The purpose of preparatory projects is to develop project ideas in a more specific and focused direction, to examine the need for the project outputs among end users and stakeholders and to build up transnational partnerships. This means that ideally preparatory projects conclude with the presentation of a main project application by the end date of a call for main project proposals.

The following projects were approved:

Priority 1 - Innovation capacity

• NPA KET - Value chain analyses of transdisciplinary “KET-enabled” makerspaces
  LEAD PARTNER: University of Galway, Ireland
  
  Remote NPA regions requires dedicated spaces for making objects – which we describe as makerspaces. Makerspaces allow multidisciplinary concepts to be investigated using digital tools in a laboratory environment. Providing access to these tools inspires the next generation to scale concepts in future production environments. The competitiveness realized by such makerspaces depend on the deployment of disruptive tools based on key enabling technologies (KET-enabled makerspaces).
  
  The objective of this project is to understand how a broad constituency of stakeholders across the NPA region can contribute to, and apply, KET-enabled makerspaces to contribute to the innovation capacity of region.
  
  
• BRAIN - Building Resilient And Innovative Networks among rural communities
  LEAD PARTNER: Údarás na Gaeltachta/The Gaeltacht Authority, Ireland
  
  This is a feasibility and scoping study for a network of digital hubs and support services, to enable communities and enterprises to benefit from digital technologies and applications, which deal with climate change. The applications focus on those supporting the Green Business Model and the Circular Economy. The aim is to stimulate local digital provision that is networked transnationally. Transnationality is essential for reasons of scale, expertise, and range of application.

Priority 2 - Climate change adaptation and resource sufficiency

• CHANGE - Societal Growth in Renewable Energy and Storage Innovation
  LEAD PARTNER: Mid Sweden University
  
  Countries across the NPA share climate change challenges and the need for citizens to understand and contribute to energy efficient practices while being situated in sparsely populated areas with high energy needs, cold climates, defective housing insulation, fossil fuel dependency and energy insecurity exasperated by the war, causing distress to citizens reliant on oil or gas.
  This preparatory project aims to identify countries, regions and key decision-makers for cooperation, to jointly develop an NPA project with the objective to identify, develop and deploy solutions supporting the adoption of renewable energy systems and sustainable energy use.
  
  
• BGN Bauhaus Goes North -Bauhaus Housing Principles for the Norther Periphery and Arctic Region
  LEAD PARTNER: University College Cork, Ireland
  
  The Bauhaus model promoted by the European Union requires we investigate, compare and optimize our approach to building housing, to find the best and most viable solutions to reduce energy use and CO2 emissions in design, construction, and operation.
  For this project, we intend to produce a series of new models based on best practice from each of the three regions of the NPA: North Atlantic Islands, Scandinavia and Nordic, and Ireland.
  
  
• BC4MSP  - Mapping and valuing blue carbon for utilization in marine spatial planning
  LEAD PARTNER: Marine Institute, Ireland
  
  BC4MSP aims to improve understanding of the extent of blue carbon across the North Atlantic and identify where blue carbon is most likely to be stored in deep sea areas. This will be achieved by taking a new approach in identifying biological and physical features likely to be indicators of blue carbon sinks in deep-sea habitats.
  BC4MSP then aims to develop innovative Marine Spatial Planning solutions that can incorporate new information about deep-sea blue carbon to best protect it, while considering the conflicting needs of marine stakeholders in this region.
  
  
• RIAQ - Impact of energy retrofits on indoor environmental quality and hygrothermal performance of the buildings in different climate scenarios
  LEAD PARTNER: University of Oulu, Finland
  
  There is a continued need to engage SMEs and other stakeholders in the monitoring of retrofit techniques and their impact on indoor environmental quality (IEQ), and hygrothermal performance of building structures, to provide sustainable and healthy buildings. The RIAQ project will inform and engage SMEs, building stakeholders, and occupants about common protocols for an IEQ assessment, and assess the potential for improving IEQ along with energy efficiency and improving the resistance of buildings in the changing climate.
  
  
• ARCTICOATS - Adapted and Resilient OATS for northern periphery areas
  LEAD PARTNER: Natural Resources Institute, Finland
  
  Climate change will prolong the growing season in these regions and increase the potential of agriculture. Oat as an already important export crop and as a plant that thrives in cool climate would be logical choice to start increasing cereal production. Healthiness of oats and new oat products create demand for oat production and in the long run the conditions to cultivate good quality oats in the South may weaken. Thus we want to increase oat cultivation in Northern Scandinavia and in Iceland to create conditions for local growth in farming and cereal industry.
  
  
• BIODIVER - Biodiversity sustaining carbon management in degraded lands and cut-away peatlands in Northern periphery and Arctic regions
  LEAD PARTNER: University of Eastern Finland
  
  Globally, carbon capture should be increased maintaining biodiversity at the same time. In the Northern periphery, there are degraded and neglected areas whose utilization could be developed towards efficient carbon capture. Sustainable exploitation of targeted project lands and fields in the Northern periphery, needs implementation models that benefit landowners and policy makes and biodiversity, too. BIODIVER aim is to build up operational model for the Northern periphery to re-utilize these areas for carbon capture and utilization (CCU) in a way that preserves biodiversity.
  
  
• ArcticFoodWhey - Utilization of by-products of cheese-making and productization of whey in Northern area
  LEAD PARTNER: Oulu University of Applied Sciences, Finland
  
  ArcticFoodWhey is concerned with promoting the transition to a circular and resource efficient economy in the dairy industry, especially in small-scale dairies and cheese factories, in Finland, Ireland and Faroe Islands. Whey has been used, for example, in protein powders - some larger scale dairies have also developed other products. However, there is still need for jointly developed, effective, and common solutions for reducing whey waste, as well as applying knowledge to practice.
  The core of the project is to develop and share best practices concerning better use of whey through transnational co-operation.
  
  
• ECOSEA Utilising the SEA to mitigate climate change and Strengthening Coastal Communities
  LEAD PARTNER: Nua na Mara, officially MIDC PÁIRC NA MARA, Ireland
  
  The mabition of ECOSEA is to improve the resilience, survivability, and sustainability of coastal communities and reduce risks and vulnerabilities as they face increasingly impactful effects of climate change such as retraining local communities in skills relevant to climate change initiatives.
  The coupling of coastal community-based initiatives such as involving and informing on how best to utilise their marine economy, retraining and reskilling, coupled with the economic opportunities for marine SME’s to add value to their existing business by reducing waste, improving their business, generating further employment and adding economic benefit to the region whilst implementing more sustainable and circular practices leads to an impactful project.