The project’s gaps and needs related research activities in each of the four core themes will be conducted jointly with the project consortium partners and new or potential members of the extended EU-HYBNET Network in order to share expertise in the named research field – this also represents a methodological measure of the project to expand the scope of activities and increase the number of participating actors, thereby empowering the European network in the fight against hybrid threats. All project activities will be planned and conducted in a manner that supports ways of finding and attracting new and potentially valuable European actors (practitioners, industry, SMEs and academic actors, NGOs) to the European Network against hybrid threats.

A principal feature of the methodology is to provide the means for empowering the network and for facilitating activities of project consortium partners and stakeholder board members in identifying potential new key actors. In addition, the project dissemination and communication measures will ensure that new actors may become aware of the network’s activities and by their own initiative may request to become members.