Destination Earth and Horizon Europe research infrastructures : projects cluster meeting : meeting report and key messages for policy consideration : Brussels, 2 April 2025.
Date: 2025-07-30
Institutions: European Research Executive Agency
Subjects: EU initiative, EU programme, adaptation to climate change, bad weather, earth observation, environmental research, policymaking, project funding, report, research infrastructure, simulation

Destination Earth and 

Horizon Europe Research Infrastructures

Projects Cluster Meeting

Meeting Report and Key Messages for Policy Consideration
Brussels, 2 April 2025

Written by Elena GARBARINO, Gustavo NAUMANN, Anna SANTORO, Maria VASCHIU 
April – 2025 

EUROPEAN COMMISSION 

European Research Executive Agency (REA) 
Unit C4 — Reforming European R&I and Research Infrastructures 

E-mail: 

rea-he-infra@ec.europa.eu  

European Commission 
B-1049 Brussel 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
EUROPEAN COMMISSION 

Destination Earth and Horizon 
Europe Research Infrastructures 

Projects Cluster Meeting 

Meeting Report and Key Messages for Policy Consideration 

Brussels, 2 April 2025 

2025 

European Research Executive Agency (REA) 

 Research Infrastructures 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Manuscript completed in July 2025

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Destination Earth and Horizon Europe Research Infrastructures 

Table of Contents 

Summary ................................................................................................................. 6 

Destination Earth (DestinE) Initiative and Horizon Europe Funding Programme .... 8 

Horizon Europe Funded Projects ............................................................................ 8 

InterTwin Project ............................................................................................................. 10 
BioDT Project ................................................................................................................. 10 
DTGeo Project ................................................................................................................ 11 
TerraDT Project .............................................................................................................. 12 
UrbAnair Project ............................................................................................................. 12 
WeatherGenerator Project .............................................................................................. 13 

Other relevant projects funded under Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe ............. 13 

NextGems Project .......................................................................................................... 14 
EERIE Project................................................................................................................. 14 
EDITO: European Digital Twin Ocean ............................................................................ 15 
EDITO-Infra .................................................................................................................... 16 
EDITO-Model Lab ........................................................................................................... 16 

EU Contribution ..................................................................................................... 16 

Overview of the event ........................................................................................... 18 

Breakout Session 1: Collaboration and Interaction for DestinE ...................................... 18 
Breakout Session 2: Challenges and Opportunities for DestinE .................................... 19 
Conclusions .................................................................................................................... 20 

5 

 
 
 
Destination Earth and Horizon Europe Research Infrastructures 

Summary 

In recent years, the increasing frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, such as 
floods,  droughts,  hurricanes,  and  heat  waves,  have  underscored  the  urgent  challenges 
posed  by  climate  change.  These  events  present  significant  risks  to  human  lives, 
ecosystems  and  the  global  economy.  As  a  result,  there  is  an  urgent  need  for 
comprehensive research and immediate action to develop strategies and technologies that 
can protect vulnerable communities and ecosystems from the impacts of global warming.  

In  response  to  these  pressing  challenges,  Destination  Earth  (DestinE)  is  an  ambitious 
initiative  launched  by  the  European  Commission  aimed  at  developing  a  highly  accurate 
digital model of the Earth: a digital twin of the Earth. This digital twin model monitors and 
simulates  natural  phenomena,  hazards  and  the  related  human  activities,  enabling 
policymakers  and  researchers  to  better  understand  environmental  challenges  and 
anticipate  climate  change  impacts.  With  the  advent  of  big  data  analytics  and 
supercomputing, DestinE will help key actors gain insights into how to integrate artificial 
intelligence (AI) into environmental research and policymaking. 

Climate  change  remains  a  high  priority  on  the  European  Commission’s  agenda  and 
DestinE is an essential pillar of the European Commission’s efforts towards the Green Deal 
and Digital Strategy. This is reflected in funding opportunities in EC programmes, notably 
in the Horizon Europe Research Infrastructures work programme (INFRA), that funded six 
projects between 2021 and 2024. 

In  this  context,  the  European  Research  Executive  Agency  (REA)  and  the  Directorate 
General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology of the EC (DG CNECT) 
jointly organised a thematic meeting involving the six funded INFRA projects contributing 
to DestinE and representatives of the DestinE implementing entities, European Centre for 
Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), the European Space Agency (ESA) and the 
European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT).To 
explore synergies with other parts of Horizon Europe, four more projects funded between 
2020 and 2024 were invited to the event (see Figure 1). 

The event achieved two main objectives.  

Firstly, it created a venue for project participants to meet and discuss their contributions to 
the twin transition, addressing both scientific and technical challenges, exploring synergies 
with  other  EC-funded  projects,  anticipating  future  challenges,  and  examining  the 
integration of AI.  

