Future Needs

This weekend, our team was in Limassol for the Women in Business and Beyond Conference. As one of the event’s sponsors, we were proud to support an inspiring gathering of professionals, innovators, and changemakers in Cyprus! Anna Palaiologk led a workshop titled "Women in Science: Funding Opportunities and Research Themes in Demand." She shared how the EU is actively working to bring more women into the game by creating greater space for women in science and research. The session covered EU funding schemes, who can benefit from them, and how leadership roles can boost the strength and competitiveness of proposals. 💬 The workshop sparked meaningful discussions, many of which continued long after the session ended. Thank you to everyone who participated, asked questions, and shared your insights! 📸 Take a look at some moments from the day. It was a pleasure to connect with like-minded people, exchange ideas, and be part of a growing community. Thank you to Hess Adnani and the Unity Growth team for putting together such a nice event!

📺 Here’s an excerpt from our interview with Anna Palaiologk, a key member of the ImAFUSA team and a research consultant and transport economist at Future Needs (full interview in the comments). Future Needs has been involved in the project from its inception, having been instrumental in developing the original project proposal and consortium and playing an important role in the project’s research activities. Interested to learn more about how Anna is working to ensure environmental and socio-economic impacts are taken into account when planning for the rise urban air mobility? 🚁 See the comments below for the full interview! 👇 #UrbanAirMobility #Socioeconomics #Innovation

Our team is on the way to Manchester for the annual meeting of ImAFUSA and RefMap Project – two of our Horizon Europe projects.✈️ This year, it’s a joint consortia meeting, and we’re looking forward to reconnecting with all our partners in person! At Future Needs, we lead the communication and dissemination activities for both projects. In ImAFUSA, we also assess the socio-economic costs of U-space, while in RefMap, we focus on the business aspects of new aviation models. Manchester will also be a great opportunity to align on the upcoming Aviation Twin Transition Cluster event taking place this July in Athens! The cluster is an initiative founded by these two projects, with Future Needs leading its coordination.

🗓️ On April 4th, our project partner Thanos Arvanitidis from Future Needs will host a free #webinar exploring how Risk Assessment and Threat Modelling approaches are shaping the future of secure and trustworthy connected medical devices. 🔗 Register via the link in the comments. ℹ️ This webinar is part of the EnTrust Project Training & Webinar Series, a capacity-building initiative supporting the safe and trusted uptake of connected medical devices across Europe. ➡️ Featuring expert insights from: Siemens – Cristina Vladarean & Robert-Nicolae Șolcă ❗️How Large Language Models (LLMs) can enhance the threat modeling process by identifying vulnerabilities and recommending tailored mitigation strategies. UBITECH – Dimitrios Karas & Nikolaos Fotos ❗️Presenting ENTRUST’s holistic Risk Assessment methodology and its application to define Required Trust Levels in complex medical service-graph chains. 🙏We hope to see you there! 📤Share this with anyone who's interested in the topic. #entrust_he #horizoneurope #health #eu #research #innovation

Our survey has been featured on Dronewatch! It targets drone operators planning to use U-space services, aiming to gather insights on what operators across various countries are willing to pay for them. At Future Needs, we are conducting this survey as part of the BURDI.eu project, which is supported by SESAR Joint Undertaking. 🗣️ HAVE YOUR SAY: TAKE THE SURVEY! The article, along with more details about the survey, is available in both English and Dutch. Find the links in the comments.

Future Needs will be hosting a practical workshop at the Women in Business and Beyond Conference in Cyprus to help more women access the financial resources they need to drive impact in research and innovation. Despite progress, significant gender disparities remain. • Femtech startups with female founders receive 23% less funding than those led by men. • Women make up only 28% of the STEM workforce. • In EU agriculture, the gender pay gap stands at 18%. 💡This session is designed for innovators who want to make a difference! We will explore sectors such as education, healthcare, agriculture, and transport - sharing real examples, discussing funding and research opportunities tailored to each field, and guiding participants on how to navigate the application process to secure EU support for their projects. Save the date - we hope to see you at our workshop!

SAVE THE DATE! 📅 As part of the SESAR Joint Undertaking U-space Webinar Series, the ImAFUSA team will deliver a dedicated session introducing the Impact and Capacity Assessment Framework for U-space Societal Acceptance. This framework expands on existing impact assessment methodologies and provides a platform with tools to evaluate the environmental, safety, societal, and economic impacts of Innovative Air Mobility (IAM). This will support local authorities, urban planners, air navigation providers and other stakeholders make informed decisions as innovative aerial services become more widespread. The webinar is sponsored by EUROCONTROL and is free to attend. 🔗 Register via the link in the comments. AGENDA • Introduction to ImAFUSA Framework – Sophia Kalakou, Iscte - Instituto Universitário de Lisboa, BRU- Iscte • Socio-economic Indicators – Anna Palaiologk, Future Needs • Environmental Indicators – Antonio José Torija Martínez, The University of Salford • ImAFUSA Software Implementation of IAM Indicators & Analytics – Sotiris Xydis, ICCS - NTUA Join us online on April 3rd – we look forward to seeing you there!

Future Needs releases a Business Acceleration Programme for migrants. The programme is an entrepreneurship bootcamp designed for third-country nationals (TCNs), equipping them with the skills and knowledge to start their own businesses while navigating administrative and financial procedures. 📅 6-month pilot | 👥 31 migrants | 🌍 6 European countries The results were presented in Brussels in December 2024 at the final event of the Ploutos Project, the EU initiative funded under the AMIF funding scheme. “It was very fulfilling to see our idea transition from a proposal to an awarded project, impacting so many people on a personal level.” - Anna Palaiologk, founder of Future Needs, and key author of the research proposal. “Learners undertook concrete tasks such as market research, business planning, advertising, bookkeeping, and managing virtual transactions, mirroring real-world operations." - Lina Giannivasili, the economist at Future Needs and main contributor to the design of the programme. A special thanks to Ghazal Zalkat and John Zaras for sharing a few words about our collaboration at the end of this video! Click the link in the comments to learn more about the program.

Future Needs is sponsoring the largest women empowerment conference in Cyprus – Women in Business and Beyond Conference! We believe that real progress happens when everyone has the opportunity to lead and innovate. That’s why we’re excited to be part of this event, which brings together female entrepreneurs, professionals, and change-makers for a full day of learning, networking, and growth. 💡Our team will also be hosting a workshop to help more women access the resources they need to make an impact in research and innovation. More details coming soon! Will we see you at the event?

From 2008 to 2020, construction and demolition waste made up 38% of all waste in Cyprus—yet only 15.44% was properly managed. Despite regulations setting a 70% recycling target, the reality falls far short. So, where does the rest go?