Lakes provide an important water resource for agricultural and industrial purposes, and form a critical habitat for plants and animals. Understanding the hydrological functioning of lakes is fundamental to understand hydrological feedbacks related to changing environmental conditions in the context of current climate change and also of increasing importance for environmental policy. Stable isotope ratios of water (2H/1H, 18O/16O) are widely used in lake hydrology studies, providing information on the hydrological balance of lake systems. However, in cases where the system is under-defined, a full quantitative assessment of the lake’s hydrological balance is challenging. Recent investigations have demonstrated that the additional analysis of the rare oxygen-17 isotope can provide additional quantitative information about the hydrological and environmental conditions during lake evaporation. The HydrO-17 Project will explore the potential of the triple oxygen isotope analysis (18O, 17O, 16O), expressed as 17O-excess, for quantitative hydrological balancing of lakes by examining the seasonal isotope evolution of hydrologically different lake systems in the Andalusian lowlands, Southern Spain, where agricultural overexploitation of groundwater aquifers over the last decades led to a severe water deficit. Current climate change will further intensify these problems. The results of the project will contribute to the understanding of the hydrological functioning of lake systems in Andalusia, with implications for local water management strategies. The approach has potential application to lakes in other regions in the world. The outcomes will also help to improve the interpretation of paleoclimate and paleoenvironmental information obtained from paleo-lake sediment archives.

In the last decade, the production and consumption of organic food has increased dramatically worldwide. The EU organic food market generates a turnover of more than 22 billion € with a total of approximately 11 million ha and 250,000 farms (2013). However, based on the literature reviewed, neither internal supply nor the legislative framework has kept up with this market expansion, been necessary a further harmonisation of methodology in data collection. On the other hand, the lack of reliable markers for the discrimination between organic and conventional products makes this market susceptible to attempted fraud. The Commission Regulation in a recent report (No 889/2008) highlights the need for greater cooperation between industry, Government, enforcement agencies, consumer groups and organisations. In this context, the project proposes to confirm the utility of the new state-of-the-art techniques in mass spectrometry analysis (IRMS and HRMS), in combination with MSA, to improve information (qualitative/quantitative) in both food control safety and quality and their application to organic products. It will offer analytical approaches to (i) obtain wide-ranging information about contaminants, (ii) determine natural components and (iii) establish (dis)similarities between products. The “ORGANIC QUAL TRACERS” project comes in response to the key requirement for solving the authentication challenges in the organic-food sector, especially in organic vegetables as they are the pioneering products in Europe. The proposal offers a contribution to the objectives set out in the Horizon 2020 Strategy (“A strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth”).

Every landscape on Earth is influenced to some degree by people, and in turn, societies and cultures are shaped by landscapes. Biocultural diversity is the notion that biological and cultural diversity are dependent on each other, and that biological diversity is managed, conserved, and created by different cultural groups. Agricultural landscapes are visibly shaped by human practices, and in these areas the relationship between nature and culture runs deep, where everyday practices and traditions have coevolved with the environment over millennia. This is especially true in Mediterranean agricultural landscapes where the traditional management of the land have endured over millennia. However, these landscapes depend on human interventions and currently are threatened by their abandonment, driving by migration to more urban areas, intensification processes, or aging of population, having a direct impact on the human well-being of local communities. In this project, I propose an interdisciplinary methodology to identify how gender equity can promote pathways for future conservation of mountain agricultural in the biocultural regions of the Sierra Nevada mountain range in South of Spain. To this end, I will first (1) evaluate current and future biocultural practices developed by local communities in the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range. Then (2) I will map biocultural practices as elements for conservation of landscapes and the ecosystem services provided using a gender perspective. Finally (3), based on participatory approaches, I will identify future pathways to secure the maintenance of local well-being and the conservation of biocultural landscapes to foster gender equity and landscape sustainability. By considering traditional ecological knowledge, perspectives and needs, the project will inherently address broader societal issues such as gender and environmental justice, with the last goal to support future development of rural areas in south of Spain.

