TAIPI, Tools and Actions for Impact Assessment and Policy makers Information, is a CSA proposal to the “Policy environment for FET Flagships” topic of the call H2020-FETFLAG-2014. TAIPI addresses the scope of the this topic by undertaking actions related to: (i) Assessing the impacts of FET Flagship initiatives, including through metrics and indicators; (ii) Collection of information need for policy making, e.g. through consultation actions and surveys. The general objective of TAIPI is to support and strengthen the FET Flagship Initiative and the two selected Flagships. Specific objectives of TAIPI are: (i) To develop assessment methodologies along with the required toolkits which will be applied respectively to HBP and Graphene Flagships, (ii) To carry out the impact assessment of both Flagships and the Flagship policy by applying the specifically developed methodology and tools, (iii) To collect and provide information for policy makers and funding organizations participating to Flagships initiative, (iv) To transfer to the Flagships these developed toolkits, and to enable them to use these tools after the end of the CSA, thus ensuring the sustainability of the project activities. TAIPI is composed of 5 work packages: WP1 Management, WP2 Development of methodology, WP3 Impact assessment, WP4 Support to policy makers, WP5 Dissemination. TAIPI will assess the impacts of HBP and Graphene, enhance the flow of information from the Flagships towards policy makers, relevant stakeholders and wider public, improve the understanding of the impacts of the Flagships on science, technology, economy and society and contribute to create a stable and structured environment for the benefit of the FET Flagships. The environment created by TAIPI will thus benefit to the Flagships, allowing them to concentrate on the fields where they bring the highest added value to their stakeholders while they rely on up-to-date tools, developed by TAIPI, to monitor in real time their impacts.

XTREMOLIFE will accelerate the bioprospection & biodiscovery of novel extremophile microorganisms. XTREMOLIFE uniqueness is advancing next-generation sampling technologies tailored for extreme conditions: [1] Enhanced Ferrybox for boats (self-operating), [2] novel XTREMOsensor for hand-held use, and [3] automated microscopic imagery identification. In addition, we explore (a large) biodiversity from 3 extremophilic ecosystems by bioprospecting across 5 regions (Route 1), and 5 untapped culture collections (Route 2). We will join those two routes by identifying promising extremophilic microorganisms, produced metabolites, elucidating their bioactivity and structure, optimizing their cultivation, and guaranteeing a baseline pathway towards full exploitation. We will focus on microalgae, cyanobacteria, and their associated microbiome, with a particular interest in bacteria and fungi. The culture collections NORCCA (Norway), ACUF (Italy), BEA (Spain), LEGE-CC (Portugal), TII (Abu Dhabi/UAE) will be prospected. In parallel, we will assess the microbiome and plan sampling from 5 locations: [1] Antarctic, [2] Volcanic aquatic environments in Canary Island, [3]Azores, [4]Mexico, and [5] Abu Dhabi: focusing on hypersaline and extremely hot springs. We will assess the complexity of extremophilic ecology resorting to physical, chemical and biological data gathered. The chemical prospection will cover bioassays in the human, fish and plant health fields. Bioactive compounds will be isolated, and their structure fully characterized. Together, the consortium will select up to 7 different microbial compounds of interest-producing strains to be cultivated at lab scale, followed by a scale up to TRL 5 (feeding an Exploitation Roadmap). Finally, XTREMOLIFE will cover the legal framework of sampling, preserving and exploiting genetic material. The pathway towards full industrial exploitation (5-10 years after the project) in the various markets of applications will be characterized.

