The world demographic growth and global climate change are major challenges for human society,hence the need to design new strategies for maintaining high crop yield in unprecedented environmental conditions.The objective of TomGEM is to design new strategies aiming to maintain high yields of fruit and vegetables at harsh temperature conditions, using tomato as a reference fleshy fruit crop.As yield is a complex trait depending on successful completion of different steps of reproductive organ development, including flower differentiation and efficient flower fertilization,TomGEM will use trans-disciplinary approaches to investigate the impact of high temperature on these developmental processes.The core of the project deals with mining and phenotyping a vast range of genetic resources to identify cultivars/genotypes displaying yield stability and to uncover loci/genes controlling flower initiation,pollen fertility and fruit set.Moreover,since high yield and elevated temperatures can be detrimental to quality traits,TomGEM will also tackle the fruit quality issue.The goal is to provide new targets and novel strategies to foster breeding of new tomato cultivars with improved yield.The main strength of TomGEM resides in the use of unique and unexplored genetic resources available to members of the consortium.It gathers expert academic researchers and private actors committed to implement a multi-actor approach based on demand driven innovation.Tomato producers and breeders are strongly involved from design to implementation of the project and until the dissemination of results.TomGEM will provide new targets and novel strategies to foster the breeding of new tomato cultivars with improved yield under suboptimal temperature conditions.TomGEM will translate scientific insights into practical strategies for better handling of interactions between genotype,environment and management to offer holistic solutions to the challenge of increasing food quality and productivity.

Sweet Crosstalk is a multidisciplinary European Training Network built to address the challenge of understanding, at a molecular level, how glycans are involved at the human mucosa–microbiota interface, and how this correlates with human well-being. Research into the human microbiome has reshaped the paradigm of our health and disease. In order to advance further, the time has arrived to understand it at a molecular level. Glycans dominate the microbiota-host interface and are thus ideally positioned to modulate these complex interactions. The research strategy of the Sweet Crosstalk programme focuses on optimal synergy between chemistry and biology. Smart chemistry drives the research to get a molecular-level grip on the role of these glycocodes and their interacting proteins, and advances in biology directs the research. The high quality and credibility of our consortium is ensured by a strong private-public partnership with complementary expertise ranging from chemical synthesis, biochemistry, structural biology to microbiology and cell biology. Our 7 academic groups are all renowned leaders in the glycoscience and microbiome fields, whereas the complementary 4 SMEs are specialized in glycan-based diagnostics and prophylactic therapies. This unique combination of scientific excellence and industry know-how covers the entire process from obtaining fundamental insight to the development of innovative early diagnostics and glycotherapeutics. Sweet Crosstalk also represents a unique research platform to train 15 outstanding Early Stage Researchers to be the new generation of innovative scientists with expert knowledge and skills in interdisciplinary glycoscience and human microbiome research. Our international, intersectoral and interdisciplinary training programme will equip them with the necessary scientific and transferable skills that will make them highly competitive for both top European research institutions and the healthcare/biotech job market.

The WAVE project consortium is going to develop a new course focusing on the sustainable development of water areas and floodplains in urban and peri-urban contexts in Europe. Our learning format will be the so-called WAVE Living Lab in combination with the international WAVE Online Seminar. The project addresses the pressing issue of sustainable development of water areas and floodplains in the urban and peri-urban environment. Sustainable development of water areas and floodplains is still not achieving its full potential, although relevant policy is already in place. In order to address these profound sustainability challenges, we will set up a transformative educational programme with the following innovative elements:- Synthesizing interdisciplinary knowledge about water areas and floodplains- Active community involvement with a living lab approach- Linking universities with local communities in joint learning environments- Applying innovative methods for cross-sectoral assessment, strategy building and visioning for the sustainable development of water areas and floodplains- Bridging analysis, strategy building and design by innovative ICT approaches (Geodesign)- Foster the generation of innovative solutions by bridging disciplinary, sectoral and institutional boundaries under the common framework of water areas and floodplainsThe WAVE programme aims at involving an interdisciplinary audience of students as agents of transformative change for the benefits of the local water landscapes. Disciplines involved are mainly geography, agriculture, ecology, landscape architecture, urban and regional planning, architecture, social and urban studies. WAVE is a cooperation of six universities and three NGO-partners. In addition, all universities will build up a collaboration with their local communities on water areas in the form of WAVE Living Labs. The following universities are collaborating:Ovidius University Constanta, RO (applicant), Ion Mincu University Bucharest, RO, Estonian University of Life Sciences, EE, Nürtingen-Geislingen University, DE, Weihenstephan-Triesdorf University, DE, University Federico II, IT and ULB Brussels, BE. The consortium includes further the following NGO partners: LE:NOTRE Institute (NL), ISOCARP Institute (NL), APUR (RO).The project goals will be achieved by the following activities: (1) Development, testing and documentation of the WAVE methodology in partnership with local communities; (2) Building capacity of teachers to lead innovative inter- and transdisciplinary learning settings in Living Labs, (3) a series of blended learning activities combining student engagement in the local WAVE Living Labs, international reflection in the WAVE online course and international mobility of staff and students to one of the university’s ‘WAVE Living Labs ’ in the framework of five subsequent intensive study programmes.Upon project completion the following results are expected:(1) A tested, documented and transferable methodology and organisational framework for the ‘Wave Living Labs ’(2) A tested, documented and transferable methodology for facilitating a web-based online course on integrated planning and design for sustainable water landscapes(3) A significant development of water-related knowledge and transformative competence among everyone involved in the learning activities (students, staff and society partners)(4) A network of ideas and actors emerging from the WAVE Living Labs as a basis for ongoing collaboration (5) A Multiplier Event at mid-term of the project(5) Web-based communication platform(s) and social media channels for the WAVE Living Labs, these are established locally, but also connected Europe-wide through the project’s NGO Partners, making use of web-GIS technology(6) A shift in the mindsets considering the role of planners and designers and the design process itself, towards a more inclusive and participatory approach involving local communities as equal partnersWAVE is developed around the following four dimensions of innovation:(1) The water area as a joint reference (Landscape Approach)(2) Sharing different knowledge dimensions for a holistic understanding of water landscape dynamics (Interdisciplinary Approach)(3) Involving the public and local stakeholders in the knowledge creation and visioning process in Living Labs (Transformative Approach)(4) Bridging local and international learning processes by a combination of local field work, online education and platform development (Digital Approach)The WAVE programme aims at involving an interdisciplinary audience of university staff and students as agents of transformative change for the benefits of the local water landscapes. Disciplines involved are mainly geography, landscape architecture, urban and regional planning, architecture, social and urban studies. Another key target audience are local stakeholders and community members to be involved in the WAVE Living Labs.

