ECECT.eu

🌱 Το έδαφος της Κύπρου έχει μια ιστορία να μας διηγηθεί και χρειαζόμαστε τη βοήθειά σας για να την ανακαλύψουμε!

Η ECECT.eu συμμετέχει στο ευρωπαϊκό πρόγραμμα Soil-XR και αναζητά εθελοντές από όλη την Κύπρο για τη συλλογή δειγμάτων εδάφους, συμβάλλοντας σε μια σημαντική ευρωπαϊκή πρωτοβουλία για την υγεία του εδάφους, τη βιώσιμη γεωργία και την προστασία του περιβάλλοντος. 🌍

📦 Τα Soil Kits έχουν παραχωρηθεί από το πρόγραμμα ECHO Soil και θα χρησιμοποιηθούν για τη συλλογή δειγμάτων από διάφορες περιοχές της Κύπρου.

Η συμμετοχή σας δεν σταματά εκεί! Μέσα από τη δράση θα ακολουθήσουν:
• Εργαστήρια και εκπαιδευτικές δραστηριότητες
• Γνωριμία με σύγχρονες μεθόδους παρακολούθησης της υγείας του εδάφους
• Συζήτηση για τη βιώσιμη γεωργία και την καινοτομία
• Συμβολή σε μια πανευρωπαϊκή επιστημονική προσπάθεια

📍 Μάθετε περισσότερα για το Soil-XR: https://soilxr.eu/
📦 Περισσότερα για το ECHO Soil: https://echosoil.eu/el/

💚 Αν ενδιαφέρεστε να συμμετάσχετε ή να βοηθήσετε στη συλλογή δειγμάτων εδάφους στην Κύπρο, στείλτε μας μήνυμα ή σχολιάστε κάτω από την ανάρτηση.
SoilScape Project

🌱 Take the SOIL-XR Survey!
Help us shape the future of soil learning with innovative tools like Augmented and Virtual Reality (AR and VR)! As part of this effort, we are conducting a short survey to better understand the needs, interests, and expectations of different user groups.

👥 For youth (11–25), students, teachers & experts
🕒 Takes only 5 minutes
🔐 100% anonymous

👉 Choose your language & participate: (links are also shared in the project website www.soilxr.eu)

🇬🇧 English: https://forms.gle/yG3Lb5AtPuNoqMhD8
🇬🇷 Greek: https://forms.gle/VKLh8UDZ2VpjSqVS9
🇮🇹 Italian: https://forms.gle/7STAGeDcKGZr2j8R9

BlueZona ECECT.eu SoilScape Project
Your input will help us design better, more engaging soil education experiences 🌍

🌱 The SOIL-XR project is officially underway!

SOIL-XR is a collaborative initiative between BlueZona (IT) and .eu (CY) aiming to improve soil literacy through immersive technologies, Living Labs, and co-creation activities.

Following our internal kick-off meeting held in March, the consortium has already started developing Living Lab methodologies and co-design activities focused on soil awareness, regenerative practices, and environmental education.

Through participatory workshops and immersive XR experiences, the project will engage:
• Teachers and educators
• Students and young people
• Researchers and scientists
• Local communities and environmental stakeholders

Our Living Labs in Sicily and Cyprus, together with a virtual XR environment, will explore topics such as:
🌱 Soil biodiversity
💧 Soil and water interaction
🌍 Soil erosion and conservation
🌾 Regenerative agriculture and soil organic carbon

We will soon launch the T2.1 Needs Assessment & Requirement Mapping survey to help shape the SOIL-XR learning experience.

SOIL-XR is funded through the SoilScape Project Open Call under the Horizon Europe programme.
🌐 Learn more: https://soilxr.eu/

We are pleased to share that George K Georgiou is currently representing .eu and Novatex Solutions Ltd at the PECS and Associate Member States Industry Days 2026, taking place in Valletta, Malta (23-24 April 2026).

Organised by the European Space Agency in collaboration with Xjenza Malta, the event brings together industry leaders, institutional partners, and key stakeholders from across Europe’s space sector.

As part of the programme, he delivered a presentation highlighting the activities and strategic vision of both organisations, with a strong focus on innovation, digital transformation, and cross-sector collaboration.

✨ The event provides valuable opportunities to engage with partners, explore synergies, and contribute to strengthening Europe’s space ecosystem.

