Rare diseases (RD) are diseases that affect not more than 5 per 10 000 persons (according to the EU definition). 7000 distinct rare diseases exist, affecting between 6% and 8% of the population (about 30 million EU citizens). The lack of specific health policies for rare diseases and the scarcity of the expertise, translate into delayed diagnosis, few medicinal products and difficult access to care. That is why rare diseases are a prime example of a research area that strongly profits from coordination on a European scale. At present only few European countries fund research on rare diseases through specific dedicated programmes. Therefore, the funding of transnational collaborative research is the most effective joint activity to enhance the cooperation between scientists working on rare diseases in Europe and beyond. The E-Rare consortium was built to link responsible funding bodies that combine the scarce resources and fund rare disease research via Joint Transnational Calls (JTCs). The current E-Rare-3 project proposal will extend and strengthen the transnational cooperation by building on the experience and results of the previous E-Rare-1&2 programmes. The consortium comprises 26 institutions from 17 European, Associated and non-European countries. Its international dimension will be directly translated into close collaboration with IRDiRC and other relevant European and international initiatives. IRDiRC guidelines and policies will be implemented in the four JTCs and representatives of the IRDiRC Scientific Committees will be invited to join the Advisory Board of E-Rare-3. Members of the EUCERD group will be involved in identifying rare disease research needs. Patients’ organizations from Europe (represented by EURORDIS) and beyond will be invited as a key partner towards collaborative efforts for research promotion and funding. The collaboration with European Research Infrastructures will be consolidated to enhance efficient and participative research.

The biodiversity-climate change interaction is strong, bi-directional, and often positive (actions in favour of one are also beneficial to the other). While the main drivers of biodiversity loss are habitat degradation, the syndrome of factors directly & indirectly associated with climate change is the dominant threat to biodiversity. It is therefore imperative to understand with sufficient detail and confidence the interactions between biodiversity & climate change so they can be incorporated into decision-support models & tools. By networking 36 funding agencies from 25 countries from Europe & other continents, BiodivClim aims to promote coordinated international research on biodiversity & climate change in all environments, incl. agricultural areas. It will strengthen research & research programmes coordination with the ultimate aim to provide policy makers & other stakeholders with adequate knowledge, tools & practical solutions to improve the conservation & sustainable use of biodiversity & ecosystems under a changing climate. The BiodivClim objectives are to: -Coordinate the research agendas of major European & international research funders to agree on shared research priorities related to biodiversity & climate change -Reinforce collaboration with other relevant initiatives in the field to increase synergies & avoid fragmentation -Design & implement a joint co-funded call for research proposals and a knowledge hub in this field -Promote research collaboration across national borders & disciplines in order to build capacity, exchange best practices & have a lasting effect on the international research community & landscape -Support dialogue & collaboration between academia & stakeholders, and stakeholder engagement in research projects in order to increase the impact of research on policy & practice -Ease rapid & efficient uptake of funded research results by the IPBES & IPCC for their future assessments, & by other relevant initiatives -Reinforce data open access

FLAG-ERA, the Flagship ERA-NET, gathers national and regional funding organisation with the goal of supporting, together with the European Commission, the FET Flagship initiatives and more generally the FET Flagship programme. Most funding organisations in Europe participate, either directly or as associated members. FLAG-ERA contributes to the construction of the two Flagship initiatives on Graphene and Human Brain research, through a range of activities such as the launch of joint calls supporting transnational projects in synergy with the Flagships, contribution to the Flagship partnering framework, identification of potential partnering projects, information on funding opportunities for the Flagships, and networking events. The activities in FLAG-ERA are organised around periodic events gathering all stakeholders and structured in sessions dedicated to the various objectives and related tasks of the project. FLAG-ERA II is the second ERA-NET project, implemented as an ERA-NET Cofund, starting in December 2016 for a period of 6 years, following the first FLA-ERA ERA-NET project which lasted from October 2013 to November 2016.

Many of the European and world's ecosystems undergo degradation of terrestrial, aquatic and transitional ecosystems with nMany of the European and world's ecosystems undergo degradation of terrestrial, aquatic and transitional ecosystems with negative impacts on biological diversity and people’s livelihoods. In this context, research actions are needed to ensure the protection and/or restoration of ecosystems and their biodiversity whilst meeting the socio-economic, political and cultural needs of current and future generations. By networking 34 funding agencies from 27 countries from Europe & other continents, BiodivRestore aims to promote coordinated international research on conservation and restoration of degraded ecosystems and their biodiversity, in all environments, including a focus on aquatic systems. It will strengthen research & research programmes coordination to support science-based evidence for the implementation of a relatively wide range of European and International policy initiatives and therefore act for better management, conservation and restoration of ecosystems and their biodiversity. This will notably be achieved by launching one call for proposals co-funded by the European Commission, as well as a knowledge hub to support the implementation of nature restoration policies, promoting research collaboration across national borders & disciplines and supporting dialogue & collaboration between academia & stakeholders, and stakeholder engagement in research in order to increase the impact of research on policy & practice. BiodivRestore will also contribute to networking, clustering and capacity building activities for the research community in the field and enhanced synergy coordination between RDI funding programmes (national, EU, International) in the relevant research fields. Lastly, BiodivRestore will contribute to reinforce the links between BiodivERsA and the WATER JPI, to enhance their collaboration for issues at the crossroad of water resources, aquatic ecosystems and biodiversity sustainable management.