MINUARTIA’s research and innovation activities in the field of transport infrastructure and biodiversity are being strengthened through the award of two new European projects funded by the European Commission under the HORIZON programme, which will start in the near future. These projects add to two other HORIZON projects: SYMBIOSIS, focused on railways and biodiversity and currently underway, and BISON, which has already been completed.
• SHIFTIN – Towards Resilient, Sustainable, and Biodiversity-Friendly Transport Infrastructure, with a duration of four years, is part of the HORIZON-CL5-2026 programme. It is coordinated by Tecnalia Foundation and brings together 21 organisations from 9 countries. Its main objective is to accelerate the transition towards climate-neutral, resilient, and biodiversity-friendly transport infrastructure by 2050. MINUARTIA leads two tasks focused on the design and implementation of nature-based solutions across four Trans-European Transport Network corridors (Atlantic, Scandinavian Mediterranean, Baltic-Adriatic, and North Sea-Baltic), covering road, rail, and port infrastructure. MINUARTIA also leads the development of a Landscape Ecology for Transport Infrastructure (LETI) model to assess the impact of different nature-based solutions on infrastructure resilience to climate change and on biodiversity enhancement. In addition, it contributes to the development of decision-making standards and the application of new monitoring technologies.
• OCTOPUS – Open Collaborative Training in Operational Pathways for pan-Union Resilience of Transportation Systems is part of the HORIZON-MSCA programme (MSCA Doctoral Networks 2025 Marie Skłodowska-Curie). Its objective is to train a new generation of researchers specialised in the resilience of transport infrastructure under future climate change scenarios, integrating knowledge from different disciplines and sectors. MINUARTIA will participate in the programme together with the University of Barcelona, hosting one of the doctoral candidates who will undertake research on the synergies between resilience and biodiversity in transport infrastructure. The project is coordinated by the Trinity College Dublin, and involves 25 organisations from 10 countries.
Through these new projects, MINUARTIA continues to expand its involvement in European R&I projects, contributing to the development of innovative solutions that integrate biodiversity, climate change, and resilience into the planning and management of transport infrastructure.