Secondly,  it  brought  together  project  representatives  with  policy  makers  and  DestinE’s 
implementing  entities  to  further  address  funding  needs  in  the  context  of  the  ongoing 
discussion taking place at European level on the next Multiannual Financial Framework 
(MFF) and research Framework Programme (FP10). 

6 

 
 
 
Destination Earth and Horizon Europe Research Infrastructures

Figure 1

Two  aspects  of  DestinE implementation were  discussed:  collaboration  and  interaction, and 
challenges and opportunities.

The key messages from the event are presented below.

(cid:131) Collaboration and interaction among projects and organisations working on DestinE 
are crucial; e.g. sharing code and data, organising joint work strands and activities, and 
facilitating ground-level technical discussions;

(cid:131) Sustainability and long-term planning are essential; providing access and funding to 
support project continuation, and creating long-term mechanisms for sharing data and code 
on a voluntary basis;

(cid:131)

International connections and national projects are vital; i.e. stronger connections with 
countries/areas like Canada, the Caribbean, Africa, and the US are needed;

(cid:131) Challenges and opportunities of climate models. Challenges: integration of data with 
coupled models, the need for accredited views of models, and security concerns, including 
the need for trustworthy AI, validation, and testing. Opportunities: development of domain-
focused High Performance Computing centres, the creation of a public infrastructure to tap 
innovative potential;

(cid:131) Brokering  science  to  policy  making  is  critical; making  science  accessible  to 
policymakers at all levels is essential, using interactive AI tools, improving the quality of 
upstream data, and making information accessible to general models and physical models. 

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Destination Earth and Horizon Europe Research Infrastructures 

Destination Earth (DestinE) Initiative and Horizon Europe 
Funding Programme 

DestinE is a flagship initiative of the EU arising from the urgency of acting in the context of the 
increasingly frequent and severe weather events. For example, the record heatwave of 2022 
has been linked to between 60 000 and 70 000 premature deaths in Europe. If decisive action 
is not taken now, economic losses from coastal floods alone could exceed EUR 1 trillion by 
the end of this century1. 

DestinE aims to gradually develop a highly accurate digital twin of the Earth. It will revolutionise 
the modelling, simulation and monitoring of natural phenomena, hazards and related human 
activities, supporting Europe’s role as a global leader in fighting and mitigating climate change. 
DestinE will unlock unprecedent digital capabilities for adapting to climate change, forecasting 
extreme  events  and  interactive  use  of  high-resolution  climate  data.  DestinE  builds  on  EU’s 
investment  in  high-performance  computing,  the  wealth  of  available  data  including  massive 
Earth observation data sources, and on the European excellence in data-driven innovation and 
breakthrough AI technologies. 

DestinE  will  provide  dedicated  “what-if”  scenarios  to  decision-makers,  in  support  of  climate 
change adaptation policies and mitigation scenario testing at decadal timescales, aiming at a 
real breakthrough in terms of reliability at EU, national, regional and local levels. 

The European Commission leads the implementation of DestinE in coordination with Member 
States  and  Associated  Countries,  partnering  with  major  European  intergovernmental 
organisations with primary expertise, i.e.: 

(cid:120)  European Space Agency (ESA)  

(cid:120)  European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF)  

(cid:120)  European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) 

Horizon Europe Funded Projects 

Horizon Europe is the EU’s key funding programme for research and innovation with a budget 
of EUR 95.5 billion running from 2021 to 2027. Horizon Europe consists of three main pillars 
and  one  horizontal  activity.  Research  Infrastructures  are  funded  under  Pillar  I,  which  is 
dedicated to Excellent Science.  

this 

framework, 

the  European  Commission's  Research 

Infrastructures  Work 
Within 
Programme plays a pivotal role in advancing the European Research Area by supporting the 
development and sustainability of state-of-the-art research facilities across the continent. This 
programme  is  integral  to  Horizon  Europe's  mission  to  foster  excellence  in  research  and 
innovation by providing access to world-class infrastructures and promoting their integration 

1 European Climate Risk Assessment - Executive summary 

8 

 
 
 
Destination Earth and Horizon Europe Research Infrastructures

across  various  scientific  disciplines.  The  programme  aims  to  facilitate  cross-border 
collaboration  and  drive  scientific  breakthroughs  that  address  key  societal  challenges  by 
enhancing transnational access, developing robust e-infrastructures, and strengthening data 
management capabilities.

Figure 2

Under  Horizon  Europe  Research  Infrastructures  programme,  two  pivotal  calls have  been 
issued to date, targeting the central themes of DestinE. 

