EcoChestnut offers an innovative vocational training process to support the development of organic chestnut production in Europe, integrating into a common curriculum all aspects of development of organic farming, processing & production of chestnut products (farming techniques, production methods, marketing, communication, ethics & corporate social responsibility). The EU chestnuts market has been experiencing a strong growth in demand and production for organic chestnut products for the last 10 years. Due to the development of the consumers demand, the European chestnuts market is unsatisfied in volume, so it has to rely on non-EU imports to be satisfied (Turkey, China, Korea). Thus, it is important that industry professionals (producers & farmers) have the key skills & competences to match & keep up to these challenges. It is a question of considering organic chestnut production not only from a technical point of view, but also in all aspects of the producer's relationship with its customers & its territory. All partners have executed various EU projects on agriculture and have partnered with many farmers and agricultural producers. During their joint activities, all partners have come to the finding that a lot of the farmers & producers recognize the great demand for organic products. Their managers shared that they have significant interest to enter this market segment, but they lack information about the specific steps they should undertake. They have informed the partners that some courses in organic farming exists on the educational market, there is absolutely nothing (not even a single course within a broader VET course or university programme) for organic chestnuts farming & production. Based on all these needs, the partners have decided to develop EcoChestnut – a designated training course following b-learning, multidisciplinary & comprehensive approach to meet the specific needs for a course in organic chestnuts & chestnut products (OCCP) directly targeted towards the farmers & producers. Therefore, the project target groups shall be:- chestnut growers & chestnut-products companies wishing to converse to organic farming but lacking comprehensive & integrated training materials. - new chestnut entrepreneurs who do not come from the agricultural world. - multi-skilled farmers who can make an interesting supplementary production to allow the reuse of the traditional chestnut groves.The aim of the project is to enhance the competitiveness of the EU chestnuts farmers and producers through development of their potential for production and promotion of OCCP.The main objectives shall be:- to enhance the development opportunities and boost the growth potential of EU chestnut farmers & chestnut products producers by entering a market of OCCP;- to develop specific knowledge and competences in the EU chestnut farmers & chestnut products producers to produce and promote OCCPs;- to provide transversal, multidisciplinary and tailor-made training on OCCP production and promotion in response to the specific needs of the chestnut farmers & chestnut products producers;- to remind & develop awareness that the chestnuts & chestnut groves are part of the cultural, historical and landscape heritage of the country;- to increase the support provided to the chestnut farmers & chestnut products producers to enter the market of OCCP;- to encourage the application of organic farming and production approaches among new & existing chestnut farmers & chestnut products producers;- to promote use of sustainable agricultural farming and OCCP production methods among EU farmers & producers;- to promote wider use of organic chestnuts and chestnuts products among EU customers.EcoChestnut project shall envisage the development of:- EcoChestnut Learning Model- Thorough & interactive course in OCCP production & marketing- Manual for trainers- Platform with interactive repository section- Guide on certification of organic chestnuts- Handbook “Utilize the potential of the chestnut groves”.The expected impact on national & EU levels are:- cover the needs for new, multidisciplinary, experience-oriented and user-friendly approaches for development of professional competences of farmers, agronomists and chestnuts producers in production of chestnuts & chestnut products;- development an integral pack of training course, Manual for trainers & Guide on certification of organic chestnuts that is applicable on EU level and to all interested in this topic;- improvement of the competitiveness of the chestnut producers on the common European market through production of qualitative chestnuts and chestnuts products;- raised awareness of the plantation managers on the possibility to explore a new niche for their business by applying traditional & eco-friendly methods for growing of the chestnuts & production of organic chestnut products and promoting them as part of the intangible legacy of their country.

Floods and droughts put increasing pressure on the European society, with estimated annual damages from river flooding of €7.6 billion and drought-induced losses over €9 billion. Fostering sponge measures as nature-based solutions to boost the natural retention function of landscapes is promising but implementation must be rapidly upscaled and innovative approaches to increase the integration, involvement and cooperation of diverse actors from local to basin wide levels are urgently needed. SpongeWorks aims to demonstrate practical, effective, economically feasible and inclusive approaches and solutions towards enhancing the sponge functioning of interconnected groundwater, soil and surface water systems at regional scale. It applies an integrative multi-actor approach to demonstrate the effectiveness of multifunctional sponge measures for improved water and soil management for enhancing water retention in three large demonstrators in the Pinios (GR), Lèze (FR) and Vecht (NL/DE) river basins. In each demonstrator, SpongeWorks evaluates existing sponge measures, draws lessons-learned and best practices, and implements new sponge measures. The effectiveness of large-scale implementation is assessed to co-create long-term sponge strategies with action plans and roadmaps at landscape scale. Broad dissemination of best-practices, promotion of exemplary demonstration areas as lighthouses, and targeted replication in eight associated regions ensures long-lasting impact of this work. SpongeWorks contributes to transformative change of landscape management to ensure regions are more adapted and resilient to climate change impacts on soils, waters, habitats and biodiversity. By combining scientific excellence and practical know-how from established communities of practice, as well as facilitating mutual learning and sharing of successful strategies, SpongeWorks will catalyse a shift in the pace of implementation of sponge measures and strategies across Europe and beyond.