12 Widening Countries and involving partners from 21, these projects represent some of the most dynamic research and innovation actors in Europe’s widening regions. While each project tackles unique challenges across themes like health, sustainability, digital transformation, and regional leadership, they share a common thread: a commitment to building prosperous, strategic, and place-based innovation ecosystems.
To break out of siloed implementation and unlock new opportunities, a joint initiative — the EH Community — has been launched to foster deeper collaboration, support strategic dissemination, and secure long-term sustainability through follow-up funding. By joining forces, the Excellence Hubs aim not only to raise awareness and influence among key stakeholders, but also to catalyze a wave of inter-project partnerships that will drive regional development and advance the European Research Area.
The Foundational Working Group (FWG) of the EH Community coordinated by the SolarHub, and included representatives from the WaterWise Hub, CARBONICA, and HERIFORGE, while SolarHub created the Dissemination, Exploitation, and Communication platform Widening Impacts to support the creation of this community. Over Spring 2025, 7 Excellent Hub projects gave webinar presentations, introducing their projects using the Widening Impacts platform. These webinars, including the presentation for the WaterWise Hub, can be viewed on YouTube.
Themes that connect our EH Projects: Following a questionnaire survey, the keywords used to describe these 25 EH projects led to the following initial outcomes. The cross-cutting theme “Prosperous” that includes Innovative, Strategic, Capable, and Place-Based was identified as being applicable to all 25 EH projects, and therefore is a theme that connects all EH projects. Beyond this cross-cutting theme, projects clustered under the following emerging themes: Healthy (Diagnosis & Treatment, Prevention); Sustainable & Secure (Green, Blue, Circular, AgroFood, Energy, Water, Decarbonization); Digital & Smart (AI, AR / VR, Security, Smart Cities & Communities); and Leading (Aviation, Materials, Technologies, Cultural Heritage).
Other activities and Outcomes to Date:
- Representatives from Thessaloniki-inclusive EH projects CARBONICA, COALition, ECHO, and SolarHub participated in the “Co-Creating Green Transitions: The Role of Excellence Hubs in Regional Development” sessions, on April 9th.
- On June 17th the FWG organized an online Kick-Off Meeting for the EH Community that included presentations by two European Commission representatives and participation from more than 20 of the 25 EH projects.
- On July 2nd, SolarHub in collaboration with the WaterWise Hub, CARBONICA, CHAngeing, COALition, DxHub, ECHO, METACITIES EH projects organized our first in-person EH Joint Event in Ioannina, Greece, with 58 in-person attendees. The event highlighted the potentials to advance individual, institutional and project interests by catalyzing and supporting inter-project collaborations.
The WaterWise Hub (WWH) is actively participating in the EH Community to explore and advance inter-project collaborations in key areas such as the Food-Energy-Water nexus, circular economy, and net-zero industry. By engaging with other EH projects, the WaterWise Hub aims to amplify its impact, share best practices, and co-develop solutions that address shared challenges across Widening Countries.
Connect with the EH Community! Follow the EH Community in their social media channels and sign up with their email list to keep up with the community’s updates and future events.
Derek Baker is a Professor in Mechanical Engineering at Middle East Technical University and Lead Researcher at Turkiye’s national Solar Energy Center of Excellence ODTÜ-GÜNAM, both in Ankara, Turkiye. Contact: dbaker@metu.edu.tr.
