SOILRES's mission is to improve soil health and crop resilience in response to the declining health of soil ecosystems, largely caused by the overuse of agrochemicals and the impacts of climate change. This will be achieved by promoting sustainable agricultural practices that prioritise biodiversity and the interactions between soil, plants and microorganisms. To achieve these goals, SOILRES will adopt a comprehensive strategy that includes active engagement with stakeholders, the development of agroecological methods, and the implementation of digital tools for effective soil health management. SOILRES will undertake a number of key activities, including the establishment of collaborative co-creation sessions, the development of microbial bioinoculants and biostimulants, and the formulation of best practices tailored to each use case. Field trials will be conducted in six diverse use cases, targeting key agro-climatic regions in Europe (Atlantic (DK), Boreal (FI), Continental (FR), Pannonian (HU) and Mediterranean (IT, PT)), with the objective of validating and refining these interventions. By assessing agronomic, environmental and cost effectiveness, we will identify challenges and opportunities and design optimal strategies for scaling and replicating sustainable practices. SOILRES is aligned with the Missions Programme, which is focused on promoting agricultural sustainability and resilience. It is expected that these outcomes will result in a reduction in the dependence on chemical inputs and an increase in crop productivity. Furthermore, there will be a broader adoption of practices that support biodiversity among farmers. Ultimately, SOILRES aims to strengthen long-term food security and environmental sustainability in Europe by advocating for integrated soil and crop management strategies.

At the present, 60-70% of all soils in Europe are in unhealthy conditions, mainly because of poor land management practices, pollution of soils, intensive agriculture, and the constant effects of climate change. This situation is further aggravated given that 25% of land is at a high or very high risk of suffering desertification in most parts of Europe. MarginUp! proposes a strategy to secure use and return profitability on marginal lands. Its main objective is to introduce climate-resilient and biodiversity-friendly non-food crops for sustainable industrial feedstock in marginalised and low-productivity lands. The project will focus on producing biomass to be used as raw material for the production of bioproducts and biofuels, which in turn, will create a sustainable and circular value chain, increasing the farming system resilience in rural areas. To further enhance the biodiversity beneficial impact, MarginUp! is focusing on understanding which marginal lands are suitable for low ILUC biomass production. The knowledge gathered in this project will be put into practice in 5 different use cases located in 5 different regions across Europe: - Mediterranean Lands (Spain) - Mine Lands (Greece) - Boreal Lands (Sweden) - Wetlands (Germany) - Central Europe (Hungary) Moreover, international cooperation has been considered and examination and identification of marginal lands will extend to non-European countries such as Argentina and South Africa. To ensure the success of the project, MarginUp! will have a replication network to address the needs and requirements of relevant stakeholders, including, policymakers, land managers, farmers, the bio-based industry, environmental authorities, the academia and the civil society. MarginUp! is directly contributing to European policies such as the European Green Deal, the Circular Economy action plan and the Bioeconomy and Biodiversity strategies.

The main aim of the GO-GRASS project is to create new business opportunities in rural areas based on grassland and green fodder that will be demonstrated in four EU regions at small scale, ensuring its replicability all through the rural communities of the EU. Inside a circular system, GO-GRASS will provide a range of circular and sustainable business models with high replication potential, to be available to entrepreneurs and local authorities. The project will also demonstrate innovative cost-effective technologies, processes and tools applicable within the diverse DEMO scenarios (deploying demonstrators in different regions in EUas representative places to cover different rural contexts) considering social, economic and environmental circumstances in rural areas with the aim of achieving a large-scale replication, especially in remote areas with unexploited resources. Furthermore, the GO-GRASS project will help EU reducing imports from nutrients like P or even proteins, as well as the dependence from fossil fuels. Thanks to the GO-GRASS project, the Bioeconomy will be consolidated, harnessing regional assets, diversifying and revitalizing the economy and providing quality jobs and opportunities in rural areas. In addition, the production and use of bio-based products replacing existing fossil-based alternatives, such as fertilisers or plastic packaging, can make a considerable impact on the Agro-food systems greenhouse gases emissions at EU level. For achieving this aim, GO-GRASS consortium consists of a multidisciplinary team of 22 partners from 8 European countries (Germany, Spain, Denmark, Sweden, The Netherlands, Belgium, Romania and Hungary). The consortium is built around the four regional demos located in Germany , Denmark , The Netherlands and Sweden that integrate the multi-actor approach concept, with the expertise of multiple appropriate partners (farmers, research centres, technological companies),3 follower partners and other with transversal role

FRACTION aims to provide a competitive lignocellulosic biorefinery concept flexible to adapt and optimise the production process to a wide range of feedstocks, variable market demand and fluctuating economics while overcoming the lignocellulose separation and purification drawbacks. FRACTION proposes the development and scale up of a novel biorefinery scheme for the processing of lignocellulosic feedstocks based on an organosolv fractionation process using gamma valerolactone as green solvent which will allow operating with high biomass loading, mild operation conditions, eliminating separation steps and offering extra feedstock flexibility in the plant. All of this, achieving an outstanding biomass-to-products yield with high-purity streams of lignin and hemicellulose ready to further valorisation into high added value applications, while still maintaining high-grade cellulose as main product. The project will also develop new downstream conversion technologies for the synthesis and validation of novel building blocks such as furfural, maleic acid, succinic acid, 1,5-PDO, ketoses, alkyl lactates and lignin-derived molecules. The project, which covers all the value chain including end-of-life options, shows a strong industrial involvement which ensures successful post-project exploitation, and engages with other relevant stakeholders such as primary producers. Thanks to the results of FRACTION, the bio-based industry sector will have access to a new flexible pretreatment technology which can be optimised for several types of biomass and be adapted towards certain fractions, thus improving the business case for bio-based products and chemicals biorefineries. In addition, the already proven reduction of separation costs and improved environmental performance, will turn the business model from the current on (risky in terms of financial security and capital intense) into a more attractive investment, able to unlock many sustainable supply chains.

RUBIZMO will identify business models with high potential for empowering rural communities to take advantage of the opportunities arising from improved value chain optimisation. It will directly supporting the creation of sustainable jobs and growth in rural economies, supporting a multi-actor approach for generation of shared-value. Ultimately, the project looks to contribute to rural development in Europe, supporting the Europe 2020 Strategy for Smart, Sustainable and Inclusive Growth, as well as supporting Regional and Rural Development policy. To do this, the project will identify innovative business models (developed or identified in existing projects under FP7, H2020, Interreg, Central Europe, etc.) with a significant potential to support modernisation and sustainable growth in rural economies, and relevant to the food sector, bio-based value chains and ecosystem services. Business models with the potential to contribute to the modernisation and sustainable growth of rural economies will be selected, packaged and classified according to their nature, comprising technologies, services, business support structures, financing mechanisms, etc. This will result in the creation of four practical, user-oriented tools: - Virtual library of business cases, to inspire and inform potential entrepreneurs about business opportunities; - Guidelines on creating favourable conditions for the deployment of innovative business models, to help public authorities and rural networks create adequate framework conditions for rural innovation; - Toolkit for clustering and network development in rural areas; - Transformation support tool, to help individual entrepreneurs understand which business models are best adapted to their situation, and how to go about implementing change. The project will then prepare Europe-wide upscaling and replication in rural areas using real life cases, taking account of the complexity of transferring value chains.