The use of pesticides on crops presents a significant risk of consumer exposure to harmful chemical residues, underscoring the need to explore safer alternatives for both humans and plants. GuardAgents will address this challenge by developing new biopesticides that target the Cucumber Mosaic Virus (CMV), a major threat to crops around the world. GuardAgents will develop a new generation of efficient, cost-effective small antibodies, so-called nanobodies to enhance plant immunity, reduce pesticide dependency and contribute significantly toward sustainable agriculture. GuardAgents will also advance technological innovation in plant protection, minimize ecological impact, and foster long-term agricultural sustainability. A multidisciplinary, state-of-the-art approach will be employed producing recombinant nanobodies through in vitro and in vivo approaches involving E. coli and plants, followed by biophysical characterization using advanced analytical techniques. Molecular farming techniques will be applied to produce nanobodies in plants, followed by functional comparisons to in vitro-produced nanobodies. The antiviral efficacy of the developed nanobodies will be tested in plants through transient expression and transformation. Additionally, toxicity studies will be performed involving plant cell cultures, invertebrate and vertebrate animals, while environmental impact assessments will be conducted to ensure biosafety. This research seeks to optimize nanobody-based strategies for sustainable viral disease control in crops.

Globally, one-third of food production is wasted, leading to significant loss of resources and greenhouse gas emissions. Creating new, sustainable solutions to the problem of food waste is a pivotal goal of the EU. PURE-WAY aims to tackle this issue by fostering crosssectoral and multi-actor collaboration to devise new circular zero-waste solutions for fruit and vegetable waste. Together, we will develop cutting-edge biotechnologies: industrially applicable green solvents for extracting high added-value bioactive compounds; computational modeling-driven smart fermentation; and a next-generation eco-friendly composting system using specifically engineered synthetic microbial consortia. Through these innovative approaches, PURE-WAY will transform fruit and vegetable waste into functional foods with health benefits (2 functional beverages and natural cosmetics product), bio-based chemicals for eco-friendly solvents, and biofertilizers. The resulting technological advancements will help address key food system challenges, natural cosmetics, providing safe, nutritious, healthy and affordable food, and supporting sustainable agriculture practices. The project integrates 11 partners from 8 countries, including 6 from Europe, 1 from South America and 1 from North America, merging 6 academic and 5 non-academic partners to facilitate 70 secondments (224 months), 13 between academic to academic (50 months) and 57 secondments (174 months) between academic to non-academic representatives. By fostering knowledge and markedly cross-disciplinary skill exchanges, PURE-WAY will substantially enhance research and innovation capacities through reaching well-defined objectives. This holistic approach will decisively contribute to creating a sustainable, circular food economy, aligning with EU policies and global sustainability goals.

VALIAS aims to match the need for managing the marine Invasive Alien Species (IAS) populations with the growing demand for marine derived-products. Under the frame of circular economy, the valorization of unexploited IAS feedstocks can represent a sustainable strategy for the realization of a circular bio-economy, with the production of stable and safe food, fish feed and cosmetic ingredients. Various compounds with high commercial value obtained from fish and other invasive aquatic species byproducts, including collagen, enzymes, bioactive peptides, minerals and functional fatty acids will be valorized in VALIAS. VALIAS proposal can turn the current problem represented by marine IAS into a "WinWin" solution both for the European fisheries and for the companies active in the sector of aquaculture, nutrition and cosmetology. Specifically, VALIAS will contribute to the limitation of IAS stocks and of their negative ecological and economic impact on marine life, fisheries, human welfare, and health in European seas. Finally, VALIAS will contribute to the enrichment of the knowledge of the biology of IAS, a key objective of European Directive 1143/2014 on the prevention and management of introduction and spread of alien species. VALIAS will bring together experts from industry and academia specialized in interdisciplinary/inter-sectorial, yet highly complementary, research areas of Marine-Maritime Research, Aquaculture, Feed-Food technology and safety and Cosmetology. As a joint research and innovation project, it will develop a strong partnership involving 8 partners from 5 EU countries (EL, CY, IT, IE and BG) and with different technical backgrounds from the academic and non-academic sectors. The execution of the project and the knowledge sharing will be based on secondments (exchanges) of research and innovation staff with an in-built return mechanism strengthening collaborative research among the different countries and sectors.

Three key global drivers underpin the increased interest in plant protein-based diets: population-growth, important role of proteins in a healthy diet, and the environmental impact of animal-based food chains. While an increasing trend in proportion of plant sources included in diet is obvious, the current generation of commercial plant-based alternatives is suboptimal. Therefore, more research is needed to develop mild processing techniques for plant proteins and to obtain a comprehensive understanding on the impact of plant proteins on technological and nutritional functionality. Addressing current challenges and shortcomings, Excel4Pro aims to support, with underpinning research and knowledge exchange, the capacity of the national Excellence Hubs of Türkiye, Greece, and Ukraine as a regional launch pad for plant-protein-based novel food economies. Excel4Pro will be used as a critical tool to connect and scale up the strategically selected plant-based protein ecosystems in a single, interconnected and cross-border Excellence Hub dedicated to growing and changing the agri-food sector in Türkiye, Greece and Ukraine by developing novel food products based on plant-based proteins. Collaborative R&I strategies, mentoring programmes, action plans to attract dedicated investment, and an array of upskilling activities for researchers and entrepreneurs will help close knowledge gaps between place-based innovation ecosystems and support the development of more sustainable food systems. Excel4Pro's consortium contains 17 partners (4 Academic, 8 Business, 2 Public Authorities, and 3 Societal Actors) that are well balanced and fully completes the quadruple helix. Excel4Pro is a 4 years project with 6 carefully designed Work Packages that efficiently exploit the consortium's diverse knowledge and expertise to develop solutions to Global Challenges in line with EUGreen Deal, the Farm to fork strategy for a fair, healthy and environment-friendly food system.

Nitrogen (N) is a vital nutrient for plant growth. However, the intensive use of N fertilizers in agriculture, whereby only 30-50% of applied N is taken up by crops, has led to significant environmental challenges. Impactful losses occur through nitrate leaching to the groundwater, leading to its contamination, and through nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions, a long-lasting greenhouse gas. Acknowledging the need for a coordinated effort among the four helixes of innovation (i.e. research, society, industry and policy) to unlock the necessary efforts for monitoring N fluxes and action towards reducing N losses and increasing N use efficiency, NitroScope has two major ambitions: a) improving scientific knowledge for pedo-climatic regions getting both simple region-specific emissions factors and model-based decision support and b) bringing the knowledge to land managers so that mitigation will happen. To achieve this, NitroScope will improve N flux monitoring through 125 sites spread over at least 10 pedo-climatic regions using improved proximal sensors for high throughput continuous nitrate quantification, remote sensing, and better methodology to adequately account for the variability of in-the-field N2O emissions. The data will be gathered in a database hosted on a cloud to facilitate reporting and will be used to determine region-specific emission factors and provide model-based decision support with reduced uncertainties. Based on this, improved N management and conservation solutions will be assessed, including variable rate N fertilization and crop residue management. NitroScope will further use transdisciplinary methodology, including developing 2 farm management add-ons, to inform and engage land managers to actively contribute to monitoring and managing N fluxes in Europe while improving agricultural yield and quality. Finally, this will result in a more precise EU N budget estimation and future scenarios to support decision-making.