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The Centre for Social Studies (CES) of the University of Coimbra will lead the international consortium of the European project «PHOENIX - Listening to Citizen Voices for a Greener Europe», funded by the European Commission under the research priority of the EGD-European Green Deal of the H2020 Programme.

The consortium comprises 15 entities based in Portugal, France, Spain, Italy, Hungary, Estonia, the Netherlands, Belgium, Iceland and the United Kingdom, including academic institutions conducting research in the field of participation and environment, groups of psychologists, organisations expert in the implementation of participatory processes, science communication, and in the development of technology to promote participatory practices, as well as partners representing civil society.

The ecological transition proposed in the EGD is the greatest challenge facing Europe in this century, requiring a collective effort in harmonising practices among the various member states. PHOENIX sees citizens' participation as a precondition for success in defining environmental policies. In this perspective, the PHOENIX project proposes to analyse the legacy of the last decades of conflicts and experimentations, to reconstruct principles and mechanisms of participation applied to complex environmental issues, in the light of the objectives of the EGD, by including in the project an ample space to work with the new generations and by finding effective ways to recover relations with the different "denial" movements.

PHOENIX will seek to produce new knowledge on participatory methodological approaches for the EGD beyond the academic space, with the production of policy recommendations, podcasts and even documentaries aimed at the general public.

The project, which is scheduled to start in the last quarter of this year and will run for the next four years, received total funding of 5 million euros, with around 1.3 million going to Portugal where three additional institutions are part of the consortium coordinated by CES: the company ONESOURCE, the Planning and Participation Workshop Association and the Functional Ecology Centre of the University of Coimbra. On national territory it is planned that the Odemira Town Hall, as well as the National Participatory Budget and Youth Budget processes of the Government of Portugal will serve as pilot experiences for the implementation of methodologies to be refined by the PHOENIX consortium.

The CES research team is coordinated by Giovanni Allegretti (Principal Researcher) and includes Irina Velicu, Sheila Holz, Ana Teixeira Melo, Mónica Lopes and Giacomo d'Alisa, supported by an International Scientific Council.