"CONTENT & BACKGROUNDWith thousands of adults & children, legally defined as refugees and asylum seekers on their way to a destination country within the EU, trying to integrate in a new host society, there is soaring demand for up-to-date training for an emerging group of humanitarian professionals: the Cultural Mediators that work in the field with refugees. Cultural mediators employed by NGOs and other private and/or public entities that provide humanitarian support, need up-to-date Vocational Education and Training (VET) curricula, openly available to their growing community, as well as to organisations responsible for their vocational training. They are in need of tailored, comprehensive, and open educational resources (OERs) to a) respond immediately providing support in situ, where big populations of refugees are gathered (e.g. ports, borders, islands, etc), and b) assist in the long-term social integration of refugees in the EU host societies promoting solidarity and well-being. The project respons to the challenge to address emerging skills requirements as regards: a) conflict management, b) communication challenges in a multicultural context, c) working with people who suffer from the psychological trauma often caused by war, displacement and hardship experiences in transit countries & dangerous travels, d) adapting to the continuously changing national & EU regulation regarding refugees, d) assisting in the relocation & mobility of refugees within Europe, e) battling rumors that create confusion, xenophobia and conflict in the hosting communities etc.OBJECTIVESReCULM project formed a Strategic Partnership, with the objectives to:1. Develop up-to-date VET curricula, grounded on original learning outcomes (Knowledge, skills and competences), to support NGOs, humanitarian organisations, academic VET providers, institutes & public services to train and up-skill Cultural Mediators and other humanitarian professionals, in order to face emerging everyday work challenges related to the refugees' integration needs in the EU host societies. 2. Support Cultural Mediators to address their self-paced learning and their self-training requirements related to the refugees’ needs, by developing easy to access Open Educational Resources (OERs) and a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC). 3. Facilitate mutual recognition of the ReCULM learning outcomes and of the professional profile that these learning outcomes describe towards the development of national and EU accreditation for Cultural Mediators that work with refugees.PARTNER ORGANISATIONFour partner institutions representing Education and Research related to the Cultural Mediators and the refugees' needs in Greece, Italy, Spain and the UK formed the ReCULM Strategic Partnership. In specific: the National Center for Social Research - EKKE (EL), the University of Modena and Regio Emilia - UNIMORE (IT), the University of Almeria - UAL/CEMYRI (ES) and the University of Glasgow - UGLA (UK) joined forces and expertise implementing all the project's activities, outputs and events.UNDERTAKEN ACTIVITIES & METHODOLOGY1. Development of original learning outcomes and OERs based on skills needs data collected from field experts and Cultural Mediators.2. Creating a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC).3. Establishing a support context involving education and field authorities for the future accreditation of Cultural Mediators based on the developed learning outcomes. 5. Disseminating and evaluating the developed course involving target group users in the process.RESULTS 1. Original learning outcomes (knowledge, skills and competences) to support VET provision for Cultural Mediators who work with refugees. 2. One modular course consisted of six learning units (five topics each), learning (624 slides) and assessment materials (40 case studies, 108 Q&As) provided as OERs.4. A ReCULM Massive Open Online Course, pilot tested twice, followed by almost 4.000 international learners, and evaluated.5. A Support Statement and a Strategic Plan for the valorisation of the ReCULM on an EU level.6. Four national workshops to promote results and evaluate the course.IMPACT AND POST-PROJECT SUSTAINABILITYThe ReCULM project achieved very high impact during its implementation period, since it produced a first international ""pool"" of Cultural Mediators attending & evaluating the MOOC during its two pilot sessions (nearly 4000 learners). However, the most important long term benefit is expected to come from the EU framework of Education, Accreditation and Migration EU authorities that expressed their support towards the development of formal recognition of the professional profile of the Cultural Mediator based on the ReCULM learning outcomes. Furthermore, the project's OERs will be adapted in the context of a new Erasmus+ project (which just started lasting 30 months), namely Inter4Ref, to synergistically support the needs of interpreters in Cultural Mediation."