🚀 Introducing RoboXR – Extended Reality Machine Tending for Industrial Learning
Industrial robotics training is often slow, expensive, and disconnected from real factory environments.
With RoboXR, we are changing that!
Through immersive Extended Reality (XR), learners can step inside a virtual factory and:

🤖 Control a machine tending robot and processes
🎙️ Use voice and gesture commands
⚙️ Test and troubleshoot workflows
🛡️ Train safely without stopping production
By bringing real industrial logic into XR, RoboXR bridges the gap between education and industry, making robotics training smarter, faster, and safer.
▶️ Watch the teaser video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOj0AIrewS8&list=PLmi6Fz-bY_zZzpKlZYG6L7QiL6bvQnLB_

_______________________________________________________________________The roboXR Project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation action programme, via the Open Call #2 – MASTER issued and executed under project MASTER (grant agreement Nr. 101093079).
_______________________________________________________________________

RoboXR Teaser Video Step into the future with RoboXR! 🤖A glimpse of what’s coming soon, innovation, AI, and immersive technology like never before. Stay tuned for the full reve...

Last Monday, March 30, the Cyprus–Greece High Technology & Innovation Conference took place at UNIC Athens.

The event brought together people from government, business, startups, and the innovation ecosystem from both countries, creating great opportunities for collaboration and networking.

It was a great meeting point for ideas, partnerships, and future projects, with the goal of becoming a strong annual event connecting Cyprus and Greece.

On March 21st, ECECT team proudly participated as volunteers at the First Lego League - FLL Cyprus 2026! 🤖✨

It was truly inspiring to see young students designing, building, and programming their own LEGO robots while tackling real-world challenges with creativity and innovation.
Through teamwork, imagination, and problem-solving, these young engineers are bringing their ideas to life. We are incredibly proud of their dedication, effort, and team spirit!

✨ Proud to be part of this inspiring initiative.

We’re excited to see the announcement of the selected Soils & Arts projects under Strand 3, promoting creative and participatory approaches to soil protection and preservation.

Our project: Immersive XR Living Labs for Soil Awareness and Education, in collaboration with BlueZona.
We aim to blend physical and virtual learning, enabling communities, especially young people, to engage with real soil environments through Living Labs, while exploring soil processes using extended reality (XR).

Through this approach, we aim to:
🔬 Build practical soil monitoring skills
🌱 Increase environmental awareness
🧠 Strengthen soil literacy through immersive experiences

Together with the other selected projects, we contribute to a shared vision:
• Reconnecting people with soil
• Empowering communities to protect this vital resource

At Immersive XR Living Labs, we believe that combining technology, education, and community engagement is key to driving sustainable change.

✨ Announcing the selected soils and arts projects under Strand 3 Deploying innovative, creative and participatory methodologies for engaging citizens in soil protection and preservation.

📍 Local Projects
🌱 Regenerar 2026 – Thriving Soil and Culture across Generations (Portugal)
A community-based programme that brings together schools, farmers, universities, and citizens to learn about, restore, and care for local soils through regenerative gardens, training, networks, and public events.
🌱 SENS - Sensory Exploration of Nexus in Soils (France)
A multisensory soil-biodiversity workshop that helps people experience soil as a living ecosystem and provides an open toolkit for schools and communities to adopt sustainable soil practices.

📍 National Project
🌱 Living Soils Project – Creative Communities for Healthy Urban Soils (Spain)
A national effort to restore urban soils while engaging diverse citizens in ecological restoration, citizen science, and participatory art to turn soil health into a shared cultural and educational experience.

📍 Transnational Project
🌱 Immersive XR Living Labs for Soil Awareness and Education (Italy / Cyprus)
A combined physical and virtual learning programme where communities, especially young people, monitor real soils in Living Labs and explore soil processes through augmented reality to build practical soil skills and literacy.

Together, these projects will bringing fresh, creative approaches to reconnect people 🧑 with soil 🐜 and empower communities to care for this vital resource.

EU Science & Innovation UNESCO Office in Venice Reframe.food Horizon Europe AFES - Association Française pour l'Etude du Sol European Rural Development Network Cleantech Bulgaria Clust-ER Create LUT University Anci Toscana CIFOR-ICRAF BFH | HESB - Hochschule für Agrar-, Forst- und Lebensmittelwissenschaften HAFL | Haute école des sciences agronomiques, forestières et alimentaires HAFL