The goal of B4EST is to increase forest survival, health, resilience and productivity under climate change and natural disturbances, while maintaining genetic diversity and key ecological functions, and fostering a competitive EU bio-based economy. B4EST will provide forest tree breeders, forest managers and owners, and policy makers with: 1) better scientific knowledge on adaptation profiles and sustainable productivity, and added value of raw materials in important European tree species for forestry, 2) new and flexible adaptive tree breeding strategies, 3) tree genotypes of highly adaptive and economical value, 4) decision-support tools for the choice and use of Forest Reproductive Material (FRM) while balancing production, resilience and genetic diversity, including case studies developed with industrial partners, 5) integrative performance models to guide FRM deployment at stand and landscape level, 6) economic analyses of risks/benefits/costs, and 6) policy recommendations. B4EST will capitalise on the resources developed by past and current EU projects to produce -together with tree breeders, forest managers and owners, and the industry- operational solutions to better adapt forests to climate change and reinforce the competitiveness of the EU forest-based sector. To cover the geographical, economic and societal needs of forestry in the EU, B4EST will work with 8 (six native, two non-native) conifers and broadleaves with advanced breeding programmes (Norway spruce, Scots pine, maritime pine, poplars, Douglas-fir, eucalypts) or that are case studies of pest-threatened forests (ash) or valuable non-wood products (stone pine). Our approach will result in a high degree of data and knowledge integration, involving multiple and new target traits and their trade-offs; genomic information; temporal and spatial assessments in a wide range of environments; stakeholder demands; and forest owner and manager risk perception and acceptability of new breeding strategies.

Accelerating the transition from animal-based to alternative dietary proteins – the dietary shift – is key to reducing the footprint of our food system in terms of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), energy, water and land use, and other relevant environmental impacts, and for improving the health and well-being of people, animals and the planet. GIANT LEAPS delivers the strategic innovations, methodologies, and open-access datasets to speed up this dietary shift, in line with the Farm-to-Fork strategy and contributing to the Green Deal target of reaching climate neutrality by 2050. Achieving the dietary shift in practice is inherently complex due to the diverse set of actors involved and further hindered by major knowledge gaps, scattered across the various alternative protein sources and the domains of health (safety, allergenicity and digestibility), environment (GHGs and other environmental and climate impacts, biodiversity, circularity), and/or barriers to adoption (technological, sensory, and consumer acceptance). The GIANT LEAPS consortium consists of the key actors and spans all expertise to address relevant knowledge gaps and proactively engages to arrive at optimized future diets based on alternative proteins that are broadly accepted across stakeholder groups. In order to deliver required insights for short-, mid- and long-term decision making and impact, GIANT LEAPS protein sources have been selected for either targeted or full assessment based on their current level of specification. The innovations and improved methods combined with accessible and comprehensive information, generated for a wide collection of alternative proteins, will enable policymakers to prioritise changes in the food system towards the dietary shift based on desired impact, value chain actors to make strategic scientific, business and investment choices, and the general public to make more sustainable and healthy dietary choices.