The four-year EU funded project, SMAR3TS (Staff Mobility to Action Resilient, Restorative, and Regenerative Transitions & Societies), will unite 35 partners worldwide to accelerate resilient, restorative and regenerative transitions through research and innovation mobility.
Beginning in October 2025, SMAR3TS is led by Professor Anne-Laure Mention, Director, Global Business Innovation Enabling Impact Platform at RMIT University and administratively coordinated by RMIT Europe with the implementation team, Èlia Vallejos Formatge and Kerry O'Connor.
Funded by the prestigious Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Staff Exchanges program, SMAR3TS aims to contribute diverse resources to address some of today's most pressing societal and environmental challenges, including climate change and biodiversity loss.
Over four years the project will orchestrate 360 person-months of staff mobility, creating transformative experiences for researchers and practitioners while amplifying excellence in research and innovation outcomes.
At its core, SMAR3TS is a response to climate change and environmental degradation by enabling research applied across four specific domains or areas of human need: nutrition, mobility, energy and housing - areas where rising temperatures, extreme weather and biodiversity loss threaten both ecosystems and human wellbeing.
The interdependencies between these domains necessitate a cohesive and interdisciplinary approach as changes in one area can have significant ripple effects across others.
Leveraging a Quadruple Helix Model and adopting Open Innovation Strategies, SMAR3TS emphasises the importance of collaboration between academia, industry, government and civil society to co-create actionable solutions and provide advanced training in research translation, futures thinking and foresight.
The goal is to trigger behavioural, organisational and policy change that supports fair, inclusive and regenerative societies.
SMAR3TS Chief Investigator and Academic Lead Professor Anne-Laure Mention said the project was based on a proven track record in leading large-scale, award-winning MSCA projects, such as OpenInnoTrain and EINST4INE.
"We've assembled a powerhouse consortium of 35 world-renowned partners from academia, industry, government and civil society, all united by their shared values and steadfast commitment to resilience, restoration and regeneration," Mention said.
"Large-scale international, intersectoral, interdisciplinary projects such as SMAR3TS are urgently needed to address widespread environmental and societal disruptions that are now seen and experienced across the globe."
The SMAR3TS Management Team will ensure that SMAR3TS results reach stakeholders across sectors and geographies, through dedicated engagement and outreach activities, the curation and delivery of annual summer schools, as well as workshops, masterclasses and seminars.
SMAR3TS is poised to make a significant contribution to the EU's sustainability and innovation agenda.
