<< Objectives >>The main objective is to identify good practices and technologies related to rural activities, in order to raise awareness on sustainable management in agriculture, livestock and forestry activities, so that through an adequate use of natural resources, sustainable rural tourism is promoted, social, economic and environmental benefits are obtained to improve the infrastructure of services, stop depopulation and adaptation to climate change of the rural activities.<< Implementation >>Kick-off meeting. Assessment of the state of the artWorkshops:• Analysis of the environment of key aspects of rural economic activities, which develop rural tourism initiatives and potential.• Analysis of successful initiatives (also Digital) in rural tourism, identification of training needs and potential KA2 with future Intellectual outputs.Guide to good practices and results.Communication and dissemination.Share experiences and training to new organizations in the management of Erasmus+<< Results >>The main result of the project will be the identification of good practices of sustainable rural tourism related to agriculture, extensive livestock farming and other natural values, analysing the degree of existing digitalisation and the characterisation of the demand and supply of rural tourism, It will allow the identification of scenarios and will subsequently contribute to the design of proposals, initiatives and/or technological tools for their implementation in this field.

"The Covid-19 pandemic is pushing European society to transformative changes in technologic, economical and social dimensions. Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have been crucial for Higher Education Institutions, teachers and learners during the first covid19 wave. However, the forest sector is generally considered as late adopters in new ICTs due to several reasons, including that the economic profitability of the sector is very low and online connectivity in the forests is poor. Both lead to a situation where the incentives for the actors (learners, teachers, ICT services providers...) to develop ICT adapted services for the sector are low. However, the role of forest ecosystems and their management for green development is crucial. By fostering forest education, we are fostering different important objectives of the European Union by (1) enhancing online, distance and blended learning in the forest sector, (2) promoting a rapid socioeconomic recovery with special emphasis on a more resilient rural job market by introducing cutting-edge technology in forest education and, in the long-term, (3) facilitating the transformation of the EU into a fair and prosperous society with a modern, resource-efficient and competitive economy.The Virtualization of Forest Studies project (VirtualForests) is a Strategic Partnership involving experts in forestry, geoinformatics and information technology representing four higher education institutions and two non-governmental organizations representing four countries. The project is coordinated by the University of Valladolid, Spain. The overarching goal is to develop and share innovative, digital-based educational tools, platforms, teaching methods and frameworks in forest ecosystem studies. The specific project objectives are to (1) strengthen cooperation and networking between partners and other relevant organizations and stakeholders, (2) promote the development, testing, and implementation of innovative open educational resources and learning practices, (3) support education and training of professionals at different levels and career development stages to promote equity, diversity, and inclusion in learning, and (4) increase the international visibility and reputation of participating HEIs while simultaneously expanding international student access to open educational resources in a sector under-represented among online studies. A series of in-person and online meetings, training workshops and intensive learning periods targeting consortium members (i.e. teachers, students and staff) and industry professionals will help facilitate the realization of project objectives. Intellectual outputs of the project represent a significant contribution of open educational resources for students, working professionals and anyone around the world with a stake in forest ecosystems or the topic of (innovative) digital and blended online learning environments. For example, planned outputs include: virtual forest tours integrated with real-life forest monitoring and training plots (marteloscopes) and associated data, 3D point-cloud and other remote-sensing derived data, augmented-reality interfaces and pedagogical framework.; International Learning Locations in non-European forest ecosystems; ""Internet of Trees” (a sensorized forest plantation as an educational product); Linked Open Data in modelling and simulation platforms, as well as an eLearning platform and modalities for involvement of “citizen scientists”; and Chatbot development for student information and buddy teaching assistant for leveling students."

Marginal Lands (MLs) could offer suitable carbon sinks by afforestation/reforestation projects without being competitive to food production, conforming to EU/Global policies. The main objective of MAIL is to trigger utilization of MLs as Carbon Sinks by activities related to forestry and agriculture. The project aims to detect and classify mountainous and semimountainous Marginal Lands (m/sm MLs), in order to deliver a web-based regional platform with data, methodology and applications which will be valuable for policy makers, stakeholders or researchers. MAIL will assess MLs’ presence, distribution and suitability in smart and efficient way, considering that marginality differs within European bioclimatic zones. It will detect MLs through multiple layer analysis of existing EU/Global scale datasets (land cover, land use, soil or climatic information, etc.) and will further examine, validate and classify MLs, through field stratified sampling, into Carbon sequestration capacity categories. In pilot areas MAIL will augment the achieved accuracy by using enhanced spatial and radiometric resolution of full free and open access satellite datasets. Furthermore, it will propose actions that have to be taken in order to increase Carbon sequestration capacity and it will evaluate their feasibility by using a set of criteria for accurate cost estimation. Finally, it will deliver developed methodologies, algorithms and techniques on a web-application platform for on-demand production of thematic maps within Europe. MAIL consists by a multidisciplinary Consortium of 6 experienced partners, from 4 EU Member States, and gathers the expertise required for identifying, mapping and assessing MLs as a potential Carbon Sinks. The seconded staff will exchange individual skills, competencies, thoughts, innovations, or ideas and through collaboration will acquire new skills concerning MLs management and will become more flexible, productive and efficient.

