The DEFEND consortium will target two viral diseases of livestock which are emerging into Europe – African swine fever (ASF) and lumpy skin disease (LSD). African swine fever virus (ASFV) is the causative agent of ASF, a highly contagious disease of domestic pigs which causes a haemorrhagic syndrome with up to 100% mortality. ASF is endemic in sub-Saharan Africa and on the Italian island of Sardinia. In 2007 the disease was reported in Georgia. Since then it has spread to Russia, Ukraine, Poland and neighbouring countries. In 2017 outbreaks were reported in the Czech Republic and Romania. Wild boar are susceptible to ASFV and facilitate the continuing spread of the disease in Europe with regular spill-over into in-contact domestic pigs. The capripoxvirus Lumpy Skin Disease virus (LSDV) causes a classic systemic poxvirus disease in cattle and spreads rapidly in warm humid conditions, most likely due to insect-borne transmission. LSDV entered Europe, the Balkans and Caucasus for the first time in 2015. The ongoing epidemic has caused the deaths of thousands of cattle through mortality and eradication campaigns. ASFV and LSDV represent an immediate and serious threat to the pig and cattle industries in Europe and eastern and central Asia. The aim of the consortium is to control the growing LSD and ASF epidemics in Europe and neighbouring countries by understanding the drivers of LSDV and ASFV emergence, and generating research outputs which underpin novel diagnostic tools and vaccines and authenticate appropriate and rapid responses by decision-makers. A multi-actor approach will be incorporated as a central tenant of the project, with collaborations between experts from academia, industry, and government bodies including EU and non-EU partners from countries affected or threatened by ASF and LSD.

The goal of the NET project is to lay the foundation of a NETwork connecting research world and society, building a stable and empatic communication path among institutions, researchers and citizens, also thanks to the capillary physical presence of the partners in the territory, since the NET consortium is made by well-recognised public italian research and academic institutions. This network will offer a stable exchange path through which researchers can share their passion for science, their work and life with citizens, who, in turn will use the path to get the scientific viewpoint from their “informed neighbors”. Conveying this idea is the first step to build and plan a research-based society, by increasing the number of students taking up research careers. The path will be paved by using conventional and unconventional, online and offline communications tools, to reach every citizen, regardless of age, gender, cultural or economic conditions, even if particular attention will be devotaed at students and pupils. NET will bring researchers closer to the general public and increase awareness of research and innovation activities, increasing the public recognition of researchers, creating an understanding of the impact of researchers' work on citizens ́ daily life, promoting choices for a sustainable future. In fact the main theme of the project is the most relevant and global question of this millennium: the climate change, in order to give citizens information to be aware protagonists of collective political choices and correct individual behavior. NET European Researchers’ Night and related activities will take place in 16 italian cities (from North to South: Brasimone, Chioggia, La Spezia, Ozzano, Civitavecchia, Fiumicino, Frascati, Grottaminarda, Monte Porzio Catone, Rieti, Rocca di Papa, Roma, Tarquinia, Viterbo, Palermo, Portici, Trisaia) and Vulcano and Stromboli Aeolian Islands, so as to wrap the whole of Italy in the NET.

According to current discussion within the community of stakeholders, there is in the Geographic Information (GI) sector a gap between the knowledge currently being offered by the European universities and the knowledge and skills requested by the enterprises and public authorities. This is partly due to a fast technological development but also due to societal changes, for instance the EU INSPIRE directive and the e-government action plans within the member states.giCASES, as a Knowledge Alliance project, aimed to enable and strengthen innovation in GI education and industry and to facilitate the collaborative creation, management and sharing of knowledge.These objectives have been addressed by developing new methods for co-creation of knowledge, where industrial partners and universities jointly developed new case-based learning materials by facilitating the exchange flow and co-creation of this knowledge. The project specifically addressed the Geographic Information (GI) sector.The giCASES method for co-creation of knowledge consists of process patterns, supplementary material and a collaboration platform. A process pattern is here a general description of a business process, which may be slightly modified in a particular case in order to suit the specific conditions better. All case studies are different from each other, but the processes they use to co-create knowledge have many characteristics in common which are captured in giCASES by the concept of business process patterns.giCASES considered the following paradigms:• co-creation of knowledge: the process through which two or more organizations and/or actors interact with each other in a collaborative fashion to generate learning content. • case studies: consisting of a real-world problem, which tackle specific topics and issues and has well-defined scopes, learning outcomes, results, actors and corresponding roles, and is addressed in a learning environment. • case-based (collaborative) learning: the educational approach adopted within the giCASES project, where knowledge is cooperatively produced by all the actors involved in the specific case studies planned. • (case-based) learning/training material: the whole of materials produced and/or used to co-create knowledge. • (case-based) learning/training tools: the solutions and technical tools adopted to store, visualize, reproduce, present or aid the development and exchange of learning/training material as well as the results of the learning process.The specific objectives of the giCASES project have been to improve the quality and relevance of GI courses provided by the University members of the consortium, to facilitate the growth of new knowledge-sharing processes and tools between enterprises and universities.In the approach taken in this project, enterprises and academia collaborated both when creating learning material based on real cases and during the courses. Collaborative web-tools have been identified to support the collaboration and co-creation of knowledge among different stakeholder groups. The new learning material and collaborative teaching have been tested in university settings. The project outcomes are provided under open licenses. In order to optimize the spread and usage of the project results, dissemination actions have been specifically addressed to external universities adhering to the open learning paradigm and companies that want to have a close connection to academia. In addition, the project results can also improve the knowledge management within the participating organisations. Questions related to processes for creation of knowledge and knowledge repositories have been placed at a strategic level, also within the enterprise, including Public Authorities with the possibility to enlarge their vision and perspective in the Academic context and in the European level.