The importance of the agricultural sector is crucial for the economy and society of the EU. Its contribution in terms of employment globally accounts for 32% and can provide great potential in creating new jobs, fighting unemployment and strengthening cuntries` economies. The significance of involving young people in agriculture, improving their skills and entrepreneurial competencies in reversing the trend of ever aging population of farmers in the EU is plain to see. This importance is also clearly presented at EU level: Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) 2014-2020 and the EU 2020 strategy for innovation, growth and jobs but also the new EU Research and innovation strategy 2020-2024 that will play a key role in responding to the challenges brought about by the global COVID-19 pandemic. It will help deliver Europe's recovery plan, paving the way out of the current crisis based on economic growth that respects the planet. These strategies call to adopt recommendations in order to support different national high-quality education programmes that will focus on youth agriculture entrepreneurship by offering innovative educational training. Programmes such as Horizon 2020 and Erasmus+ nurture research and training in the field of agriculture and entrepreneurship and stress their growing importance. AGRIENT Project: “Enhancing Youth Entrepreneurship Skills, Career Guidance and Competences in Agriculture Through a Game Based Virtual Reality Platform“, aimed at designing a training curriculum in agriculture and entrepreneurship with innovative courses and creation of Open Educational Resources, complemented by up-to-date and technology-enhanced 3D virtual world training platform to meet the needs of training in these fields and indirectly to promote and support young people in formulating, starting, running and improving their own agribusinesses. The project implementation period had initially been scheduled for 24 months but due to the pandemic situation this period was extended by 5 months, with the end in June 2021.AGRIENT project adapted the curriculum and materials to specific regional and national needs, developed 5 distinctive courses or modules with exercises on complex issues, gathered examples of good practice from participating countries and provided interactive and innovative open educational resource. The learning materials of the courses, 3D learning scenarios following gamification ideas were all hosted in the 3D virtual world educational platform freely available online with the total of 21 interactive learning scenarios. The main target groups young people interested in agriculture and entrepreneurship, graduates of agriculture educational institutes, young NEETS, teachers/trainers/tutors from HE institutions, VET institutions, elementary and secondary schools, youth training centers, young people from isolated rural areas, adult education and training institutions and other related groups: career counselors and agencies, policy makers, youth educational networks, development agencies, youth agriculture and entrepreneurship networks.The main aims of the AGRIENT project were to :• Create an innovative curriculum based on agriculture and entrepreneurship, create an innovative 3D educational virtual world platform;• Promote entrepreneurship education for developing active citizenship, employability and creating new businesses, support future learning and career pathways for individuals,in accordance with their personal and professional development;• Update and improve instructors’ knowledge and support related professional groups, educational and youth institutions and training centres • Create a network of stakeholders at local and regional level to raise awareness of relevant institutions in the field;• Provide young people in isolated and remote rural areas with freely available and innovative learning environments to overcome geographic and economic obstaclesThe results of the project were materialized in the following Intellectual outputs:• O1: Design of Agro-Entrepreneurship Curriculum, Formulation of Innovative Courses and Creation of Open Educational Resources • O2: Game-based 3D Virtual Reality Educational Platform for Agro-Entrepreneurship EducationIn the final stage of outputs development, these were validated by selected participants during pilot testing, and the final results were improved according to their feedback andrecommendations. The project has developed user-driven and interactive training tools, which are unique in Europe; it had a major impact not only in terms of target beneficiaries, but also through relevance, usefulness and transferability of the project results.AGRIENT is a sustainable project and it developed innovative practices which are fully transferable to other areas. Both project outputs can be used as a model for educational processes, as a guideline how to proceed with the educational and methodological aspects of trainings not only in the subjects of agriculture and entrepreneurship, but they can also be adapted into other fields and sectors in education.

Gypsum soils occur worldwide and represent natural laboratories of evolution and ecology. The unusual mineral content of gypsum soils is a significant barrier to the growth of most plants, and yet these soils host highly diverse endemic floras that have evolved independently on five continents. Nevertheless, these ecosystems are poorly understood compared to those of other unusual substrates. Little is known about the conservation status of gypsum floras, the potential impact of climate change on them, and their responses to mitigation and restoration. We propose an integrated global study of the ecology and evolution of plant and lichen life on gypsum, including eight gypsum-rich regions from four continents that differ in geological origin, climate, and flora. We will 1) assess the plant and lichen diversity of gypsum; 2) investigate the evolutionary origins and assembly of these floras; 3) evaluate potential adaptive mechanisms on gypsum, the functional structure of gypsum plant and lichen communities, and the processes regulating gypsum ecosystem function; 4) analyse the responses of gypsum communities to global change drivers and explore how gypsum ecosystem restoration/conservation may help mitigate the effects of global change; 5) promote the study of gypsum ecosystems; and 6) communicate the ecological and conservation value of these ecosystems to the public. With the involvement of gypsum experts from 18 academic and non-academic organizations from 11 countries, this project provides an innovative, integrative, and interdisciplinary approach to address key questions in gypsum ecosystem ecology, evolution, and management. The project thus strengthens existing international collaborative networks and consolidates Europe’s leadership in gypsum ecosystem research, including management and conservation plans and the identification of traits for crop improvement on gypsum soils, enhancing its attractiveness as a leading destination for related R&D

