GroundUp Project: Privanova Leading the Way in DCE

The importance of DCE in EU Projects

European research and innovation projects are not only about producing groundbreaking results, but they are also about ensuring that these results reach the right audiences, create tangible impact, and live beyond the project’s lifetime. That’s why the European Commission requires each Horizon Europe project to have a clear strategy for Dissemination, Communication, and Exploitation (DCE).

• Dissemination ensures that scientific knowledge, tools, and methodologies are shared with researchers, policymakers, and industry stakeholders.
• Communication brings the project closer to society, explaining its objectives and benefits in an accessible way.
• Exploitation focuses on how project outcomes can be transformed into sustainable products, services, standards, or policy recommendations that generate long-term value.

Strong DCE activities not only boost the project's visibility but also strengthen its credibility, facilitate collaboration, and maximize its overall impact.

What is the GroundUp Project?

The GroundUp project is all about building a strong and sustainable CBRNE innovation ecosystem in the Southern Central and Eastern European (CEE) region. In simple terms, the project is bringing together a wide range of people: from students, graduates, and researchers to businesses, innovators, government bodies, NGOs, and end-users to collaborate, share knowledge, and develop new technologies.

The idea is to ensure this region can fully tap into its innovation potential while connecting with more developed innovation ecosystems across Europe. To make this happen, GroundUp is running a series of engagement, capacity-building, and networking activities. These include mentoring programs for high-potential researchers and students, training opportunities, and initiatives that link academia, businesses, and policy stakeholders.

The project has several key goals:

1. Build a Business Community that bridges the gap between research, innovation, and the commercial sector by engaging both business experts and CBRNE professionals.
2. Create an Education and Research Hub, bringing together universities, research centers, and technology organizations with a special focus on deep tech and digital technologies in the CBRNE field.
3. Boost entrepreneurship and business skills in the CBRNE sector through mentoring, training, and upskilling activities designed to foster leadership, digital skills, and entrepreneurial thinking.
4. Expand project results through global outreach by developing a long-term exploitation plan, strengthening cross-border collaboration, and supporting talent mobility across the EU.

Privanova’s role: Leading Dissemination, Communication, and Exploitation

In the GroundUp project, Privanova is in charge of making sure that everything the project achieves is shared, used, and sustained long-term. This means creating a smart plan for communication, dissemination, and exploitation or, in other words, figuring out how to tell people about GroundUp’s work, how to make the results useful, and how to keep the impact going even after the project ends.

To do this, Privanova is building the CBRNE Resilience Cluster Europe, a big network that connects EU-funded projects, international initiatives, and national programs working on CBRNE capacity building. By linking these efforts together, the cluster helps projects learn from each other, share results, and multiply their overall impact.

Privanova’s work also includes creating project branding (logos, templates, visuals), launching a Knowledge and Insight Hub on the website where stakeholders can find resources and connect, and using social media, podcasts, and online discussions to make GroundUp’s results visible and accessible. Beyond visibility, the focus is on sustainability, ensuring that the knowledge, tools, and partnerships built through GroundUp don’t stop when the project does. Thanks to Privanova’s experience leading large EU clusters, such as the EU Law Enforcement Cluster, GroundUp is set to leave a strong legacy of collaboration, knowledge-sharing, and innovation across Europe.

Why DCE Leadership matters

Projects like GroundUp thrive when they combine excellent scientific research with robust DCE strategies. Privanova’s leadership in this domain ensures that the project will:

• Reach the audiences that can benefit the most from its findings.
• Demonstrate clear societal and market relevance.
• Build a sustainable legacy beyond the project’s lifetime.

In doing so, Privanova helps ensure that GroundUp not only delivers innovative research but also contributes meaningfully to Europe’s broader goals of innovation, sustainability, and societal progress.