HORIZON-INFRA-2021-TECH-01-01 - Interdisciplinary digital twins for modelling and 
simulating complex phenomena at the service of research infrastructure communities

The  call  for  proposals  HORIZON-INFRA-2021-TECH-01-01 launched  in  2021,  aimed  at 
developing digital twins providing advanced modelling, simulation and prediction capabilities 
to  RIs  and  their  research  communities  through  a  convergent  use  of  advanced  digital 
technologies such as high-performance computing, software, AI methods and data analytics. 
The work under this topic aimed at reaching a sufficiently high TRL level (6-7) to be considered 
for integration into operational activities of for example existing research infrastructures, the 
EOSC (European Open Science Cloud) platform, and undertaken in related fields. 

The funded projects were InterTwin, BioDT and DTGeo. 

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Destination Earth and Horizon Europe Research Infrastructures

InterTwin Project (Website)

InterTwin co-designs and implements the prototype of an interdisciplinary Digital Twin Engine 
(DTE)  – an  open-source platform  based  on  open  standards  that  offers  the  capability  to 
integrate  with  application-specific  Digital  Twins  (DTs).  Its  functional  specifications  and 
implementation are based on a co-designed interoperability framework and conceptual model 
of a DT for research – the DTE blueprint architecture. The ambition of InterTwin is to create 
consensus on a common approach to the implementation of DTs that is applicable across the 
whole  spectrum  of  scientific  disciplines and will  facilitate  developments  and  interoperability 
across different DTs.

(cid:120)

(cid:120)

Interdisciplinary Digital Twin Engine (DTE) federated infrastructure integrated with 
EOSC and EU Data Spaces.

Interoperability  framework including guidelines,  specifications,  and  blueprint 
architecture.

(cid:120) Toolkit for AI workflow and method lifecycle management.

BioDT Project (Website)

The Biodiversity Digital Twin (BioDT) project offers advanced simulation and prediction models 
to  tackle  critical  global  biodiversity  challenges.  The  project  is  designed to  address  complex 
biodiversity  dynamics  through  practical  use  cases,  providing  valuable  insights  and  tools  for 
conservation and restoration efforts.

BioDT harnesses the immense computational power of the LUMI Supercomputer, one of the 
fastest  and  most  powerful  computing  systems  in  the  world.  By  integrating  FAIR  (Findable, 
Accessible, 
Interoperable  and  Reusable)  data  principles  with  state-of-the-art  digital 
infrastructure,  predictive  modelling,  and  AI  solutions,  BioDT  facilitates  the  development  of 
precise and reliable models. These models are crucial for creating evidence-based strategies 
aimed at preserving and restoring biodiversity on a global scale.

(cid:120) Create  simulation  and  prediction  models  for  global  complex  biodiversity 

challenges.

(cid:120) Prototyping Digital Twins on practical use cases for conservation and restoration 

efforts.

(cid:120) Four  main  groups  of  biodiversity  challenges  tested:  species  response  to 
environmental  change,  and  interactions  with  each  other  and  with  humans, 
genetically detected biodiversity, dynamics and threats from and for species of 
policy concern. 

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Destination Earth and Horizon Europe Research Infrastructures

DTGeo Project (Website)

The digital twin for GEOphysical extremes (DT-GEO) aims to analyse and forecast the impact 
of tsunamis, earthquakes, volcanoes, and anthropogenic seismicity. The project builds upon 
existing knowledge from other European projects and Centres of Excellence and pushing it 
forward. 

To  achieve  its  goals,  DTGeo will  build  the  components  of  a  digital  twin- virtual  replica  of 
physical systems that combine real-time data streams and high-fidelity models. Digital twins 
are built on interactive digital platforms, which allow for continuous observation and simulation 
of  supercomputing  tasks  to  recreate  present  and  future  scenarios.  It capitalises  on  the 
development  of  supercomputing  and  technical  capabilities  to  carry  out  advanced,  real-time 
modelling and analysis for diagnostics and forecasting.

(cid:120) Design and create a pre-operational prototype of a DT on geophysical extremes 
for  its  future  integration  into  the  DestinE  initiative and  test  it  in  operational 
environments at 13 demonstrator sites of particular relevance located in Europe 
and beyond.

(cid:120) Apply  12  DTs  components  addressing  phenomena  to  conduct  precise  data-
informed  early  warning  systems,  forecasts,  and  hazard  assessments  across 
multiple time scales.

(cid:120) Supply  a  flexible  framework  for  EOSC-enabling  and  FAIR-validation  of  project 
assets and outcomes and its integration in the European Plate Observing System 
and HPC/virtual cloud computing Research Infrastructures.

