About EIT RawMaterials

Minerals, metals and advanced materials are key enablers of the green and digital transition. Raw materials are critical to preserving the global competitiveness of the EU’s most strategic economic sectors. They are fundamental for the EU to develop its strategic autonomy and to re-industrialise key European ecosystems.

Today, only a fraction of the most relevant raw materials is produced in Europe. This can be changed through a circular economy approach, through innovation in recycling, substitution, processing, mining, and exploration. It is the objective of EIT RawMaterials to secure a sustainable raw materials supply by driving innovation, education and entrepreneurship across European industrial ecosystems.

About the community + programmes

The general objective of this innovation community is to enable sustainable competitiveness of the European minerals, metals and materials sector along the entire value chain by driving innovation, education and entrepreneurship. This is mirrored in the fact that the members and partners involved are active along the entire value chain so from exploration, mining and mineral processing to substitution, recycling and circular economy.

The approach of this innovation community is to integrate knowledge from industry, higher education and research (knowledge triangle) by engaging stakeholders from the entire value chain. Similar to other innovation communities there are 5 main programmes: innovation, education, business creation, regional innovation schemes and cross sectoral innovation.

In terms of innovation, the focus is on decreasing the dependance on certain raw materials through resource efficiency, closing material loops, securing the right supply and designing material solutions. This way we will move towards a circular sustainable approach.

There are several types of calls for projects:

• KAVA call 13 which looks for large scale and long-term initiatives of up to 2,5 million EUR funding in tin mining, materials processing and recycling involving consortia with at least two partners from Horizon Europe-eligible countries.​
• Open innovation challenges, which are less formal, have a shorter duration and are executed at a smaller scale. At the samen time you can attract new talented employees.
• Education is about upskilling the workforce, training the future generation and creating more awareness about the changes and challenges the sector is undergoing. There are four modules: Masters, Doctoral students, lifelong learning and wider society learning.
• Business creation: they help you find the right financing for your project 
• Regional innovation schemes for those geographical areas that are generally lagging behind in this sector and there is also a project on collaboration with other innovation communities to create more cross-over innovation.

The EIT publishes regularly calls for proposals for the different programmes. You can find out the opportunities and latest news at the webpage of the innovation community 

The HQ is based in Berlin but there are many resgional hubs spread over Europe. You can contact them by mail info@eitrawmaterials.eu

Finally you can contact the NCP for materials, mark.antonissen@vlaio.be