As Europe shifts to a bio-based circular economy, a plethora of new packaging restrictions have emerged. MAGNO seeks to improve packaging effectiveness, sustainability, efficient usage, end-of-life (reuse and recycling), and innovative business practices in EU food systems through revolutionary strategies shaped for the ecological transition required by the European Green Deal and EU 2030 climate target plan. These strategies will strengthen the EU food and packaging policy frameworks at a local and regional level. They will also increase social innovation, consumer participation and acceptance of new packaging designs and production models in cross-border food value chains through a web platform and a series of citizen science tools. At the beginning of the project, an overview of Europe’s ecosystems and value chains for different kinds of plastic packaging will be studied. A detailed quantification of impacts and solutions in terms of health, environment, raw materials, and sustainability will then be developed to set the basis of an Ecosystem Digital Twin software. The Digital Twin will be programmed to support the analysis of different scenarios which contributes by not only providing ground-breaking strategies for improving the packaging sector but also identifying the best options in terms of innovative business. The whole project will be supported by the active participation of food multi-actors (researchers, food business operators, food packaging producers, developers of sustainable packaging, packaging converters and recyclers, consumers, and local and regional authorities). Their contribution to the creation of results and validation of the final strategies will prevent and reduce plastic packaging pollution for the food and packaging sectors.

EMERTOX aims at mapping the actual situation in emergent marine toxins and the producing organisms, developing new approaches to assess their occurrence and predicting the possible future scenarios in the framework of global warming. The partnership, formed by a multidisciplinary team, will produce a joint research and innovation project that will exploit the complementary expertise of the participants and will create synergies among them. The main objectives are: 1- to assess the current situation on potentially harmful algae and bacteria and the relevant emerging toxins in 8 countries belonging to different but geographically connected areas (Mediterranean Sea and North Atlantic); 2- to develop innovative approaches to sample, and analyze the producing organisms and their toxins by chemical and biological methods including immunoassays and sensors; 3- to estimate different future scenarios based on molecular data (routes of dispersion) and modelling.

CLAIM focuses on the development of innovative cleaning technologies and approaches, targeting the prevention and in situ management of visible and invisible marine litter in the Mediterranean and Baltic Sea. Two innovative technological methods will be developed, a photocatalytic nanocoating device for cleaning microplastics in wastewater treatment plants and a small-scale thermal treatment device for energy recovery from collected litter on board ships and ports. An innovative floating boom for collecting visible litter and a method to measure microlitter on board ships (Ferrybox) will be developed. The proposed cleaning technologies and approaches prevent litter from entering the sea at two main source points, i.e. wastewater treatment plants and river mouths. Effectiveness of developed devices and methods will be demonstrated under real conditions. Additionally, CLAIM will develop innovative modeling tools to assess the marine visible and invisible plastic pollution at basin and regional scales (Saronikos Gulf, Gulf of Lion, Ligurian Sea, Gulf of Gabes and Belt Sea). An ecosystems approach will be followed to evaluate the potential benefit from proposed litter cleaning methods to ecosystem services. New business models will be developed to enhance the economic feasibility for upscaling the innovative cleaning technologies, taking into account the existing legal and policy frameworks in the CLAIM countries, as well as acceptance of the new technologies by their end-users and relevant stakeholders. The data and information produced will be made available to policymakers, stakeholders and end-users in a user-friendly format,both meaningful and tailored to each stakeholder group. CLAIM aims at the same time to raise public awareness with respect to having healthy oceans and seas, clean of litter and pollutants, and hence the importance of reducing marine (macro, micro and nano) pollution in European seas and beyond towards restoring marine ecosystems based on a circular economy.

Production and productivity of Mediterranean marine fish aquaculture, mainly seabass and seabream, are stagnating or growing slowly as a result of multiple and interrelated causes. To accomplish the objective of improving its competitiveness and sustainability, MedAID is structured in a first interdisciplinary WP to assess technical, environmental, market, socioeconomic and governance weaknesses, and in several specialized WPs exploring innovative solutions, followed by an integrating WP, which will provide codes of practice and innovative tool-boxes throughout the value chain to enhance the sector performance holistically. Various stakeholders will interact in the consultation, communication, dissemination and training WPs ensuring practical orientation of the project and results implementation. Biological performance (nutrition, health and genetics) will be scrutinized to identify and quantify the relevant components to improve Key Performance Indicators (KPIs: growth rates, mortality and feed efficiency), thus contributing to increase production efficiency. Economic, business, marketing, environmental, social, administrative and legal factors will be addressed to obtain integrated solutions to shift towards a market-oriented and consumer-responsible business and to face the multiple administrative, environmental and social issues constraining competitiveness and public acceptance. An interdisciplinary consortium of research and industrial partners will carry out R&D and case study activities to close the existing gaps. Mediterranean countries (EU and non-EU) with significant aquaculture production are represented. Northern European R&D institutions will participate by bringing successful technological tools and integrated approaches that Mediterranean aquaculture is missing today. MedAID will impact the sector positively by providing innovative tools, integrated marketing and business plans and by improving the sector image, sustainability and governance.