HORIZON-INFRA-2024-TECH-01-03 - New digital twins for Destination Earth

The second DestinE - RI call for proposals was launched in 2024 and switched the focus from 
transition to integration. The expected EU contribution per project was of EUR 15 million for 
the beneficiaries to be able to achieve TRL 6 or higher by the end of the project. Having already 
a firm foundation to build on from the first call, project results were expected to contribute to 
all the following aspects:

(cid:120) Emergence of new science-based digital twin infrastructures to be gradually 

integrated in DestinE;

(cid:120) Establishment of new digital standards for software (including simulation and 

simulation-observation data fusion) and data for DestinE;

(cid:120) Standards- and science-based approach for modelling, predicting and assessing the 

Earth systems and their socio-economic impact.

The funded projects were TerraDT, Urban Air and WeatherGenerator.

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Destination Earth and Horizon Europe Research Infrastructures

TerraDT Project (Website)

TerraDT is focused on developing a high-resolution Digital Twin of Earth's cryosphere (frozen 
regions),  land  surface,  and  aerosols.  The  project  addresses  key  challenges  in  climate 
modelling by improving the representation of these critical Earth system components. As part 
of the DestinE initiative, TerraDT integrates modular, interoperable components to enhance 
climate simulations at a global scale. These advancements aim to improve the accuracy and 
reliability  of  climate  impact  assessments,  supporting  informed  decision-making  for  climate 
adaptation and mitigation.

(cid:120)

Integrate  expertise  in  Earth  system  modeling,  supercomputing  and  impact 
assessments from all over Europe.

(cid:120) Develop an interactive user interface, through which users can ask concrete what-

if questions.

(cid:120) Provide  very  high  resolution  of  10  km  climate  projections,  using  computing 

platforms such as LUMI supercomputer and MareNostrum 5.

UrbAnair Project (Website)

UrbanAIR  project aims  at developing a  new  urban  digital  twin.  This will  support  decision 
makers in urban areas to deal with urban design dilemmas in atmospheric heat and air quality 
to maximise the health, and socio-economic wellbeing and economic prosperity of its citizens 
affected  by  climate  change.  UrbanAIR  will  provide  critical  tools  for  climate  adaptation  and 
hazard  control  through  urban  design  and  planning  including very  high-resolution  model 
components of the complex atmospheric Earth system.

(cid:120) Yielding a  dynamic,  user-friendly  infrastructure  integrated  into  the  DestinE
infrastructure  that  empowers  municipalities  and industries  to  face  urgent  urban 
climate risks.

(cid:120) The scales in the atmospheric models cover the full range from the regional to the 

neighbourhood level.

(cid:120) The  multiscale  approach  is  achieved  through  the  development  of  software 

interfaces for the modular coupling of atmospheric models.

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Destination Earth and Horizon Europe Research Infrastructures

WeatherGenerator Project (Website)

This project will build the WeatherGenerator, the Foundation Model of the Earth system that 
will  serve  as  a  new  digital  twin  for  DestinE.  The  WeatherGenerator will  be  based  on 
representation learning and create a general and versatile tool that models the dynamics of 
the Earth system based on a large variety of Earth system data. It will be task-independent 
and will improve results for a wide range of machine learning applications when compared to 
task specific machine learning tools. It will also be more resilient for climate applications when 
the  underlying  data  distributions  are  changing,  and  it  will  lead  to  a  significant  reduction  in 
computational costs and faster turnaround times.

(cid:120) Develop  a  machine-learned  digital  twin  of  the  Earth  system,  to  serve  as  a 
foundation model for weather, climate, and Earth system science applications.

(cid:120) Deepen Earth system understanding.

(cid:120) Focus  on  enhancing  sectorial  impacts  such  as  renewable  energy  forecasting 
through  early  warning  systems 
(wind/solar/hydropower),  public  safety 
(floods/heatwaves),  health  risk  mitigation  (heat  stress/disease  modelling), 
agricultural resilience (crop failure prediction), and water resource management 
(flood prediction/river inflow modelling).

Other  relevant  projects  funded  under  Horizon  2020  and 
Horizon Europe

Other  projects  funded  under  HE  Pillar  II that  are  contributing significantly  to  the  DestinE
objectives  are  considered  for  synergies  with  the  projects  funded  under  the  two  Research 
Infrastructures calls: 

(cid:16) NextGEMS (Next Generation Earth Modelling Systems), funded under Horizon 2020, 

contributes to climate action 

(cid:16) EERIE (European  Eddy  RIch Earth  System  Models),  funded  under  Horizon  Europe 

Cluster 5 within the 2022 call, contributes to climate science and solutions

(cid:16) The two  sister  projects  EDITO  - (1)  EDITO-Infra  and  (2)  EDITO-Model  Lab,  funded 
under Horizon Europe, contributes to the Mission Restore our Ocean and Waters. 

EU contribution to the three projects amounts to EUR 28 786 575.73.

