The objective of PETRI-MED is to develop novel strategies to determine and monitor the status and trends of microbial plankton biodiversity in the entire Mediterranean Sea, supporting the assessment of the impact of ecological connectivity on local biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. This will be achieved following a highly multidisciplinary approach, capitalizing on the large potential offered by the past and ongoing satellite missions, complemented with field measurements (optical, physical, chemical, and genomic), biogeochemical/ecosystem/marine currents modelling, and artificial intelligence technologies. PETRI-MED will allow to: - identify spatio-temporal patterns in the microbial plankton community distribution and biodiversity; - assess key controls of biodiversity patterns, including ecological connectivity, natural (e.g., river runoffs and marine currents) and human-related forcing (e.g., use of land and coastal ecosystems). This in turn will open the way to: - regional and basin-level seascape spatial assessments, by combining estimates of plankton biodiversity with in-situ measured and remotely-sensed physical and biogeochemical patterns. - the identification of fragmented habitats and the recognition of new zones or ecological corridors for maintaining and restoring biodiversity. Two AI-based algorithms will be developed. The first algorithm will be applied for the generation of the global Mediterranean Sea product relying on Multi-spectral satellite Ocean Colour observations and in situ and/or modelled physical/biogeochemical variables as salinity, temperature, marine currents, mean/eddy kinetic energy, dissolved nutrients and oxygen. In-situ omics measurements (metabarcoding and metagenomic) will be used to train and verify the algorithm. The second algorithm, based on the same architecture of the first one, will be specifically tailored for each partner’s region of interest and will include the information provided by the omics as well as key regional physical indicators (e.g. cross-shore or longshore transport index) that aim to assess the role of connectivity. Output parameters will be: - the relative contributions of phytoplankton groups, bacterio- and archeo-plankton and an Alpha-Diversity Index for plankton based on the Shannon index summarizing this information. - an Ecosystem Function Indicator, based on the distribution of specific functional genes that have precise ecosystem roles/functions potentially linked to deteriorated/healthy ecosystem. Results will be validated against independent measurements collected in selected regions of interest with well-established oceanographic infrastructures and/or long-term monitoring of physical and chemical data. Finally, a first data exploitation exercise will be conducted focusing on two case-study areas corresponding to extensively studied zones for ecological connectivity research in the North-western Mediterranean Sea and in the Northern Adriatic Sea.

Main objectives of the SciFe proposal is to bring researchers to the general public, to inspire youngster to embark on scientific careers, to increase awareness of importance of research and innovation activities, with a view to supporting the public recognition of researchers creating an understanding of the impact of researchers' work on citizen's daily life. For that purpose the awareness campaign (AC) to convey messages under the slogan “Science for Life” will be used in 2016 and 2017. On Fridays 30.9.’16 and 29.9.’17 SciFe events will be organized with renewed programs in festive and fun atmosphere in Ljutomer, Maribor, Brežice, Ljubljana, Koper, Izola and Nova Gorica. All SciFe events’ activities aim at offering the public at large an opportunity to cooperate in fascinating experiments, demonstrations, observations etc., to socialize and have fun with researchers in a relaxed atmosphere. The program is appropriate for public in general, regardless their scientific program and especially designed for youngest. SciFe programs’ red line is contribution of science to life in various aspects. The »European corner« will be prepared in the heart of every RN location: the visitors will be offered information on EC’s various actions and programs, EU material, “the Charter and the Code”, information how young people can become researchers and Framework Program witness’s experiences. Intensive awareness campaign is designed according to its main target. The rich communication mix includes active engagement of the young people through the public call targeting primary and secondary schools. Last but not least, the impact assessment will focus to measure the success and the impact of SciFe activities. All that will be achieved through consortium management of all WPs and harmonised communication mix with general public which takes into account existing recognition of the RN event in certain region and its number of inhabitants.

The main objective of the MyOcean Follow On project will be to operate a rigorous, robust and sustainable Ocean Monitoring and Forecasting component of the pre-operational Copernicus Marine Service delivering ocean physical state and ecosystem information to intermediate and downstream users in the areas of marine safety, marine resources, marine and coastal environment and weather, climate and seasonal forecasting. This is highly consistent with the objective of the HORIZON 2020 Work Programme 2014-2015 establishing the need for interim continuity of the pre-operational services developed by MyOcean 2 before the fully operational services of Copernicus. The project proposes to sustain the current pre-operational marine activities until March 2015 in order to avoid any interruption in the critical handover phase between pre-operational and fully operational services. In effect, any significant interruption in these services could potentially jeopardize several important high-level policy objectives and undermine other related scientific activities. In the period from October 2014 to March 2015, MyOcean-FO will ensure a controlled continuation and extension of the services already implemented in MyOcean and MyOcean2 FP7 projects that have advanced the pre-operational marine service capabilities. To enable the move to full operations, MyOcean-FO is targeting the prototype operations, and developing the management and coordination to continue the provision of Copernicus Marine service products and the link with independent R&D activities. MyOcean-FO will produce and deliver services based upon the common-denominator ocean state variables that are required to help meet the needs for information for environmental and civil security policy making, assessment and implementation. MyOcean-FO is also expected to have a significant impact on the emergence of a technically robust and sustainable Copernicus Service infrastructure in Europe.

STOPP aims to STOP the ways that lead to environmental pollution, use of unsustainable virgin fossils, excess use of resources, high levels of generated plastic waste, incineration and landfilling, and climate change. We aim to do this by producing strategies for circular food plastic packaging with Refuse, Reduce, Redesign, Reuse and Recycle approaches. Our goal is to enhance sustainable and circular use of plastic food packaging and decrease the amount of generated waste while reducing the environmental impact. This is achieved via development and implementation of circular strategies together with an extensive network of plastics packaging value chain stakeholders, and citizens and consumers. Increased knowledge on the environmental and climate impacts of food packaging systems is a key driver in changing perception of reuse and recycling. We will quantify the effect of littered plastic food packaging on the environment with analysis of different ecosystems, biological organizational levels and key sentinel organisms. This deeper understanding is an important part together with different state-of-the-art and comprehensive enablers and barriers analysis for the technological developments, business strategies and consumer studies done in the project. Our technological approaches for reuse focus on safe and high-performance material development, improving return logistics, and developing consumer-centric communication strategies. For recycling, we will optimize collection systems, create safe food contact polyolefin recyclates, recycle bio-based and smart food packaging, and expand Plastics Recyclers Europe’ RecyClass certification scheme for recyclability. STOPP has a key role in supporting the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation implementation in its early stages via the developed novel solutions, providing new open access knowledge and hands-on tools for the value chain actors to start-up their sustainable circular food packaging journey as early adaptors.