Industry 5.0

What is Industry 5.0?

Industry 5.0 is a forward-looking vision for European industry that goes beyond efficiency and productivity as sole objectives. It redefines the role of industry as a driver of both economic and societal progress, while leading the green and digital transitions.

Building on the foundations of ‘Industry 4.0’, this concept places research and innovation at the service of three core priorities:

• Human-centricity – placing the wellbeing, skills, and empowerment of workers at the centre of production systems
• Sustainability – enabling circular use of resources and adopting technologies that respect planetary boundaries
• Resilience – strengthening the capacity of industry to withstand and adapt to global disruptions

In this model, industry is not only a generator of growth, but also a key contributor to societal progress and environmental responsibility.

Why Industry 5.0?

European industry is operating in a rapidly changing context shaped by climate and environmental pressures, resource scarcity, social and geopolitical instability, and technological transformation. These shifts require a broader understanding of industrial success – one that goes beyond productivity and efficiency.

Industry 5.0 reflects this shift. It positions industry as a key actor in addressing systemic societal challenges while increasing the competitiveness of European industry, ensuring societal value and long-term economic stability. 

By prioritising investments in people, skills, and innovation, it supports both workforce empowerment and enhances Europe’s ability to compete globally for talent, investment, and technological leadership.

This approach is closely aligned with the Commission's 2024-2029 priorities, contributing in particular to:

• “A new plan for Europe’s sustainable prosperity and competitiveness”, by promoting sustainability through green innovation and supporting competitive, future-proof industrial ecosystems
• “Sustaining our quality of life: Food security, water and nature”,
  by fostering sustainable industrial practices that protect natural resources, support resilient agriculture and food systems, and ensure responsible water use and biodiversity conservation
• “Supporting people, strengthening our societies and our social model”, by placing human-centricity at the core, ensuring quality jobs, skills development and inclusive growth
• “A new era for European defence and security”, by strengthening industrial resilience, securing critical value chains and reinforcing Europe’s strategic autonomy

How to make it happen?

To advance the Industry 5.0 concept, the Expert group on the economic and societal impact of research and innovation (ESIR), an independent high-level expert group proposed a vision for Industry 5.0 to the Commission through a policy brief and a focus paper, aiming to support a forward-looking and transformative research and innovation policy.

The Commission has integrated important elements of Industry 5.0 into major policy initiatives. These include measures that translate the concept into practice by embedding sustainability, human centricity, and resilience into concrete actions across EU policy areas, thereby helping turn the Industry 5.0 vision into operational reality. These include:

• The European approach to AI, by adopting a human-centric approach for digital technologies including artificial intelligence (AI), focus on trustworthy, human-centric AI that supports and empowers workers
• Union of Skills, by up-skilling and re-skilling workers in Europe, particularly digital skills
• The Green Deal and Circular Economy, by aiming at a modern, resource-efficient and sustainable industries and transition to a circular economy
• The Industrial Strategy, by achieving a globally competitive and world-leading industry, speeding up investment in research and innovation

Moreover, for the period from 2022 to 2024, the Industry 5.0 Award sought to recognise projects offering inspiring, practical, and scalable Industry 5.0 solutions for European industry. The RAMP-PV project, which focused on up-cycling of raw materials from photovoltaic panels, was awarded this Industry 5.0 award in 2022.

Lastly, a dedicated Community of Practice has been established in 2023 to help bring the vision forward and implement Industry 5.0 in practice.

Industry 5.0 Community of Practice (CoP 5.0)

The Industry 5.0 Community of Practice (CoP 5.0) was officially launched on 16 November 2023, followed by the first joint session of CoP 5.0 working groups. The CoP counts now more than 350 members, engaging different European innovation ecosystem stakeholders, including diverse industries, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), start-ups as well as EU Member States’ national, regional and local authorities, public and private research organisations, universities, civil society organisations, social partners, investors, and umbrella organisations.

The purpose of this community is to bring together a broad range of European innovation ecosystem stakeholders to share good practices, co-create actions to implement Industry 5.0 and provide a platform for members to network and establish new collaborations.

It also helps stakeholders at the local, regional, national, and European levels identify and realise the benefits of Industry 5.0, promoting the adoption of its principles and practices.

Interested to join the Industry 5.0 Community of Practice?

If you are based in an EU Member State or a country associated to Horizon Europe, you can apply to become CoP 5.0 Members.

Join the Industry 5.0 Community of Practice

Terms of Reference

List of Industry 5.0 Community of Practice members

For any inquiries or further information, please feel free to RTD-INDUSTRY5 [dot] 0-COPec [dot] europa [dot] eu (reach out to us).

Achievements of the Industry 5.0 Community of Practice

Since its establishment in 2023, the CoP helped advance the development and implementation of the Industry 5.0 concept. Its main outputs include:

• A prototype of an Industry 5.0 Learning and Assessment Tool, which was presented during the second Industry 5.0 CoP Plenary Session in March 2026. The tool aims to support organisations in assessing their performance against the three Industry 5.0 pillars across different stages of the production process. It could also help organisations adapt their models to address challenges linked to the green and digital transitions and could be integrated into training schemes by regional and local actors supporting SMEs in implementing new policies related to an ongoing transformational industrial shift.
• A final report of the CoP 5.0 pilot phase (2023 – 2024) , co-developed with the CoP 5.0 members, which explores how European industry can become more human-centric, sustainable, and resilient through innovation, skills, organisational transformation, and new industrial models. The report also outlines recommendations for scaling up Industry 5.0 and proposes future directions for the CoP 5.0 and EU industrial policy.
• A pilot scoping study for indicators of industrial research, innovation and technologies in the field of Industry 5.0, conducted between 2022 and 2024, which aimed to develop a first scoping of available indicators for a future Industry 5.0 indicator framework and test it in two ecosystems, including Automotives and Energy Intensive Industries (EII).

Plenary Sessions of the CoP 5.0

Since its launch, two CoP 5.0 Plenary Sessions have taken place in Brussels, in 2024 and 2026 respectively, bringing together the Community to connect and discuss achievements, priorities and the way forward. 

Plenary Session 2026

The second edition was held on 20 March 2026 in Brussels, bringing together over 120 CoP members. The event featured plenary discussions and Horizon Europe Industry 5.0 project presentations, as well as collaborative workshops.

Rewatch the event

Final report

Summary report

Plenary Session 2024

This first edition featured a high-level discussion on Industry 5.0 and its role in strengthening EU competitiveness through the green and digital transitions, with emphasis on human-centricity, skills, and the need for public and private investment. It also included collaborative workshops, as well as a presentation of the ERA Industrial Technologies Roadmap on Human-Centric R&I and early results from the prototype Industry 5.0 Learning and Assessment Tool.

The discussions of the 2024 CoP Plenary Session are summarised in the related Summary report.

Rewatch the event

Funding Opportunities

The Horizon Europe Work Programme (2026–2027) – Cluster 4: Digital, Industry and Space includes an action supporting the use of independent experts for the monitoring of ongoing industry-related projects and instruments funded under Horizon Europe and previous Framework Programmes for Research and Innovation. As part of their tasks, experts may also provide advice on EU research and innovation policy in several areas, including Industry 5.0.

Documents