The overall objective of "3 InDustrial Ecosystems tAckLing supply chain dISrupTions and driving the adoption of advanced technologies" (IDEALIST) is to support SMEs in energy-intensive industries, aerospace and defence, mobility, transport & automotive industrial ecosystems in their ability to understand and adapt to changes brought about by rapid and unexpected developments in the world such as the COVID-19 crisis or the Russia-led war in Ukraine.

These three sectors are of capital importance for the European economy and despite their specificity, have common challenges that the project helps address: transition to more sustainable practices, competitiveness issues in a context of scarcer raw materials and more expensive energy, change in consumption habits and more. Being more resilient means giving SMEs the opportunity to be a player in these changes and no longer just a spectator or follower. To do this, the project evolves around three pillars: strategic foresight to establish relevant tools and behaviors to anticipate and better prepare for change in an orderly and systematic way; technology uptake to overcome obstacles related to the implementation work of Advanced Technologies and lay the foundations of alliances between tech-savvy and traditional SMEs; and supply chains to identify critical dependencies and weaknesses in order to limit the impacts of disruptions on value chains. This work will lead to the realization of Pilot Projects promoting the meeting between ecosystems, facilitated by the use of the Hack&Match method. The mobilization of the AGORA platform led by EIT Manufacturing will support this objective of matchmaking and community building. The project is carried by a relevant consortium of 14 partners from 6 European countries and Ukraine representing several thousand manufacturing companies.

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The chemical industry is a significant contributor to the EU economy. It is simultaneously instrumental to the green and digital transition and exposed to its effects. A steady supply of (green) create reusable and recyclable consumer goods. On the other hand, chemical synthesis is an energy-intensive process inherently dependent on carbon-based feedstock (currently derived almost exclusively from fossil fuels). In addition, chemistry is a global industry with international value chains, where the EU both collaborates and competes with other countries for materials, knowledge and skills.

Transforming the European chemical industry into a sustainable motor for the green and digital transition will require investments in infrastructure, assets and skills. Focus should be placed on chemicals that are crucial to this Twin Transition, , or both. The long lead time required for the deployment of infrastructure and the development of skills means that such investments must be made now to achieve targets set for 2050.

In connection with these issues, the report at hand aims to give insights into a number of value chains that are strategic to EU economy. It considers which chemicals and innovations are vital to transforming these value chains as well as rendering them more resilient and future-fit. To this end, a participatory workshop-based foresight approach was implemented to provide a unique set of insights from stakeholders and translate them into actions and policy recommendations.
Chapter 1 provides a general introduction into foresight and an overview of the project, the definitions used, the methodology applied and the approach to project implementation.

Chapter 2 details the 20 Critical Chemicals and 10 key Future Innovations, needed to secure the four Strategic Value Chains under consideration: Batteries, Connected Clean & Autonomous Vehicles, Hydrogen Technologies & Systems, and Microelectronics & Industrial IoT. These value chains were selected as highly dependent on chemicals and non-overlapping with other EC research initiatives. Those Critical Chemicals and Future Innovations are listed in the tables below.

Chapter 3 presents In addition, each so-called factsheet contains roadmaps of actions needed to increase those value chains resilience as well as describes chemicals and the implementation of innovations. Thus, the roadmaps enable the identification and assessment of potential future actions.

Chapter 4 contains a set of key policy recommendations addressed to policy stakeholders. They focus on accelerating the digital and green transformation of the entire chemical industry, and were collected from experts throughout the project.

Finally, the Annex details methodologies and underlying analyses.

Chem4EU Foresight for chemicals : final report