EU Horizon Europe Projects to Advance Industry 5.0 (Part I)

(updated January 5th, 2026)

Previous posts in this Blog have introduced some of the elements of the EU-based initiative for an Industry 5.0, which provides “a vison of industry that aims beyond efficiency and productivity as the sole goals, and reinforces the role and the contribution of industry to society. It places wellbeing of the worker at the centre of the production process and uses new technologies to provide prosperity beyond jobs and growth while respecting the production limits of the planet. Industry 5.0 complements current advances toward Green transformation and Digital transformation, by specifically putting research and innovation at the service of the transition to a human-centric, sustainable and resilient European industry”.

In this series of two posts, we will highlight several of the ongoing EU-wide research projects contributing to the Industry 5.0 vision, supported by the EU Horizon Europe research program.

AI REDGIO 5.0: Regions and (E)DIHs alliance for AI-at-the-Edge adoption within Industry 5.0 by European Manufacturing SMEs

The AI REDGIO 5.0 project focuses on renovating and extending the alliance between Vanguard European regions and Digital Innovation Hubs, taking into account the outcomes of the Horizon 2020 AI REGIO project and implementing a competitive AI-at-the-Edge Digital Transformation for Industry 5.0 in Manufacturing Small and Medium Enterprises.

AI REDGIO 5.0 logoImage

Source: AI REDGIO 5.0 | EU project

The pan-European network of Digital Innovation Hubs (DIHs) promoted by the AI REGIO project within Vanguard EU regions will be updated and expanded in AI REDGIO 5.0 project to enable competitive AI-at-the-Edge digital transformation of Industry 5.0 Manufacturing SMEs.

The AI REDGIO 5.0 project will support the following further goals:

  • The transition towards Industry 5.0, where manufacturing will be based on active human-robot collaboration;

  • The implementation of new technologies along the edge-to-cloud continuum for digital sovereignty of machines;

  • The support of EU open-source hardware and software reference implementations for trustworthy, preserving EU ethical principles;

  • The interconnection with the EDIH network, AI TEF (Testing and Experimentation Facilities) nodes and the embryonic Data Spaces deployments, favouring collaboration corridors and cross-border SME-to-SME experimentations.

Bridges 5.0

The Bridges 5.0 project, launched in January 2023 and funded under EU Horizon, is designed to accelerate the transition to Industry 5.0 across Europe. It builds on previous work in the Beyond 4.0 project, with a central aim to bridge risks to an inclusive digital and green future by enhancing workforce skills and supporting companies in adapting to new technological, environmental, and social demands. The project is fundamentally about making European industry more human-centric, sustainable, and resilient.

The four main goals are:

  1. Mapping Job Transformation: Quantitatively and qualitatively analyse how jobs are changing and what new green and digital jobs are emerging, focusing on the requirements of Industry 5.0 for these roles and company practices.

  2. Identifying Skills and Gaps: Map Industry 5.0 skills and skill gaps at both the EU and national levels, enabling ongoing monitoring through standards and taxonomies.

  3. Developing Skilling Pathways: Establish and test new learning trajectories and training pathways—using innovative teaching and learning factory concepts—for four target groups: managers, employees, job seekers, and students.

  4. Stakeholder Engagement and Platform Creation: Engage a broad range of stakeholders (companies, policymakers, social partners, VET providers, etc.) to co-produce an Industry 5.0 platform that facilitates knowledge exchange, learning, and dialogue.

PROSPECTS 5.0

PROSPECTS 5.0 icon

Image source: PROSPECTS 5.0

PROSPECTS 5.0 is an EU Horizon project designed to accelerate the adoption of human-centric, sustainable, and resilient Industry 5.0 practices across Europe. Targeting mid-caps, SMEs, and large industries, the project brings together real-world insights from 14 use cases across six key sectors (manufacturing, IT services, education, energy, aviation, and automotive).

By joining PROSPECTS 5.0 and its Community, participants gain exclusive access to cutting-edge Industry 5.0 knowledge, including early insights on emerging trends and practices through:

  • Wiki 5.0, a collaborative space for sharing and exploring practical examples

  • Co-creating the Industry 5.0 Assessment Framework, influencing its structure and direction

  • Being among the first to use a new self-assessment app to evaluate Industry 5.0 maturity

  • Drawing inspiration from diverse, real-world use cases

SEISMEC: Piloting the Shift to Human-Centric Industry

SEISMEC demonstrates the concept of human-centricity across a wide array of industry sectors, scales and sociotechnical contexts in the EU. By effectively empowering workers in the co-design and co-development of new technologies, we facilitate the journey towards a skills-driven and creativity-infused industrial landscape; one that is built around high-quality, sustainable jobs, and prioritises overall worker security and satisfaction.

Through 17 pilots spanning 14 key industrial ecosystems embedded in the European Single Market, SEISMEC covers multiple scales, geographical locations, value chains and worker roles across industrial sectors: from agri-food to retail, from aerospace to construction, from tourism to mobility and transport

SKillAIbility:  

an EU Horizon project designed to put people at the centre of  Europe’s twin transition in manufacturing. As digital and green transformations reshape the sector, SKillAIbility ensures that technological change enhances, rather than replaces human potential, with particular focus on vulnerable groups such as people with disabilities, low-skilled workers, and ageing populations.

Skilla/bility logo

image source: Home - Skillaibility

Bringing together 14 partners from 9 countries – including universities, research institutes, vocational training centres, industry associations, and civil society organisations – the project is coordinated by POLITECNICO DI MILANO and fosters a multidisciplinary alliance for an inclusive, resilient, and human-centric manufacturing future.

The SKillAIbility project aims to advance the manufacturing sector by fostering a human-centric approach aligned with the principles of Industry 5.0. Our mission is to support workers, promote inclusivity, and enhance the complementarity between AI-driven automation and human skills.

  • Developing and validating a human factors-based framework to evaluate how digital technologies impact tasks, skills, and well-being.

  • Piloting experiential training environments across Europe that integrate AI and automation to reskill workers, with special attention to vulnerable groups.

  • Creating scalable design toolkits for AI and automation that augment rather than replace human capabilities.

  • Delivering evidence-based policy recommendations and a pre-standardisation roadmap to align skills, technology, and labour policies across EU, national, and regional levels.

Up-Skill

The Up-Skill project addresses the workforce implications of industry 5.0, in particular, the relationship between automation choices and maintenance of skilled work, exploring the strategic space in production where automation adds value to skilled and artisanal work and where over-automation risks undermining the value of what is produced.

Ethnographic research is used to identify the ways in which job roles and content are changing as a consequence of the introduction of Industry 4.0 and 5G technology, and the shifting managerial capabilities that are needed to ensure the maintenance of added value in these spaces. The Up-Skill project aims to change the mind-set from technology implementation being a substitution of skilled human work to one of human-machine inter-augmentation; extracting value from human-machine interaction to the benefit of both industry and workers and supporting the preservation of cultural heritage and craftsmanship that might otherwise be lost.

Notes: The content for each of the above highlights was adapted from the related project websites and/or project leaders’ summaries in the Fresh Thinking Labs Open Forum on the EU HORIZON projects focused on Industry 5.0.

In  a subsequent post, we will summarize highlights from additional EU research projects related to Industry 5.0, including BridgeSME, Broadvoice, Forging, Sure5.0 and WIN4SMEs