The members of the Steering Committee of the MED-QUAD project will meet in person for the first time in Kilkis from the 29^th of March to the 1^st of April 2022. The project is financed by the European Union under the ENI CBC Mediterranean program. As the project is in its 2nd year, the members of the Steering Committee will evaluate the already implemented activities and plan the future activities.

The participants come from universities from Italy, Egypt, Jordan, Palestine and Tunisia, while Greece is represented by the International Hellenic University (IHU) and Epimorfotiki Kilkis sm LLC as the project coordinator.

The MED-QUAD project seeks the pilot implementation of the Quadruple Helix Approach, which involves, the collaboration between universities, government, businesses and community, to design and implement sustainable development based on innovation.

Two Cross-Border Living Labs will be established in the cities, where several pilot activities for technological transfer and commercialisation of research results will be implemented. They will exploit ICT technologies and Key Enabling Technologies for water use optimization, consumption and reduction (Smart Water Use Applications - SWUAP), as well as cultural heritage promotion and preservation (Applied Research for Cultural Heritage Exploitation - ARCHEO). The project will set up a toolkit for enhancing the institutional capacities of businesses, cities and universities of both shores of the Mediterranean to work together and reinforce their role as “catalysts” for fair and inclusive development.

IHU, in collaboration with Epimorfotiki Kilkis sm LLC and local authorities, intends to create and implement in Kilkis (Greece), two pilot transnational "Living Labs". The first Lab will deal with the quality of water (drinking and irrigation) and the traceability of agricultural products’ quality. The second Lab will introduce virtual and augmented reality technologies for the digital recreation of the Agios Georgios cave.