One Health is a concept initially promoted by FAO, OIE, and the WHO, that seeks to join forces to combat public health threats arising from interactions between animals, humans, and the environment. The COVID-19 pandemic has once again demonstrated the importance of the animal-human-health interface in the emergence of infectious diseases. Although not all zoonoses (diseases which can be transmitted to humans from animals) cause pandemics, most pandemics have a zoonotic origin, and knowledge of the determinants associated with them must form the basis of prevention strategies. However, so far this approach has been confined only at a broader policy level and to the academia, with research that have not yet been able to spill down to the agricultural vocational education and training sector, and to the workers that should actually use this framework with their interaction with animals and the environment. To bridge this gap, LIVET aims at developing and pilot testing an innovative VET curriculum at EQF 5 level focused on the management and practical application of the One Health principles into the livestock farming and animal husbandry sector. The project will develop an xMOOC at EQF 5 level on the adoption of the One Health approach into the livestock farming sector; three Specialisation courses at EQF 5 level on Animal welfare, Zoonoses, and Antimicrobial use and resistance; an Autumn School on One Health, Resilience Skills, and Integrated Risk Management; and a period of work-integrated learning for 60 learners. The project will also develop a new One Health Advisor qualification profile, and a VET curriculum related to such profile. The target groups of the project are graduates of agricultural technical vocational education institutions, undergraduate students in agriculture or veterinary science who have not completed their degree yet, advisors, consultants, technicians or supervisors of livestock farms, and specialised livestock workers with management roles.

Polyploidization is a major force in the evolution of both wild and cultivated plants. The remarkable superiority of polyploids has been noticed plant breeders, who have used this trait in different approaches in order to obtain increasingly improved plant cultivars. Moreover, polyploidization is likely to be one of the most important mechanisms of sympatric speciation. All seed plants have experienced at least one round of whole genome duplication in their evolutionary history. The formation of polyploid plants within diploid populations tends to be isolated events. And even when a polyploid individual is formed, to reproduce it will cross with diploids, and this match is unsuccessful for the existence of the “triploid block”, a critical biological barrier in the production of viable seeds. Many species are sensitive to triploid seed production, but not all. Little is known about how polyploid plants were formed in nature and the way that triploid block has emerged in plants. Therefore, understanding of the genetic network controlling the triploid block will be fundamental since this is a preliminary step in the generation of polyploids. Here we propose: i) to study natural and recently synthesized polyploid series of several species that have been extensively characterized in the past few decades from the physiological, reproductive and ecological aspects; ii) to fill the gaps in the information on non-model species regarding: chromosomal changes, gene loss, gene expression, methylation and physiological changes and ecological features and iii) to understand the genetic network controlling the triploid block viability. The overall goal of the proposal is to allow for a synergy of inter-related European and international expertise to better understand the mechanisms of polyploidization and to facilitate the application of this increased knowledge in plant breeding.

ELECTROU will install the first MW fuel cell in Europe fully integrated into a building at the high profile redevelopment at Kings Cross, London. This includes the full use of power & heat generated by the fuel cell within the local building, the site wide heat, power and cooling networks, and extends to water re-use and support of the micro grid. ELECTROU will prove that the multi-MW installation due to operational efficiency and negligible emissions will massively improve local and EU wide carbon emission targets. Designed to be an outdoor installation the plant will be adapted to indoor requirements e.g. space, ventilation, and safe access and egress. Up-scaling more than 3 times the installed capacity compared to current indoor installations is a critical step for large scale deployment within building applications. The use of fuel cells in this critical sector is currently prevented due to the high spatial requirements of multiple smaller modules, high capital cost compared to other technologies, and complexity of integration. ELECTROU will break all of these barriers. The project will demonstrate to key decision makers, investors and financiers that there is a near term route to produce electricity and heat in a highly efficient way by a technology which is commercially viable today. ELECTROU will prove through funding support that multi-MW installations within buildings can make an investment grade return without the need for any form of local or EU subsidy, this is a critical step in making the sector viable. A targeted dissemination campaign will be performed to share all of the results with stakeholders and the general public that promotes the technical, commercial and environmental benefits of this mature but high tech technology. We will develop one valid process for all fuel cell installations in Europe by supporting the set-up of simplified regulations, codes and standards that as a result will positively influence market entry throughout the EU.