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Destination Earth and Horizon Europe Research Infrastructures

NextGems Project (Website)

NextGEMS is  a  collaborative  European  project  that  taps  expertise  from  fourteen  European 
Nations  to  develop  two  next  generation  (storm-resolving)  Earth-system  Models.  Through 
breakthroughs  in  simulation  realism,  these  models  will  allow  us  to  understand  and  reliably
quantify  how  the  climate  will  change  on  a  global  and  regional  scale,  and  how  the  weather, 
including its extreme events, will look like in the future.

Storm-resolving  models  differ  from  traditional  climate  models  by  operating  at  much  higher 
resolutions, by using a fifty-fold finer horizontal grid, allowing them to explicitly represent the 
circulations that make the storms in the atmosphere, the eddies in the ocean, and cracks in 
the  ice.  These  models  are  important  to reduce systematic  and  long-standing  errors  in 
conventional climate models, providing enhanced predictions of extreme weather events.

(cid:120) Create  two  storm-resolving  Earth  System  Models  (SR-ESMs)  capable  of 
representing  the  coupled  climate  system  more  accurately,  performing  30-year 
climate projections, and integrating Earth-system processes like the carbon cycle 
and aerosols.

(cid:120) Use  SR-ESMs  to  test  emerging  and  long-standing  hypotheses  underpinning 

current understanding of climate change.

(cid:120) Build  integrated  ESM  user  communities  by  involving  a  wider  scientific  and  non-
scientific  community in  model  development and promoting  knowledge  co-
production.

EERIE Project (Website)

The project, running from January 2023 to December 2026, will reveal and quantify the role of 
ocean mesoscale processes in shaping the climate trajectory over seasonal to centennial time 
scales. To this end EERIE (European Eddy-RIch ESMs) will develop a new generation ESMs 
that are capable of explicitly representing a crucially important, yet unexplored regime of the 
Earth  system  – the  ocean  mesoscale.  Leveraging  the  latest  advances  in  science  and 
technology, EERIE will substantially improve the ability of such ESMs to faithfully represent 
the centennial-scale evolution of the global climate, especially its variability, extremes and how 
tipping points may unfold under the influence of the ocean mesoscale.

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Destination Earth and Horizon Europe Research Infrastructures

(cid:120) Model  and  understand  the  climate  impacts  of  ocean  mesoscale  processes, 

including ocean eddies.

(cid:120) Develop  novel  experimental  designs,  aiming  to  enrich  the  Coupled  Model 
Intercomparison  Project  (CMIP)  in  support  of  future  national  and  international 
climate change assessments, hence sustain and enhance European cooperation 
and leadership in climate sciences.

(cid:120) Halve the time and energy needed to produce climate information with the highest 

level of process fidelity.

(cid:120)

Increase  the  reliability  of  regional  climate  change  attribution  by  developing 
improved estimates of background natural variability.

EDITO: European Digital Twin Ocean

A Digital Twin of the Ocean is a virtual representation of all marine and coastal environments 
around the globe. It gives access to real-time and historical observations from thousands of 
sensors across the world ocean, as well as numerous satellites in space. 

The  European  Commission  launched  the  European  Digital  Twin  of  the  Ocean  at  the  One 
Ocean Summit in Brest, France, in February 2022. As a main element of the Digital Ocean 
Knowledge System under the European Union’s “Mission Restore our Ocean and Waters”, its 
ambition  is  to  make  ocean  information  readily  available  to  all  – international  policymakers, 
national  governments,  researchers,  innovators,  businesses,  entrepreneurs,  activists,  and 
citizens.

The  European  Digital  Twin  of  the  Ocean  will  provide  an  innovative  set  of  user-driven, 
interactive  and  decision-making  tools,  backed  by  the  best  science  and  data.  Its  core 
development  is  underway  with  the  funding  from  the  EU  through  the  European  Digital  Twin 
Ocean  (EDITO)  R&D  projects.  These  two  sister  projects,  namely  EDITO-Infra  and  EDITO-
Model  Lab,  will  build  the  operational  infrastructure  of  EDITO.  EDITO’s  further  aim  is  to
construct  and  evolve  a  thriving  digital  ecosystem  through  a  number  of  other  relevant, 
complementary actions, aiming for an operational Digital Twin of the Ocean.

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Destination Earth and Horizon Europe Research Infrastructures

EDITO-Infra (Website)

EDITO-Model Lab (Website)

A 2-year project that builds the public 
infrastructure backbone for EDITO by 
integrating key data service components 
(among which Copernicus Marine Service 
and EMODnet), and by sharing cloud 
processing capabilities and software into a 
single digital framework.

A 3-year project aiming to develop the next 
generation of ocean models, combining 
artificial intelligence and high-performance 
computing to be integrated into the EDITO 
public infrastructure, providing access to 
focus applications and simulations of 
different what-if scenarios for the 
sustainable management of marine 
environments.

