PASPACK 4.0 aims to produce an innovative and sustainable bio-based food packaging from Mediterranean agri-food by-products and waste, especially pomegranate (peel and seeds) and dates (date pits, molasses), to contribute to addressing the dilemma of food waste and the overuse of plastic in food packaging. This will be achieved by harnessing innovative technologies, mainly those of fourth industrial revolution (I4.0) innovations, such as smart sensors, nanotechnology, artificial intelligence, blockchain, 3D printing, and radio-frequency identification (RFID), to develop a sustainable alternative smart food packaging with the following features: to be able to reduce food waste and plastic food packaging material; to be active to maintain food quality and improve shelf-life; to be sustainable and cost-effective, obtained from agri-food by-products and waste, using emerging green extraction and processing technologies; to be flexible and suitable for application to different food categories; and to be intelligent to monitor food quality and safety and tell the consumer about freshness of the packaged food. Our innovative approach will be based on polysaccharide-cellulose nanocrystals matrix, designed from date and pomegranate by-products and waste, enriched by bioactive compounds to enhance the antimicrobial and antioxidant capacity of the developed packaging film. An anthocyanin-based pH-sensitive indicator will be developed and RFID tags will be implemented to monitor food freshness. Moreover, blockchain applications will be used to provide relevant information about the traceability of food along the supply chain, constituting the originality and novelty of the proposed packaging solution. The smart packaging will be tailored and adopted to improve the shelf-life of highly perishable products, such as fish, meat, and cheese. The project is subdivided into seven work packages with well-defined goals and tasks, which falls perfectly under the multi-actor approach given the strong and diverse set of stakeholders (17 partners from 9 Mediterranean countries) involved in this project.

SUSTEMICROP is a Research and Innovation project that aims to increase the resilience of Mediterranean cropping systems and the competitiveness of small farmers in a climate change-affected environment, through the development of innovative, affordable, and systemic solutions with positive economic, environmental, and societal impacts. SUSTEMICROP will deliver a package of sustainable strategies, products, and tools that, when applied individually or adopted as a whole under integrated management, will allow small farmers to increase their competitiveness, adopt innovations and achieve overall sustainability. The project Consortium is composed of 11 Partners from 8 different countries, covering a range of complementary competences and skills. They all have specialised profiles and possess in-depth knowledge of the role that natural capital plays in developing crop strategies oriented towards sustainability, impact assessment, digital management tools, and an extensive capacity for the development of solutions adapted to small-scale farming for the project target crops (hop, grapevine (both vine and table grapes) and date palm), with high replicability and transferability potential into other crops and Mediterranean regions. Partners will execute SUSTEMICROP over 36 months with a total budget of € 2.248.894,80 requesting a public contribution of € 1.464.049,00. The project will generate broad scientific-technological knowledge (TRL 4) and develop applicable solutions (TRL 7), under an overall approach structured in 4 technological areas: 1) the selection of new Biological Control Agents (BCAs) and the use of compostable plant residues to generate BCA-amended compost to control soil-borne fungal pathogens; 2) the use of biopesticides based on natural resources for controlling key plant fungal diseases; 3) the use of fungal disease resistant crop varieties (genotypes) better adapted to adverse effects due to climate change and 4) sustainability assessment of agroecological innovations and related digital solutions support tools. In addition, the project foresees activities to approach the farmer (and other relevant stakeholders) to evaluate the agroecological innovations acceptance, allowing to connect the results generated with the reality of the primary sector. Overall, SUSTEMICROP will generate a significant and quantifiable impact, in the short term (2024) and medium term (2030), aligned with PRIMA SRIA and the 2030 SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS, that will contribute to achieve the European GREENDEAL, the FARM-TO-FORK and the EU BIODIVERSITY STRATEGY in the agri-food chain.