In the coming decades, society faces the formidable challenge of providing sustenance for a global population expected to reach 10 billion by 2050. Fortunately, the burgeoning field of biotechnology holds significant promise in addressing this challenge by revolutionizing food production. The central aim of this proposal is to pave the way for the widespread adoption of an innovative technology known as cellular agriculture, which is poised to play a pivotal role in facilitating the global protein transition. Cellular agriculture, in essence, represents a breakthrough methodology for producing a spectrum of sustainable food products. Lead by 8 organisations from 7 countries, representing the innovation ecosystem, APROVALS aims to facilitate the seamless integration of emerging cellular agriculture technologies into the global food landscape, through two main activities: - Sandbox for Innovation: APROVALS offers a dedicated sandbox environment where innovators can test and refine their solutions. This sandbox acts as a fertile ground for experimentation, enabling startups and SMEs to develop their technologies and bring them to market. - Interconnected Stakeholders: The project places a strong emphasis on fostering collaboration among key stakeholders involved in cellular agriculture: 1) Start-ups and Growing SMEs: These enterprises are provided with essential support to advance their technologies and successfully navigate the journey from innovation to market. 2) Innovation Support: Tailored support initiatives are crafted to mitigate risks associated with the innovation process, fostering a conducive ecosystem for cellular agriculture innovation. 3) Regulators and Policymakers: APROVALS actively engages with regulators and policymakers to establish robust protocols and a legal framework. This framework serves to safeguard the market and consumers while simultaneously preventing unwarranted regulatory hurdles that could impede progress in cellular agriculture.

Current seafood traceability tools and services have the potential to take advantage of novel blockchain technologies to obtain a wide range of data making sustainable seafood practices more visible to consumers. Sea2See project will fill in existing seafood traceability gaps through development of an innovative end-to-end blockchain model and professional and consumer applications to increase trust and social acceptance of sustainably fished and farmed seafood. The project will provide technological solutions to answer the need of a valuable source of data collected throughout the whole seafood value chain, verified and covering inputs from diverse stakeholders. For that purpose, a specific focus will be put on active commitment of stakeholders and real empowerment of consumers through the implementation of societal and sectoral strategies for co-creation, communication and awareness raising.

The DIRECTIVE 2009/128/EC ON THE SUSTAINABLE USE OF PESTICIDES gives directions for attaining the sustainable use of pesticides in the EU. The objective is to minimize risks and impacts for the environment and human health by promoting alternative strategies. Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is one of the cornerstones of the Directive. NOVATERRA aims to reduce the use and negative impacts of CONTENTIOUS PLANT PROTECTION PRODUCTS (PPP) for integrated pest, disease and weed management in the two main Mediterranean crops in Europe: grapevines and olives. NOVATERRA will develop a pool of novel, integrated and sustainable strategies, technically and economically viable, resulting from three different approaches: a) To develop novel combinations of ALTERNATIVE, non-synthetic PRODUCTS and biological control techniques for plant protection, b) To optimize the application and dosage of PPP through SMART FARMING technologies and c) To mitigate the appearance of pest and diseases through the use of new SOIL MANAGEMENT strategies. Those approaches will be evaluated and validated in a combination of integrated solutions for updating and improving IPM strategies. Indicators for measuring the impact of crop management and protection on human health, air, water, soil, biodiversity, energy will be implemented. Further analyses will be done in terms of economic cost-benefit for farmers to adopt the different techniques and farmers and consumers’ willingness to pay. The consortium composition will guarantee a multi-actor approach with contributions coming from research institutions, growers, technological SMEs, auxiliary industry and relevant associations. Finally, the Exploitation Plan together with the Communication and Dissemination Plan will ensure the outreach of results among the stakeholders in the European farming sector. NOVATERRA outputs will also be key for further discussion with policymakers in terms of EU plant health policies and risk assessment around PPPs usage.

The overall goal of DIGYMATEX is to provide evidence-based tools that will assist in understanding and measuring children’s digital maturity. These tools are intended to be used e.g. by families, schools, and policy stakeholders. The first tool is the development of an innovative and market-ready instrument - the Digital Youth Maturity Index (DYMI) – as a cloud-based open-access tool in order to establish and implement a comprehensive understanding and taxonomy of children’s digital maturity leading to the prediction and explanation of benefits and risks regarding children’s ICT-related behaviour. The Digital Youth Maturity Index will act as a measurement tool for classification and segmentation of user groups as well as a behavioural prediction tool based on machine-learning techniques. The second tool is the development and application of the DiGYou-program - a technology-related solution and recommendation program, which is based on as well as supports the application of the DYMI. The two innovative tools will directly target the main impact goals associated with the call. With the Digital Youth Maturity Index (DMYI), the project will be able to develop and implement a comprehensive taxonomy, which will inform relevant stakeholders and practitioners on the long-term effects of ICT on child behaviour. Furthermore, with the DMYI in combination with the DigYou3-program, we will develop concrete solutions in order to contribute to a safer and more beneficial use of digital technologies by children and we will be able to formulate recommendations in support of national and European policies in the field. DYGIMATEX - builds on an inter-disciplinary, multi-method approach by integrating expertise, methods and knowledge from different research areas like business management, psychology, sociology, neuroscience, media and information systems, as well as industry partners (i.e., from IOT, food, telecommunication) and policy stakeholders (i.e., education, EU policy).

The SWEET project has been designed to i) identify and address the barriers and facilitators to the use of sweeteners and sweetness enhancers (S&SEs) and ii) examine the risks and benefits of using S&SEs to replace sugar in the diet in the contexts of health, obesity, safety and sustainability. Industry experts will integrate technological, health and sweetness databases to provide a platform on which new and emerging S&SEs can be selected for inclusion in food products. The behavioural and physiological impact of specific S&SEs will be examined in acute and repeated dosing studies and natural population differences (by age, region, gender etc) in sweetness perception established. A sensory profile will be developed and genetic determinants assessed. The core randomised controlled trial will adopt a whole diet approach to examine the impact of prolonged sugar replacement on weight control, appetite and energy intake. Underlying mechanistic effects of S&SE use, alone and in combination, will be evaluated using the technology platform developed in acute studies. Outcomes relating to safety and overall health risks will be i) measured in acute and chronic studies and ii) investigated in secondary data (long term interventions, prospective cohorts). The preferences for and perceptions of S&SEs within European consumers, and the barriers to their acceptance, consumption and use will be determined. The environmental cost and sustainability of replacing sugar with S&SEs will also be modelled. Consumers will be engaged to inform research design, and stakeholder driven exploitation and impact plans will be developed to communicate and disseminate project objectives and results to i) address the role of sweeteners in weight control for target audiences (consumers, health professions, scientists, policy makers, regulators) and ii) move effective products nearer to market. A gender action plan will be developed and implemented to promote equity across all research activities.