EU Contribution

The EU contribution through HE to the projects mentioned above amounts to about EUR 107 
million, with an increase in the amount of funding granted for the projects under INFRA TECH 
calls from 2021 (approximately EUR 11 million per project) to 2024 (approximately EUR 15 
million per project), which reiterates the European Commission’s commitment to support the 
efforts of research communities towards DestinE goals. 

Eu Funding per Project (€)

UrbanAIR,  14266198,83

EDITO-Model Lab,  
6997721,25

EDITO-Infra,  2999850

EERIE,  7789004,48

TerraDT,  14999575,37

NextGems,  11000000

InterTwin,  11731665

WeatherGenerator,  
14994619,25

DT-GEO, 11138287,5

BioDT, 11059061

EDITO-Model Lab,  6997721,25

EDITO-Infra,  2999850

EERIE,  7789004,48

NextGems,  11000000

WeatherGenerator,  14994619,25 BioDT, 11059061

DT-GEO, 11138287,5

InterTwin,  11731665

TerraDT,  14999575,37

UrbanAIR,  14266198,83

Figure 3

Some organisations and countries are taking leading roles in what concerns participation in 
the DestinE initiative. Germany, Italy and the UK lead in terms of participation, each having at 
least 7 participations in the selected projects, as well as in coordinating roles to which other 
countries have joined efforts (Netherlands, Finland, Spain). 

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Destination Earth and Horizon Europe Research Infrastructures

Figure 4

Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC CNS) and the Federal Institute of Technology Zurich 
(ETH Zurich) are leading the way with 6 participations, followed closely by Centre National de 
la  Recherche  Scientifique  (CNRS) and  the  European  Centre  for  Medium-Range  Weather 
Forecasts (ECMWF) with 5 participations.

Figure 5

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Destination Earth and Horizon Europe Research Infrastructures 

Overview of the event  

The  event,  organised  by  REA  and  DG  CNECT,  convened  experts  from  various  sectors  to 
exchange  insights  on  the  DestinE  initiative.  The  event  focused  on  assessing  the  current 
progress  of DestinE  implementation,  encompassing  supporting  R&D  projects,  scientific  and 
technical  milestones,  challenges,  and  fostering  synergies  among  projects  and  other 
stakeholders. The event featured presentations by the implementing entities of DestinE, such 
as  the  European  Centre  for  Medium-Range  Weather  Forecasts  (ECMWF),  the  European 
Space Agency (ESA), and the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological 
Satellites  (EUMETSAT),  alongside  contributions  from  representatives  of  selected  Horizon 
Europe Research Infrastructure projects. 

Further,  two  breakout  sessions  were  held  to  facilitate  in-depth  discussions  among  experts. 
These sessions were structured around specific questions aimed at exploring collaboration, 
interaction, and sustainability within the DestinE initiative, as well as identifying key challenges 
and opportunities.  

Participants  had  the  opportunity  to  share  their  experiences  and  insights,  contributing  to  a 
comprehensive  dialogue  on  the  initiative's  future  directions  and  prospects,  and  further 
contribute  to  the  discussion  around  the  new  Multiannaula  Financial  Framework  (MFF)  and 
research Framework Programme (FP10). 

Breakout Session 1: Collaboration and Interaction for DestinE 

This session was guided by four key questions, which aimed to explore the current state of 
collaboration, interaction, and sustainability of the DestinE initiative.  

1. Which other parts of the Horizon Europe or other EC funded programmes you have been 
collaborating with or intend to collaborate with? Which international connections are the most 
important? How about national projects and initiatives? 

2. What is your main connection to the DestinE initiative and the three implementing entities 
(ECMWF, ESA, EUMETSAT) and/or their contractors? How do you interact? Can you share 
best practices? 

3. What are the best ways to interact with other projects working on DestinE digital twins (joint 
work strands and activities, workshops, conference etc.)? Can you share best practices? 

4. What is your project's contribution to the achievement of the objectives of the DestinE in the 
short  term  (project  lifetime)  and  long  term  (after  the  project)?  Where  do  you  see  the  main 
challenges and how do you intend to sustain the projects results? 

18 

 
 
 
 
Destination Earth and Horizon Europe Research Infrastructures 

Box 1: Collaboration and Interaction for DestinE 

Collaboration and International Connections 

The  participants  highlighted  the  importance  of  collaboration  with  other  Horizon  Europe 
projects,  such  as  sister  projects  on  digital  twins,  EERIE,  NextGEMS,  and  EOSC. 
International connections with countries like Canada, the Caribbean, Africa, and the US 
were also deemed crucial, with some experts mentioning the potential for standardisation 
and  harmonisation  of  digital  twins.  National  projects  and  initiatives,  such  as  those  in 
France, Italy, and Germany, were also discussed as potential areas for collaboration. 

