The proposed project “Readiness of ICOS for Necessities of integrated Global Observations” (RINGO) aims to further development of ICOS RI and ICOS ERIC and foster its sustainability. The challenges are to further develop the readiness of ICOS RI along five principal objectives: 1. Scientific readiness. To support the further consolidation of the observational networks and enhance their quality. This objective is mainly science-guided and will increase the readiness of ICOS RI to be the European pillar in a global observation system on greenhouse gases. 2. Geographical readiness. To enhance ICOS membership and sustainability by supporting interested countries to build a national consortium, to promote ICOS towards the national stakeholders, to receive consultancy e.g. on possibilities to use EU structural fund to build the infrastructure for ICOS observations and also to receive training to improve the readiness of the scientists to work inside ICOS. 3. Technological readiness. To further develop and standardize technologies for greenhouse gas observations necessary to foster new knowledge demands and to account for and contribute to technological advances. 4. Data readiness. To improve data streams towards different user groups, adapting to the developing and dynamic (web) standards. 5. Political and administrative readiness. To deepen the global cooperation of observational infrastructures and with that the common societal impact. Impact is expected on the further development and sustainability of ICOS via scientific, technical and managerial progress and by deepening the integration into global observation and data integration systems.

The New Delivery Model established in Regulation EU 2115/2021 entails significant changes to Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) governance with the introduction of Strategic Plans and new monitoring, review and evaluation requirements. The CAP is expected to contribute significantly to the Green Deal’s ambitions, securing the achievement of sustainability and resilience goals for the EU’s Agri-food systems. Innovative governance models are essential to enable result-based policymaking to deliver the best policy pathways to facilitate the green transition. Tools4CAP will (1) support the implementation of National Strategic Plans 2023-2027, and (2) lay the foundations for sound preparation of Post-2027 Strategic Plans. Accordingly, Tools4CAP establishes a flexible and participatory Coordination & Support Action designed to boost learning, exchange processes, and adoption of innovative solutions and good practices for the design, monitoring and evaluation of CAP Strategic Plans. Tools4CAP’s methods and tools will cover three key areas: (1) quantitative modelling tools for ex-ante and ex-post evaluations, (2) participatory and multi-governance decision tools, and (3) novel data and monitoring solutions. The project will deliver a comprehensive inventory of methods and tools used in the 27 Member States, methodological guidelines on innovative solutions and a Handbook of good practices. Results will be integrated in a Capacity Building Toolkit, designed to enhance science-policy interfaces. Tools4CAP utilises a Stakeholder Engagement Platform to boost bottom-up adaptation of innovative methods and tools. It will establish a Replication Lab to demonstrate their use in 10 Member States and to promote their uptake across the EU-27. The project will also set up a Capacity Building Hub to help end-users (ministries, management authorities, paying agencies, other stakeholders) reinforce their capacity to use innovative tools, including models used by the European Commission.

BIONEXT will develop knowledge, tools, and guidance for mainstreaming biodiversity into policy making and provide concrete options on how to initiate, accelerate and upscale biodiversity relevant transformative change in society. It will deliver an innovative Nexus Modelling Framework that will integrate scenarios and pathways in a co-production process with stakeholders, while modelling interlinkages between biodiversity, water, food, energy, transport, climate, and health, and enabling simulation of the impacts of indirect and direct drivers on biodiversity. Through its database of transformative change cases, BIONEXT will involve policy- and decision-makers and allows them to explore the concept of just transformative change. Plausible futures and desirable, nature-positive visions for Europe and multiple just transition pathways will be co-created in workshops and focus groups taking place in various cities around Europe. With the involvement of diverse stakeholders, the BIONEXT Pathways App will be delivered as a novel decision support tool that allows users to explore transformational building blocks, for formulating policies and implementation pathways for the biodiversity nexus. The results will contribute to science brokerage, capacity building and networking to IPBES, EU policymakers, and civil society.

The Social Sciences & Humanities for Climate, Energy aNd Transport Research Excellence (SSH CENTRE) project brings together 13 leading organisations from across the EU, including: 3 universities, 4 research institutions, 2 stakeholder network organisations, and 4 R&I and communications SMEs. Our partners bring world-leading expertise across SSH and STEM disciplines applied to climate, energy and mobility, covering neutrality, community-led initiatives, heating and cooling, circular economy and sufficiency, and digital technologies. Partners will reach 228,880+ stakeholders by leveraging their significant experience in transdisciplinarity and citizen engagement, and networks that span academia, policymakers at various levels, the private sector, civil society and citizens. Our objectives directly address the call challenge with an aim to support cross-sectoral collaborations and empowerment of citizens and networks towards the development of socially innovative solutions for the EU’s climate transition. Issues related to Open Science, inclusivity and diversity – especially with regards Southern and Eastern Europe and different career stages – are at the heart of the project. SSH CENTRE will meet its objectives through a set of 7 carefully-designed Work Packages. Key activities involve: development of novel SSH-STEM collaborations to facilitate the delivery of the EU Green Deal; SSH knowledge brokerage to support regions in transition; and the effective design of strategies for citizen engagement in EU R&I activities. Outputs include action-led agendas and building stakeholder synergies through regular Policy Insight events. The high-profile virtual SSH CENTRE, and its 660+ members, will thus represent a ‘go-to' gateway for Cluster 5 SSH research excellence, delivering inclusive governance and engagement approaches. The Centre will generate and share best practice for SSH policy advice, overcoming fragmentation to accelerate the EU’s journey to a sustainable future.

PHISHES aims to bridge the missing link between data on soil health and actions for the safeguard of soils. This missing link entails predictive capability in terms of the consequences of actions on the provision of soil functions and associated ecosystem services, taking into account soil use, soil contamination and various drivers such as climate change. Hence the primary scientific question addressed in PHISHES is: “How do soil use and soil contamination influence soil functions and associated ecosystem services, in the presence of major drivers such as climate change, and how can we predict the impacts of mitigation and adaptation measures?”. While most research teams address this question in a qualitative / semi-quantitative fashion, using, e.g., multicriteria analysis and indicators of soil health, the ambition of PHISHES is to provide quantitative predictive capability via a PHISHES Digital Platform. To achieve this, PHISHES will build upon several pre-existing integrated simulation tools; in particular the MIKE SHE model that provides a flexible framework for integrated hydrologic modelling and the DAISY model, a well-tested mechanistic agro-ecological model of the soil-plant-atmosphere system. The efficient coupling between such models will significantly enhance the ability to assess the impact of changes in land use on soil ecosystem services. It will serve to assess the influence of various actions on soil services; i.e., sustainable agricultural practices (e.g., hedge rows to retain moisture and reduce erosion; no-till agriculture, crop rotation, ...), of land restoration / remediation solutions (e.g., nature-based solutions), pollution prevention solutions, etc. The results of the scenario simulations will be tranlated into recommendations regarding policies aimed at preserving soil health and promoting soil functions and associated ecostem services. The PHISHES consortium brings together competencies from soil science to hydrology and policy making.