
PollinERA aims to reverse pollinator population declines and reduce the harmful impacts of pesticides. It addresses the call through four objectives: SO1 filling ecotoxicological data gaps to enable realistic prediction of the source and routes of exposure and impact of pesticides on pollinators and their sensitivity to individual pesticides and mixtures. SO2 developing and testing a co-monitoring scheme for pesticides and pollinators across European cropping systems and landscapes, developing risk indicators and mixture exposure information. SO3 developing models for predicting pesticide toxicological effects on pollinators for chemicals and organisms, environmental fate, toxicokinetic/toxicodynamic, and population models. SO4 developing a population-level systems-based approach to risk and policy assessment considering multiple stressors and long-term spatiotemporal dynamics at the landscape scale and generating an open database for pollinator/pesticide data and tools. This will be achieved through developing knowledge and protocols for a broad range of toxicological testing, feeding to in silico models (QSARS, toxicokinetic/toxicodynamic, and population). Using a strong stakeholder co-development approach, these models will be combined in a One System framework taking a systems view on risk assessment and policy evaluation, including an international monitoring program. The One System framework is based on EFSA’s system ERA view, expanding on the tools used for bees to include butterflies, moths and hoverflies. The consortium partners are experts in the field needed for this development and are well-placed to facilitate the uptake of tools by European bodies to guarantee the project's future impact. Expected impacts target Destination impacts of better understanding and addressing drivers of biodiversity decline, interconnected biodiversity research using digital technologies, and understanding the biodiversity and health nexus at the ecosystem level.
TOWARDS A SYSTEM BASED, HOLISTIC ENVIRONMENTAL RISK ASSESSMENT OF CHEMICALS (SYBERAC) Biodiversity is key to modern society, sustaining natural resources and providing essential ecosystem services. According to the UN Sustainable Development goals, the European Green Deal, the EU Biodiversity strategy and other European and national level Directives and strategic regulations, pollution is one of the main drivers of biodiversity loss. The risks resulting from the use, release and effects of chemical on the environment is addressed in a plethora of EU-level Directives and regulatory strategies, each with specific (chemical) targets and protection aims. There is, however, concern that such a fragmented approach does alleviate the threats of chemicals to biodiversity and ecosystem services. To protect genetic and functional biodiversity from pollution impacts, a paradigm shift is needed. This transformation should move beyond the current fragmented Environmental Risk Assessment (ERA) performed in specific regulatory silos, e.g., Plant Protection Products (PPPs)regulation for pesticides, REACH for industrial chemicals and Biocides framework for Biocidal chemicals, towards a harmonised and systems-based ERA applicable to all chemicals, species and land use functions. To make this advance, SYBERAC will provide ways forward to rationalise the current silo-based Protection Goals into high-level system-based Protection Goals and to operationalise their use within systems-based ERA robust and broadly applicable ERA structures. Six case studies, overarching different silos of current ERA will provide proof-of-concepts of the developed approaches. Based on targeted stakeholder engagement, in close cooperation with other relevant projects on the topic, results and outcomes will be disseminated towards a wide audience, including national and EU level regulatory institutions, industrial partners but also land managers, farmers and conservation bodies.