In recent years, the castane-farming sector has evolved considerably, moving from essentially family food production to processed and marketed production. However, in Europe, there is a strong demand from the food-processing industries, but regional production does not cover its needs. This increased demand is due to the change in the dietary behaviour of consumers who are looking for gluten-free flours, natural and healthy products. This mismatch between supply and demand makes it possible to envisage a potential for development that would create profitable outlets and jobs. However, the chestnut sector is an agricultural sector in difficulty and in decline. In view of this reality, the CASTANA project aims to set up a programme of formative exchanges between actors of the sector at the European level in order to consolidate a sector in difficulty but rich in job potential and collectively create a European chestnut cluster.The project concerns technicians, trainers, producers, marketers in the chestnut sector, and people looking for employment or complementary activities or farmers, breeders wishing to open up to pluriactivity.The project is an exchange of good practices in this framework. Over 24 months, we foresee 4 mobilities on 4 well-worked themes- Castana Métier/formation mobility dedicated to the development of professionalizing resources in order to match training supply and demand. To upgrade the skills of the participants (arboriculturists, farmers, young people and unemployed people) and train them in the profession of castana farmer.- Castana Strategy, Development of collective strategies to support employment development in the sector- Castana Innovation and the circular economy - Work on the organization of a circular economy and innovation paths with regard to new consumer trends.- Castana Alliance - Strengthening the European network for enhanced cooperation by creating a European clusterThese 4 mobilities will give rise to the emergence of a European cluster and pedagogical tutorials available on a youtube channel as well as on the partners' websites and other social networks. 3 transnational meetings are planned to follow the project and its good evolution, including a meeting with members of the European Commission and European elected representatives in Brussels.Methodology and resultsAt the end of the project, the European chestnut sector is strengthened. The training tools (acts of the mobility sessions), the training tutorials lay the foundations of a prospective work. It is planned to continue the work on 2 European programmes: KA2 Erasmus strategic partnership Innovation and on line L-1144 of the Chafea programme (EU).An analysis on the circular economy and a cycle of recovery of lost products is proposed on each territory as well as a collection of innovative practices.Ultimately, the expected impact concerns the consolidation of jobs through training, the emergence of new bean farmers and the creation of a European cluster.

In Mediterranean European countries, the general public, in general, does not have a proper knowledge of forests, and even less to their contribution to sustainable development. It usually underestimates the matter, depending on the country and region of course, of their fire risk, economic importance, biodiversity fragility and diverse recreational uses. This generates, respectively: fires (the greatest number is caused by negligence), weakening or abandonment of economic activities (due to social or economic pressure), destruction of natural resources (by inappropriate uses) and social tensions (by disrespect for the need to conciliate various interests and objectives). In order to remedy the causality between the problematics and their origin, through the concept of Model forests (MF), the Forest-Ed project aims to make the multiple functions of Mediterranean forest areas known (and well-known) by the non-forest professionals that use the forest or hinder its sustainable uses, thus directly influencing the models and strategies of forest management. A MF is a partnership approach association based on a large-scale landscape encompassing many different land uses and aiming to attain sustainable forest management. In this context and through the perspective of MF, knowledge exchange, cooperation in areas of common interest, and the collective development of capacities for innovation are put forth to empower educators, youth workers, educational leaders and their support staff. The main expected direct results upon the completion of the project are that environmental educators:- gain, at the same time, knowledge and educational techniques to train and educate publics and stakeholders on environmental transition of forest management in the context of climate change and the role played by MFs;- operationalize the knowledge and apply the acquired techniques within their own educational activities, in the framework of strengthening effective sustainable forest management and Mediterranean Model Forests initiatives.Through this empowerment of professionals of environmental education, the project will ultimately allow the adult general public, and forest stakeholders with specific interests to be educated on the fact that in he mediterranean basin, forest areas represent through their different functions, valid solutions for sustainable development: environmental through the preservation and valuation of natural resources, social through the conciliation of various cultural, spiritual and recreational uses, and economic by value-chains based on forest-based products and services.Being MF associations of diverse stakeholders having different values and interests regarding forest areas and still targeting sustainable development, their operation mode is inherently participatory and transparent. It is because they are particularly suited to the objectives of the project that all the 7 European Mediterranean MFs are partners (existing associations as beneficiary and ongoing initiatives as associated). While being implemented, Forest-Ed will feed their collective dynamic strengthening the international MFs networks. The project will also allow the existing associations to share their feedback to the initiatives so that the former take benefits of their respective experiences, especially breaking barriers linked to individualistic behaviors and attitudes. Through the direct goals of the project - the creation of a well versed pool of environmental educators with specific knowledge on Mediterranean MFs and the techniques to most efficiently convey the concept - Forest-Ed will have an effective impact in terms of supporting:- citizenship, cooperation and active participation ;- the role of education in handling climate change and forest environmental transition ;- open mindedness by encouraging debates of ideas, exchange of various points of view among adults about forest sustainable development ;- implementation of the EU 2020 agenda and other national and international directives for sustainable development, in the context of linking sustainable forest management and climate change.The Strategic Partnership brings together 7 entities from 6 countries representing almost the entire Mediterranean arc of the European Union: Provence Model Forest (France), the Regional Development Fund of Western Macedonia (Greece), CESEFOR Foundation (Spain), ASPEA (Portugal), River of Mirna Basin Model Forest (Croatia), Florentine Mountain Model Forest (Italy), and GRAINE network (France). Beginning in September 2020, and ending in December 2021, Forest-Ed will include 3 transnational events in France, Portugal, and Italy. These will include different types of sessions, both indoors and outdoors in effective and planned MFs and the production of relevant educational materials.