ERA-MIN 3

Implementation of coordination of research and innovation programs on raw materials at the European level in order to strengthen the competitiveness of industry and the shift to a circular economy.

ERA-MIN3 is the ERA-NET Cofund on raw materials, supported by the European Commission's Horizon 2020 program. It began on December 1, 2020, and will run for five years. It is coordinated by FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (Portugal).

ERA-MIN3 is a pan-European network of research and innovation funding programs, comprising 25 public organizations from 16 Member States (Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, and Sweden), three Member State regions (Flanders-Belgium, Wallonia-Belgium, and Navarra-Spain), and one Associated Country (Greece). Portugal, the Czech Republic, Romania, and Sweden), three Member State regions (Flanders-Belgium, Wallonia-Belgium, and Navarra-Spain), one Associated Country (Turkey), and three third countries (South Africa, Brazil, and Canada-Quebec).

Based on the experience of the European projects ERA-MIN (2011-2015) and ERA-MIN 2 (2016-2022), ERA-MIN3 aims to strengthen and consolidate the coordination of research and innovation programs in the field of non-energy, non-agricultural raw materials (metallic, construction, and industrial minerals), in line with the integrated European Raw Materials Initiative strategy, the Strategic Implementation Plan of the European Innovation Partnership on Raw Materials, and the ERA-MIN research agenda.

Through the implementation of at least two Calls for collaborative transnational research and innovation projects, ERA-MIN3 will support needs-driven research on primary resources, secondary resources, and the substitution of critical raw materials, using a circular economy approach, as well as on cross-cutting themes such as mitigating environmental impacts and raising public awareness. The main objective of this activity is to give the research and innovation community the opportunity to apply for globally coordinated funding, accessing cutting-edge knowledge and new markets and reducing the fragmentation of research and innovation funding at European and global level.