The European Environment Agency (EEA), along with the German UBA, are leading the CASRI project, in which agencies from Austria, Slovakia, Flanders, Finland, France, Wales, Italy, Ireland, Switzerland and the Basque Country are taking part. The project, funded by the European Union, aims to connect and boost innovative environmental research by European environment agencies.

The four thematic areas on which the agents of each participating country and region are currently working are resilient, net-zero, circular production systems; biodiversity and climate; nature and sustainable urban planning; and an environmentally-friendly energy transition.

Furthermore, the CASRI initiative intends to design comprehensive projects throughout 2025 and with funding from the agencies themselves or in the framework of the European Union's new 10th FP for R&I, to get underway in 2026. Ihobe will therefore contribute its ecoinnovation work in the last decade with companies, technology centres and public entities within the Basque Science, Technology and Innovation Plan (PCTI) 2030.

The CASRI project, led by the European Environment Agency and the German UBA, will start the first collaborative projects in 2026

The European Network of Environment Agencies is made up of thirty or so agencies with over 3,000 experts and budgets for ecoinnovation. These public agencies - the majority of which have half a century's experience - are key institutions to mentor governments and companies in the green transition and provide them with the expertise to take the best decisions given the complex challenges on the horizon, which is known as 'Knowledge for Policy'.

These agencies’ collaboration with companies, the public administration, knowledge brokers and the citizens positions them as key entities to successfully address the environmental challenges that Europe has to address.