One in eight electric cars charging in Europe already carries a Chinese badge, while many European brands still rely on Chinese-made batteries.

As electric vehicles become "batteries on wheels", hotels and airports could be only the beginning.

Construction remains Europe's deadliest sector, despite decades of regulation. A new generation of interconnected sensors, autonomous machinery and digital platforms can communicate and respond collectively to risks before accidents happen.

As EU rules require more recycled plastic, consumers still have no way of knowing whether a bottle really contains recycled material. Researchers are developing a blockchain-based traceability system to improve transparency.

As extreme heatwaves expose the limits of active cooling, architects and researchers are looking back to vernacular materials, passive designs and invisible retrofits to build our carbon-neutral tomorrow.

One field, two harvests: crops and clean electricity. Agrivoltaics promises to transform farmland into a powerful climate solution, while autonomous robots reduce labour and optimise operations.

Long after they stop powering cars, lithium-ion batteries still have years of useful life ahead of them. From designer lamps to solar-powered rickshaws, innovative second-life applications are proving their enormous potential.

From chemicals to ceramics, Europe's factories still depend on fossil fuels to reach extreme temperatures. Electrification is gathering pace, but experts warn that today's investment decisions will shape industrial emissions for decades: "We have windows of opportunity.

Long-term urban planning is no longer a speculative exercise for the next century, but a vital tool for the present.