Ecostack Innovations Leads GREEN TALENT, a Strategic EU Project on Climate and Nature

News Release 05-Jun-2025

The GREEN TALENT project aims to address and combat crises of climate change and biodiversity loss by boosting skills and competences in research and innovation (R&I). 

Officially started on 1 June 2025, the newly-funded Horizon Europe project GREEN TALENT is to run for 4 years with the overall objectives to unite 17 academic, public and private sector partner institutions from 9 European countries, and the United States. 

The project’s goal is to develop the capacity of organisations and pathways to combat climate change and biodiversity loss, and support secondments across these countries, fostering international collaboration in research and innovation (R&I), as well as public and private decision-making. 

Grounded in the EU’s comprehensive ERA Policy Agenda, the GREEN TALENT initiative has ambitious plans to enhance professional development in the field, providing Green talents with the opportunity to gain hands-on experience through group mentoring activities, job shadowing, and networking events. During its implementation, the project has planned to establish 4 demonstration hubs in Malta, Greece, Cyprus and Bulgaria,  which will host 45 secondments, acting as collaborative spaces between representatives of academic and non-academic sectors.

“GREEN TALENT is about empowering a new generation of innovators, practitioners, and communities to respond to the urgent and interconnected challenges of climate change and biodiversity loss. 

To succeed, we need innovation in its broadest sense - embracing not only new technologies, but also collaboration, knowledge exchange, behavioural change, and new financing mechanisms. By strengthening capacity and excellence across academia, business, and practice, we are building the partnerships and platforms needed to scale impactful solutions. 

GREEN TALENT establishes four national hubs - in Malta, Cyprus, Greece, and Bulgaria - that will build on recent regional successes to foster cross-sector collaboration addressing climate change and biodiversity loss through nature-based solutions. These hubs will foster collaboration among stakeholders at local and national levels, while engaging with European and international partners to enable mutual learning, inform best practices, and scale successful interventions beyond national contexts.

GREEN TALENT strengthens Europe's ability to lead the green transition by investing in people, fostering inclusive innovation, and delivering measurable progress toward climate resilience and biodiversity recovery,” - says the project coordinator, Mario Balzan, Ecostack Innovations.

Designed to support the green transition, GREEN TALENT will implement ongoing follow-up and assessment measures to ensure the long-term impact of its training activities. These efforts will enable participants to continuously refine their skills and effectively apply newly acquired competences within their home institutions.

All training materials will be openly accessible via a newly developed GREEN TALENT Capacity-Building Platform. In addition to comprehensive learning resources, the platform will showcase case studies, support peer learning, and host an Exchange Forum to encourage interdisciplinary dialogue and cross-sector collaboration.

By equipping research and innovation talents with practical skills and fostering international cooperation, GREEN TALENT aims to drive meaningful progress toward climate resilience and biodiversity preservation.

Funded by the European Union under grant agreement No. 101217375, GREEN TALENT (Building Capacity and Partnerships for Systemic Solutions to the Climate and Biodiversity Crises).

Views and opinions expressed are, however, those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Research Executive Agency (REA). Neither the EU nor the REA can be held responsible for them.