- PROGRAMMEHorizon Europe | Innovation Actions
- DURATION36 months (01/06/2026 – 31/05/2029)
- STATEOn going
- Nº of GRANT AGREEMENT101269889
- TOTAL BUDGET9 337 856,25€
- FRCT BUDGET157 125€
- WEBSITE
CIRCUIT
Integrating deCarbonization and cIRcularity actions in industrial sites to achieve Climate-neUtral and sustaInable ciTies
Aim of the project
The CIRCUIT is a Horizon Europe project under the European Mission for Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities, which accelerates the transition of industrial and urban areas towards circular, low-carbon and sustainable models.
European industrial clusters drive economic growth, but traditional linear models, focused on immediate efficiency, generate high emissions, waste resources and deplete natural capital. CIRCUIT addresses this challenge by developing solutions that integrate decarbonisation, circularity and digitalisation, promoting the systemic transformation of territories. The project focuses on five strategic sectors:
- Construction and buildings;
- Food, water and nutrients;
- Water and nutrients;
- Batteries and vehicles;
- Textiles.
The project combines advanced digital tools, participatory methodologies and collaborative governance models to integrate circularity, decarbonisation and resource efficiency into industrial and urban areas.
CIRCUIT contributes directly to the implementation of the European Green Deal, the Circular Economy Action Plan and the European Mission for Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities, translating these policies into concrete action on the ground.
Impact on the Azores Region
The CIRCUIT project positions the Autonomous Region of the Azores as a European pilot territory to demonstrate circularity and climate-neutral solutions in island and outermost regions.
As an Outermost Region and an island system, the Azores face specific challenges related to scale, logistics, dependence on external resources and industrial fragmentation. CIRCUIT provides an opportunity to turn these constraints into opportunities for territorial innovation. The project will therefore enable:
- Strengthen strategic autonomy by making better use of local resources and reducing external dependencies;
- Demonstrate replicable models for other islands and outermost regions;
- Access to advanced digital tools, including dataspaces, digital twins and real-time monitoring;
- Promoting regional technical capacity in critical areas such as energy, mobility, waste, construction and food systems;
- Integration with regional policies;
- Engaging businesses, schools and citizens, promoting circular economy literacy and community participation.
The Lagoa Demonstrator
The city of Lagoa is one of the project’s eight demonstrators, where solutions adapted to low-density territories with limited resources will be developed, tested and validated. The Lagoa Demonstrator aims to create an integrated model of circularity and decarbonisation tailored to island territories, focusing on:
- Industrial symbiosis;
- Circularity of food systems;
- Water and nutrient management;
- Territorial digitalisation;
- Collaborative governance.
The pilot will be developed across three industrial sites: Portões Vermelhos, Avenida Litoral and Tecnoparque, involving businesses, public authorities and other relevant local stakeholders.
The Azores Cluster
The Azores Cluster was established to ensure that the project is implemented in line with the territorial, political and institutional specificities of the Autonomous Region of the Azores. The pilot is therefore implemented by the Regional Fund for Science and Technology (FRCT), as cluster coordinator; by the Câmara Municipal da Lagoa (Lagoa Municipality), which is responsible for coordinating stakeholder engagement; and by Simbiente Açores, which provides technical and scientific support in the areas of sustainability and the circular economy.
Specifically, the FRCT ensures:
- Strategic direction and political alignment with regional priorities;
- Integration of public policies and institutional coordination with the relevant competent authorities;
- A link between science, innovation and regional policies, strengthening the Region’s institutional capacity.
Participation in CIRCUIT reinforces FRCT’s role as a key regional organisation connecting science, innovation and public policy. It positions the Azores within the European circular transition agenda and strengthens the Region’s capacity to act as a living lab, leading the development of solutions tailored to island and outermost contexts.
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