Innovation related to green aviation

Traditionally, the aviation industry cycle has been long and change slow, but now environmental and competitive factors are catalysing rapid change. To meet the new demand, all aspects of Europe's aviation supply chain will have to expand.

The EU-funded project 'Clean Aerospace REgions' (CARE), was set-up to propose a European framework fostering green aviation innovation, while also addressing environmental and international issues. The project involved 10 partners and ran for 3 years from January 2012 to the end of 2014.

Initially, all project clusters analysed the state of play in their respective fields. The result was a report highlighting a total of 32 key environmental and economic priorities. Then the consortium defined and has focused on the 13 most important topics and preparing an action plan.

The consortium was able to analyse relevant funding opportunities, and devised a database of players willing to collaborate on research related to CARE themes. As of the first reporting period, the project was 80 % of the way to achieving its 300-stakeholder target.

Each project cluster also analysed its own research strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. General comparison showed each cluster's relative capabilities and position in terms of the 13 key challenges.

The CARE project resulted in a database of aviation stakeholders willing to collaborate on research in the field of green aviation. The work improved the extent of collaborative research, leading also to increased sector competitiveness.