Connection to DestinE Initiative 

The participants emphasised the need for clear connections to the DestinE initiative and 
its  implementing  entities,  including  ECMWF,  ESA,  and  EUMETSAT.  Some  experts 
mentioned the importance of accessing and using DestinE data, as well as providing data 
to  the  initiative.  Others  highlighted  the  need  for  mechanisms  to  share  codes  and  data 
among  projects,  as  well  as  strategies  for  linking  data  projects  and  ensuring  project 
sustainability. 

Interaction with Other Projects 

The participants discussed various ways to interact with other projects working on DestinE 
digital  twins,  including  joint  work  strands  and  activities,  workshops,  and  conferences. 
Some experts suggested organising interactive workshops and scientific conferences to 
facilitate technical discussions. Others mentioned the importance of cataloguing project 
outputs and promoting highly specialised interactions for technical details. 

Sustainability and Long-Term Objectives 

The  participants  emphasised  the  need  for  sustainability  and  long-term  planning  for  the 
DestinE  initiative.  Some  experts  highlighted  the  importance  of  requesting  data  sharing 
plans in calls and providing access and funding to support project continuation. Others 
mentioned the need for mechanisms to share data and codes on a voluntary basis, as 
well as strategies for linking data projects and ensuring project sustainability. The experts 
also discussed the challenges of accessing resources, such as HPC access, and the need 
for open-source communities to continue support. 

Breakout Session 2: Challenges and Opportunities for DestinE 

This session was guided by four key questions, which aimed to explore the main challenges 
and opportunities for the DestinE initiative.  

1. What are the main challenges you see in the DestinE initiative? How are you addressing 
those in your project? 

2. How do you broker science to all levels of policy making? Make it as easy as possible for 
them to make related/informed decisions. 

3.  What  are  the  low-hanging  fruits  in  the  DestinE  initiative?  How  to  integrate  the  data  with 
coupled models? 

4. How far can climate models go? What are the limitations and opportunities for improvement? 

19 

 
 
Destination Earth and Horizon Europe Research Infrastructures 

Box 2: Challenges and Opportunities for DestinE 

Main Challenges and Opportunities 

The participants highlighted several main challenges for the DestinE initiative, including 
the integration of data with coupled models, the need for accredited views of models, and 
the importance of considering security concerns. Some experts mentioned the challenge 
of  getting  advantage  of  public  infrastructures  with  data  and  integrating  full  mitigation 
measures  into  adaptation  ones.  Others  emphasised  the  need  to  discriminate  between 
different  end-users,  notably  expert  users  (such  as  researchers,  meteorological  offices) 
and non-expert users (such as citizens and policy makers), and to make use of the power 
of AI to support decision-making. 

Brokering Science to Policy Making 

The  participants  discussed  the  importance  of  brokering  science  to  all  levels  of  policy 
making,  making  it  easy  for  policy  makers  to  make  informed  decisions.  Some  experts 
suggested using interactive AI tools, such as the GPT tool used in Copernicus, to support 
policy makers in choosing scenarios and making decisions. Others emphasised the need 
to improve the quality of upstream data and to make information accessible to general 
models and physical models. 

Immediate opportunities and Integration of Data 

The  participants  identified  several  opportunities  in  the  DestinE  initiative,  including  the 
integration  of  data  with  coupled  models  and  the  development  of  domain-focused  HPC 
centres. Some participants mentioned the importance of creating a public infrastructure 
that taps the innovative potential of people to address challenges. Others emphasised the 
need  for  concrete  examples  and  proper  problem  statements  to  address  specific 
challenges. 

Limitations and Opportunities for Climate Models 

The participants discussed the limitations and opportunities for climate models, including 
the need for trustworthy AI and the importance of validation and testing. Some experts 
mentioned  the  challenge  of  scaling  climate  models  and  the  potential  of  using  Large 
Language Models (LLMs) to bring different data together. Others emphasised the need to 
create  a  public  infrastructure  that  allows  people  to  "reason"  with  the  data  and  to  make 
breakthroughs with current powerful infrastructure. 

Conclusions 

In conclusion, this project cluster event highlighted the importance of collaboration, interaction, 
and sustainability for the DestinE initiative.  

Experts in the field emphasised the importance of creating a public infrastructure that taps into 
the innovative potential of scientific results to address challenges and make breakthroughs.  

Some  challenges  ahead  include  creating  strong  connections  between  the  initiative’s 
implementing entities, EU funded projects, national projects and initiatives and international 
players outside the EU.   

Moreover, there is a need to establish a clear mechanism for sharing code and data among 
projects, for highly specialised technical discussions and cataloguing project outputs, including 

20 

 
 
Destination Earth and Horizon Europe Research Infrastructures 

the integration of data with coupled models, the need for accredited views of models, as well 
as the importance of considering security concerns.  