Among aviation’s non-CO2 impacts, the largest radiative forcing value is attributed to contrail cirrus. Recent tests have revealed an opportunity for lowering soot particles emissions and ice crystals -which play a pivotal role in contrail properties- through the use of SAF. However, substantial disparities remain among those test campaigns, involving a large variety of fuels, engine types and combustors. It is therefore not straightforward to compare and reconcile results. In this context, PACIFIC aims to bridge the gap: the project will test an unprecedented set of fuels from lab up to engine/aircraft level with a similarity of hardware and combustion parameters. It will translate the results into modelling efforts, to better correlate: (i) soot formation, based on an improved Yield Soot Index database and prediction model; (ii) particle emissions, depending on fuel composition for the whole engine thrust range via an upgraded ground-to-flight correlation methodology; (iii) the ice forming potential of engine emissions, using advanced measurement methods on ground; (iv) the non-CO2 emission mitigation potential, through the impact assessment of fuel composition and engine cycle on contrail properties and radiative forcing, and longer-term climate impacts (including CO2 emissions fuel production). This will allow to consolidate the cost-benefit assessment of various fuel options and provide valuable inputs to potential future fuel-related measures. By doing so, PACIFIC will pave the way for future fuel specifications minimizing the climate and local air quality impacts, and will provide important inputs to future modelling and testing work. PACIFIC leverages on 11 partners from 4 countries, bringing together a unique combination of engine/aircraft manufacturers, fuel producers, research and academic expertise at the forefront of sustainable aviation, collectively driving advancements to help strengthening the European aeronautics' leadership position.

River networks are among Earth’s most threatened hot-spots of biodiversity and provide key ecosystem services (e.g. supply drinking water and food, climate regulation) essential to sustaining human well-being. Climate change and increased human water use are causing more rivers and streams to dry, with devastating impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem services. Currently, over half the global river network consist of drying channels and these are expanding dramatically. However, drying river networks (DRNs) have received little attention from scientists and policy makers, and the public is unaware of their importance. Consequently, there is no effective integrated biodiversity conservation or ecosystem management strategy of DRNs facing climate change. A multidisciplinary team of 25 experts from 11 countries in Europe, South America, China and the USA will build on EU efforts to investigate how climate change, through changes in flow regimes and water use, has cascading impacts on biodiversity, ecosystem functions and ecosystem services of DRNs. DRYvER (DRYing riVER networks) will gather and upscale empirical and modelling data from nine focal DRNs (case studies) in the EU and CELAC to develop a meta-system framework applicable to Europe and worldwide. It will also generate crucial knowledge-based strategies, tools and guidelines for cost-effective adaptive management of DRNs. Working closely with stakeholders and end-users, DRYvER will co-develop strategies to mitigate and adapt to climate change effects in DRNs, integrating hydrological, ecological (including nature-based solutions), socio-economic and policy perspectives. The end results of DRYvER will contribute to reaching the objectives of the Paris Agreement and place Europe at the forefront of research on climate change.

Aircraft noise continues to cause adverse effects on quality of life and public health in airports’ neighbourhood. To address this challenge and ensure airports will have the capability to respond to the growing traffic demand, ANIMA aims to develop new methodologies and tools to manage and mitigate the impact of aviation noise, improving the quality of life near airports while facilitating airports growth and competitiveness of the EU aviation sector within the environmental limits, also considering 24/7 operations. Hence, ANIMA carries out critical review and assessment of noise impacts and existing management practices to establish best practices’ guidelines for an effective management of annoyance beyond ICAO Balanced Approach (WP2); develops a better understanding to address community annoyance, sleep disturbance and improve quality of life through pilot studies and surveys, assessing new methodologies reducing annoyance, testing novel and cost-effective solutions for land-use planning, using also mobile applications, the whole to derive new indicators (WP3); develops a 24/7 Noise Management Toolset to empower non-specialists with decision support capability and a 24/7 Design Toolset for researchers (WP4); tests and validates with end-users (airports and community) an “Aviation noise community platform”, gathering tools and best practices, facilitating consensus building and engaging communities in the mitigation process, ensuring exploitation of the results (WP5); supports the coordination of national and EU research activities, establishing a common strategic research roadmap for aviation noise reduction through the involvement of a pan-European network of experts and project leaders, also addressing international collaboration opportunities (WP6). ANIMA, a 4-year cost-effective project (total budget 7 479 618 €) builds on its consortium’s multidisciplinary excellence gathering 21 partners (Industry, SMEs, RTOs, Universities, airports and local authorities) from 11 countries.