StreamSCAPES Kick-off meeting
Press Release – April 2025
StreamSCAPES kicks off with a bold vision for sustainable transition of VOD platforms
On 26 March 2025, the StreamSCAPES project held its official Kick-off Meeting, gathering all thirteen consortium partners to mark the beginning of the project. StreamSCAPES is funded under the Horizon Europe programme (HORIZON-CL2-2024-HERITAGE-01), and sets out to fundamentally understand how Video-On-Demand (VOD) platforms operate within Cultural and Creative Industries (CCIs) in the context of the Sustainable Climate Transition (SCT).
The online meeting was attended by representatives of leading universities, media stakeholders, and industry professionals from across Europe. Also, the consortium was joined by Ms Nikoleta Giannoutsou, the Project Advisor from the European Commission, whose presence underscored the strategic importance of the project in advancing the European Green Deal and the European Industrial Strategy.
Towards a greener Audiovisual ecosystem
StreamSCAPES aims to pilot novel, practical pathways for greening VOD platforms, recognising them as central nodes within evolving cultural and audiovisual ecosystems. The project’s first year focuses on three core work packages designed to set the analytical, participatory, and technical foundation for the entire initiative.
WP1 – PlaySCAPES: Stakeholder Workshops (M1–M8)
Led by the University of Vienna, WP1 orchestrates a series of formative “Set the Stage” workshops, bringing together stakeholders from academia, industry, and public authorities. These workshops go beyond dissemination, serving as analytical spaces where participants challenge conventional thinking and co-develop new approaches to sustainability in the VOD landscape. Drawing on existing networks, the workshops also facilitate the formation of a multi-sectoral Advisory Panel, which will convene quarterly and play a crucial role in steering project activities and ensuring impact across sectors. Reports generated from these workshops will feed directly into the subsequent work packages, ensuring continuity and co-creation from the outset.
WP2 – MapSCAPES: Mapping Policies and Practices (M3–M18)
Coordinated by the European University Institute, this work package undertakes a comparative, cross-national analysis of policy measures aimed at fostering sustainable practices within the VOD industry. This includes multi-level assessments of regulatory frameworks and public policies across nine EU Member States and associated countries. The task seeks to identify systemic gaps, blind spots, and enabling conditions to align cultural policies with sustainability goals.
A parallel task within WP2 maps the skills needs and existing best practices among industry professionals both in the EU and in selected international contexts such as Australia, Canada, the UK, and the US. Drawing on surveys, desk research, and semi-structured interviews, this mapping exercise will provide a granular understanding of where the sector stands in terms of SCT readiness and where targeted interventions are most needed.
WP3 – DreamSCAPES: Tool Development and User Engagement (M6–M28)
Under the lead of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, WP3 translates the insights from WP1 and WP2 into practical outputs. These include the refinement of the existing GreenProducers Tool and the creation of a new GreenStreaming Tool, both designed to assess and reduce the carbon footprint of VOD platforms. These tools are being developed through a rigorous life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology, incorporating value network analysis and industry feedback loops.
In parallel, WP3 conducts wide-ranging surveys and interviews to capture the views of VOD professionals and end-users—especially children and youth—on sustainability in digital consumption. This strand of work recognises young people not merely as future consumers but as co-creators of tomorrow’s cultural narratives, offering “Blue Skies” perspectives that challenge industry norms.
WP3 will also initiate the design of a pilot SCT certification framework for VOD services. This certification aims to establish robust and standardised methods for validating sustainable practices across the sector, integrating feedback from roundtables with industry, policymakers, and standardisation bodies.
By uniting robust empirical research, participatory methodologies, and technical innovation, the project strives to equip the cultural and audiovisual sectors with the tools they need to benefit the green transition.
Project Acronym: StreamSCAPES
Full Title: Driving Sustainable Climate Transition of Video-On-Demand Platforms at a Time of Transformation
Grant Agreement Number: 101177811
Duration: 1 March 2025 – 31 August 2028 (42 months)
Funded under: Horizon Europe – HORIZON Innovation Actions
Website: https://www.streamscapes.eu/
For media inquiries or more information, please contact: mmartinez@keanet.eu
