In Europe, and globally, substantial numbers of young people are at risk of social exclusion, and there is therefore a pressing need to develop more knowledge and innovation to create more inclusive and youth-friendly societies. Citizen social science might contribute to these needs, but the actual outcomes of citizen social science and its innovative potential is uncertain. YOUCOUNT will therefore, through cocreative youth citizen social science (Y-CSS) including youths in the age of 15- 29 years as citizen scientists, produce new knowledge of positive drivers for social inclusion of youth at risk of exclusion, and cocreate innovations and policy-making. Moreover, to provide evidence of the actual outcomes of Y-CSS through hands on citizen science activities. The project includes four substudies: 1) Development of a framework for Y-CSS together with a transdisciplinary consortium and multilevel platform of key experts and stakeholders in a European and international setting. 2) Implementation of a multiple case study of Y-CSS projects in nine countries across Europe where over 900 young citizen scientists and nine local living labs will cocreate innovations together. 3) Mixed-methods evaluation of the outcomes and impact of the Y-CSS activities, and a multi-criteria assessment of the costs and benefits of Y-CSS, and 4) Creation of social and scientific impact through widespread scaling up and continuity. These activities will lead to robust knowledge and scientifically reasoned measures to promote Y-CSS and social change. The project will support dissemination and education in Y- CSS, and make synergies with other CS related projects and initiatives, in particularly with citizen social science.

The Japanese beetle, Popillia japonica, is one of the worst invasive pests of North America. Costs to control the pest in the US exceed $450 million per year. P. japonica was detected near Milano in 2014, and is now starting to spread in Europe. It is an enormous threat to Europe, since (1) it can feed on more than 300 host plants, including many important crops, (2) it is a good flyer and can be relocated via movement of goods and people, (3) climate suitability puts at risk an area ranging from the Atlantic to the Black Sea, and from the Mediterranean to Great Britain and Southern Scandinavia. EFSA and the JRC of the European Commission nominated P. japonica a candidate high priority pest in the EU in the new EU Plant health Law. IPM-Popillia has the aim to counteract this invasion. The project will provide fast and reliable monitoring tools, including an app-based citizen science approach to rise public awareness. Its main deliverable will be an IPM-Toolbox for control of P. japonica, relying exclusively on environmentally friendly control measures. Several teams of the consortium will collaborate in the core of the recent outbreak area, doing practical research in an European environment that can be applied immediatedly. The ambition of IPM-Popillia is to show that it is possible to control the new pest, and meet the requirements of quarantine regulations, and at the same time respect the environment and the principles of the sustainable use directive. IPM-Popillia will provide an integrated pest management strategy against P. japonica at a very early timepoint of the invasion process. So far, the new pest is still confined to one single and comparatively small area of about 6’000 square kilometres on mainland Europe. This timeliness is exceptional when compared to previous invasions into Europe, and will significantly enhance chances for successful containment, provided that the starting signal is given NOW.

The TRANSEATION main objective is to demonstrate the effectiveness of marine and coastal hybrid blue-grey infrastructures and validate a new level of ecosystem-based management combining nature-based solutions, social implication digitalization to the protection and restoration of marine ecosystem health and services. To ensure the success of this main objective, the TRANSEATION project counts on partners and collaborators with broad expertise in relevant areas covering four types of entities in the project (from research and technological centers to companies and offshore industrial operators) as follows: managerial (CMCC, IOW, GLP, CTN), industrial (SAITEC, ITASKORDA, GEOCORAIL, CCELL), scientifical (OE, UOH, CMCC, AZTI, GAIKER, IOW, DTU, CTN) and participatory (SO, ECOOCEAN, AZTI, CTN, CMCC). In addition, this project implements three user cases towards marine and coastal infrastructures, considering the different life cycle stages. Then, the following 5 specific objectives are identified: Specific objective 1. Apply EBM through a systema approach to integrate hybrid NbS in marine and coastal infrastructures to support the preservation and restoration of marine biodiversity and ecosystem services simultaneously with addressing multiple societal challenges (environmental, social and economic benefits). Specific objective 2. Demonstrate the effectiveness of [3] type of coastal and marine infrastructures as hybrid NbS both to preserve ecosystems and support their restoration considering its replicability and scaled-up. Specific objective 3. To identify limiting factors, gaps and current issues of existing LEED initiative regarding “blue building”, setting up links with previous projects. Specific objective 4. To analyze the benefits and potential trade-off of these hybrid solutions in short and long-term for marine biodiversity and ecosystem services protection and restoration. Specific objective 5. Digital solutions for monitoring, analysis and social involvement

Plastic use in agriculture has tremendously increased in the past decades resulting in soil pollution with plastic residues forming besides macroplastics micro (MP) and nanoplastics (NP). MINAGRIS aims to contribute to healthy soils in Europe by providing a deeper understanding and tools to assess the impact of MP and NP in agricultural soil health. To create an overview on the actual situation across Europe, MINAGRIS will assess the use of different plastic polymers in agricultural systems in 11 case study across Europe and identify the resulting types and concentrations of MPs and NPs. Concentrations of other stressors in soils such as pesticides and veterinary drugs will be additionally assessed. MINAGRIS will provide validated analytical tools that allow the quantification and identification of MPs and NPs in soils. Based on the results of the case study sites, controlled experiments will be conducted to analyse the impact of MPs and NPs on physico-chemical soil properties, soil biodiversity, plant productivity, and Ecosystem Services, as well as their potential transfer to other parts of the environment and plants. Furthermore, synergistic effects with other stressors are assessed. Quantification of the impacts of MNP on soil biodiversity and agricultural productivity, their transport and degradation in the environment, their impacts on socio-economic components, and synergies between all of them will make it possible to identify, in a multifactorial vision, the benefits and risks associated with the use of plastics in agriculture. Based on the results, MINAGRIS will quantify the economic, environmental, and social consequences of unsustainable soil management at the field and farm level in different biogeographical regions and, through a Multi-Actor Approach (MAA), develop a practical toolbox for and with farmers for the rapid assessment of soil exposure, at the same time raising relevant stakeholders’ and end-users’ awareness of the issue.

The EFFECTIVE main objective is to develop a comprehensive scientific knowledge base and practical guidance, combining science, technological nature-based solution, digitalization, and social implication for the application of the Ecosystem-Based management to the protection and restoration management of the EU’s Mediterranean Blue Natural Capital. To ensure the success of this main objective, the EFFECTIVE project counts on partners with broad expertise in relevant areas covering all the three pillars of the EBMS (from applying research stages until companies) as follows: managerial pillar, information pillar, and participation pillar and also a nature-based solution. In addition, this project provides the implementation of the EBMS in four pilot areas (Mar de l’Empordà, Ebro Delta, Sardinia Septentrional, Cavo Greco) towards protection and restoration solutions, besides taking into account the connectivity between three of them through the existing Cetacean Migration Corridor. To achieve the EFFECTIVE main objective, the following 5 specific objectives (SO) are identified: SO 1. Apply EBMS to identify, analyze and extend an ecological corridor in the Mediterranean Sea, connecting habitats and biodiversity. SO 2. Apply EBMS to analyse and extend the status of [4] MPA in the Mediterranean Sea. SO 3. Demonstrate [4] nature-based seabed protection and restoration solutions, including preserving seabed carbon sequestration capacity, in a real environment. SO 4. To identify limiting factors, gaps and recommendations of existing MPA legislation regarding environmental and anthropogenic pressures, setting up links with previous projects. SO 5. To implement an innovative digital data visualization and aggregation tool in the form of a Digital Twin for enabling data exploration, research, participation and citizen science.