A continuous dialogue between scientists and policymakers at all levels of policy-making was 
emphasised to enhance the quality of upstream data and ensure information is accessible for 
the development and improvement of all types of models and modeling communities. 

21 

 
 
 
Annex 1 – Projects cluster event agenda

Horizon Europe Cluster Event on
Digital Twins for Destination Earth
2 April 2025 – 9:30-16:00 

Covent Garden, Place Rogier 16, Brussels

AUDITORIUM (COVE A2 4-15)

Programme

08:45 - 09:30

Registration and welcome coffee

09:30 - 09:45

O Opening and welcome 

Grazyna PIESIEWICZ, Head  of  Unit  High  Performance  Computing  and 
Applications, DG CNECT

Sari VARTIAINEN-MATHIEU, Head of Unit Reforming European R&I and 
Research Infrastructures, REA

09:45 - 10:30

O Current state of play by DestinE

Irina SANDU, Director of Destination Earth, ECMWF 

Barbara BORGIA, DestinE System Integration and Validation Engineer, ESA

Lothar WOLF, Head of Digital Solutions & SAF, EUMETSAT

10:30 - 11:00

O HORIZON-INFRA-2021-TECH-01-01

Interdisciplinary  digital  twins  for  modelling  and  simulating  complex 
phenomena at the service of research infrastructure communities

Andrea MANZI, STICHTING EGI, InterTwin
Damien LECARPENTIER, CSC, BioDT
Ramon CARBONEL, CSIC, DTGeo

11:00 - 11:15

Coffee break

11:15 - 11:45

O HORIZON-INFRA-2024-TECH-01-03 

New digital twins for Destination Earth

Jenni KONTKANEN, CSC, TerraDT
Femke VOSSEPOEL, DELFT UNIVERSITY, Urbanair 
Peter DUEBEN, ECMWF, WeatherGenerator

22

 
 
 
Annex 1 – Projects cluster event agenda

11:45 – 12:15 O Presentations by other projects

Bjorn STEVENS, Max Planck Institute for Meteorology, NextGems

Thomas JUNG, AWI, EERIE

Alain ARNAUD, Mercator Ocean International, EDITO

12:15 – 13:30

Networking Lunch

13:30 – 14:45 O Breakout sessions

1 – Best practices, collaborations and legacy

Moderated by: Andrea HUTTERER, Head of Sector RI, REA

2 – Future research priorities

Moderated by: Liina MUNARI, Deputy Head of Unit, DG CNECT

14:45 – 15:00

Coffee Break

15:00 – 15:45 O Round table discussion

Moderated by: Liina MUNARI, Deputy Head of Unit, DG CNECT

15:45 – 16:00 O Conclusions and next steps 

Grazyna  PIESIEWICZ, Head  of  Unit  High  Performance  Computing  and 
Applications, DG CNECT

Sari VARTIAINEN-MATHIEU, Head of Unit Reforming European R&I and 
Research Infrastructures, REA

23

 
 
 Annex 2 – List of participants 

Participants 
Irina Sandu, Daniel Thiemert 
Barbara Borgia, Franka Kunz 
Lothar Wolf 
(cid:60)(cid:90)(cid:4)(cid:60)(cid:75)(cid:116)(cid:47)(cid:4)(cid:69)(cid:3)(cid:68)(cid:258)(cid:371)(cid:336)(cid:381)(cid:396)(cid:460)(cid:258)(cid:410)(cid:258), Manzi Andrea 
LECARPENTIER Damien 
Stefan Wiemer, Ramon Carbonell 
Jenni Kontkanen, Devaraju Narayanappa 
Femke Vossepoel, Filip Lefebre, Natalie Theeuwes 

Project 
ECMWF 
ESA 
EUMETSAT  
InterTwin 
BioDT 
DT-GEO 
TerraDT 
UrbanAIR 
WeatherGenerator  Dueben Peter, Christian Lessig 
NextGems 
EERIE 
EDITO-Infra 

Bjorn STEVENS 
Thomas JUNG 
Alain ARNAUD, Piero Lanucara 

REA 

EC CNECT 

DG RTD 

CINEA 

VARTIAINEN-MATHIEU Sari, HUTTERER Andrea, GARBARINO Elena, NAUMANN Gustavo, 
SANTORO Anna, ANDREDAKIS Ioannis, SKONDRA Ourania, KAKARANTZAS Sotirios, 
FASANO Gelsomina 
MUNARI Liina, ADAMOVIC Marko, FALK Ulrike, TSITLAKIDIS Charalampos, PIESIEWICZ 
Grazyna, LE-SAUX Bertrand 
CONSTANTIN Mihaela, IMMLER Franz, DRABICKA Katarzyna, RUIZ RAMOS Margarita, 
Federico Fierli 
TAVARES Richard, PALIALEXIS Andreas 

24 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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