The project will upgrade the Computation-based Science and Technology Research Center of The Cyprus Institute (CyI) into a Centre of Excellence in Simulation and Data Science (SIMDAS) in Cyprus by teaming it with the Forschungszentrum Jülich (FZJ). Local partners are three public institutions as holders and providers of key data, the Departments of Antiquities, and Meteorology, and the Nicosia General Hospital, and two SMEs, Hyperion Systems Engineering, and SignalGeneriX connecting the center directly to commercial applications. During Phase-1 a comprehensive business plan for the six-year development of the center will be prepared with a detailed research, innovation and educational roadmap, governance structure, outreach and sustainability plan. Outreach and dissemination activities will engage the research communities, governmental institutions, and industry. The long-term vision of the SIMDAS project to be realized in Phase-2 revolves around five themes: i) Simulation and data science fundamentals, tools and services: Develop methodologies, tools and services, including mathematical modeling, scalable data analytics and simulations algorithms, statistics, data management, mining, security and visualization, under a Transversal Lab. ii) Simulation and data-driven research: Enable scientific breakthroughs in the key areas of Digital Cultural Heritage, Health and Life Sciences, Solar Energy, Earth System Science and Physical Sciences. iii) Government and Industry: Pursue applications of tangible innovation potential in partnership with public and private institutions utilizing the industry expertise and structures of FZJ. iv) Education: Expand graduate educational and training programs in SIMDAS. v) Infrastructure: Design and build the knowledge environment and infrastructure for a sustainable operation and provisioning of computing and data-intensive services to the broader user communities, and promote the science hub role of CyI in the Eastern Mediterranean.

The vision of the EU aquaculture industry is to grow substantially in the next decade and to provide annually 4.5 million tons of sustainable food products. To this aim, NewTechAqua intends to expand and diversify EU production of finfish, molluscs and microalgae by developing and validating technologically-advanced, resilient and sustainable new solutions. The organizational approach of NewTechAqua is to group the solutions in 6 different categories: feed, Industry 4.0, sustainable farming, genetics, new species and new products. They will be validated on conventional (Atlantic salmon, rainbow trout, seabass and seabream) and emerging (greater amberjack, meagre, Senegalese sole and grey mullet) finfish species, molluscs (Pacific oyster, mussel) and microalgae. NewTechAqua is structured in 9 WPs. WP1 will conceive, formulate, produce and demonstrate three innovative sets of aquafeeds (pro-health, organic, zero waste). WP2 will establish new AI epidemiological models for enhancing the control of parasite outbreaks in Norwegian and Mediterranean farms. Sustainable aquaculture will be also promoted by advanced model systems and technologies for mollusc and in-land fish farms ecointensification. WP3 will develop innovative breeding programmes to improve performance, robustness and quality of farmed fish, molluscs and microalgae, while WP4 will achieve significant advances in reproduction technology of three emerging fish species. High-quality seafood products and sustainable food processing techniques for valorisation of by-products will be validated. WP6 will develop a set of indicators to monitor and measure progress towards the expected impacts, while market uptake of NewTechAqua results and outputs will be ensured by a detailed exploitation strategy (WP7). Finally, NewTechAqua will achieve well-targeted communication, dissemination and maximum transfer of generated know-how and project new technologies (WP8).

The overall objective of MeCCAM is to develop, implement and recommend climate mitigation and adaptation solutions and increase the resilience and sustainability in the fisheries sector. MeCCAM employs an integrated multi-actor approach to deliver relevant and feasible results to support the fishing industry and policymakers. The outputs include: decision support tools allowing fishers to mitigate and adapt to climate change; innovative fishing gears to improve selectivity, fuel efficiency, and minimise habitat damage; and an environmental impact management software to reduce carbon emissions, and other impacts across the value chain. The solutions will be designed and implemented within six case studies (CSs) which have been selected for their suitability to address a multitude of challenges posed by climate change. MeCCAM also builds adaptive capacity by delivering: climate-informed advice prototypes for CSs; mitigation and adaptation plans at the CS level, as well as general recommendations; CS-specific plans for commercial utilisation of emerging species; and a policy brief on how to improve governance for mitigation and adaptation in the sector. Project outputs will be evaluated for their environmental and socio-economic efficacy in close collaboration with stakeholders. MeCCAM´s evidence-based and demand-driven solutions have a high potential for transferability to various regions and contexts and will provide actors with tools and pathways to advance climate resilience. MeCCAM will, therefore, contribute to the European Green Deal, the Common Fisheries Policy, the European Biodiversity Strategy for 2030, the Farm to Fork Strategy, United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals 12, 13 and 14, as well as the Ocean Decade challenges 2, 3, 4, and 6.