<< Background >>In the EU-28, there are 17 million young people who are neither in employment nor in education and training (NEET). The 21st century, characterized by a fast-moving global economy, economic crisis, and many challenges of post-industrial society is considered a risk factor for the new generations to construct their future career paths, to school-to-work transition and social exclusion and marginalization. As the Eurostat (2021) shows, the NEET problem is urgent because its implications are two-fold: on a personal level, young are more likely and to suffer social exclusion; on a social level, they represent a considerable loss in terms of unused productive capacity and a high welfare payments cost.The psychological literature highlights that in this environment adolescents have difficulty thinking of their future: fear, insecurity, anxiety seems to replace the experiences of trust, security, and hope. In this scenario, it is important to support adolescents by promoting a positive vision of the future and to be proactive, stimulating the propensity to manage changes adaptively, with versatility, flexibility and enhancing hope and optimism for a meaningful future. NEFELE aims to impact at an upper level: through new teaching approaches for teachers, the project will promote a pedagogy that considers vocational and positive youth development. Acting on a teacher education level guarantee a relevant snowball effect (teachers and then adolescents). The actions of NEFELE focuses on Teacher Education: teachers are called upon to provide students with the support for developing skills and competences related to the transitions between different stages of education (high school-to-university) and/or school-to-work, promoting flexibility and adaptability, and a vision of the future that goes towards hope and optimism. NEFELE’s actions aim to tackle a crucial period for pupils future planning, i.e. middle school. Early adolescence (11-12 y.o.) is the active precursory engagement to develop initial career adaptabilities, concern about the future and confidence in future career choices. Following this rationale, it is strategic to impact on initial ITE and CPD. Being the teachers as scaffolders of adolescents’ career planning, it is urgent to train pre-service and in-service teachers of middle school, not adequately trained in this sense during university courses, to carry out this pedagogical need.<< Objectives >>NEFELE will model an innovative teaching methodologies for middle school teachers. Studies demonstrate the link between the role of teacher and adolescents career decision, but the teachers are not trained in HEI on these topics. NEFELE will impact on HEI courses through teachers in ITE courses and CPD who can impact on adolescentsNEFELE project fosters synergies between research and innovation in the field of education, supporting effective and innovative pedagogies and promoting new technologies as drivers of improvements in HE. The project aims to impact HE practices by improving innovative teacher methodologies for middle school teachers in supporting adolescents career construction’ based on Massive Open Online Courses, Tangible User Interfaces, and Open Educational Resources. MOOC will allow the implementation of the new learning methodology (first project result, PR1) impacting the pre-service and in-service teachers. Users will also be trained in the MOOC use (second project result) and in the game (NEFELE BOX, third project result) to be used in the middle school curricula, enhancing their digital skills. The game applies the TUI paradigm to enhance adolescents’ 21st-century career skills (e.g., curiosity, fantasy, creativity) and positive future orientation. Thus, the project aims to bridge the virtual environment of most game-based learning tools with the physical and tangible characteristics of real objects. TUIs paradigm presupposes the innovative aspect of the hybrid approach: digital and physical world at the same time. Finally, NEFELE tools will be shareable and usable in an open online repository (NEFELE PLATFORM, four project result). This platform will exploit the gamification principles, sharing OERs, and directly fostering digital skills. The actions contained in the NEFELE project are implemented to take positive and long-lasting effects through MOOCs, TUIs, and OERs in HEI courses. CONCRETE OBJECTIVES - Design an innovative methodological framework for enhancing Teacher Education courses in HEIs to teacher support in adolescents' career construction and producing guidelines and policy recommendation for enhancing HEI courses.- Design, implement and validate a training model in a MOOC based on the methodological framework for enhancing HEI courses.- Develop an authoring tool that allows the creation for the teachers of exercises and games as OERs for middle school pupils based on Tangible User Interfaces.- Develop a shared Platform based on a Gamification Approach to make the OERs. The platform also includes guidelines and recommendations to support career construction through enhancing HEI courses.- Promote and disseminate the project results at institutional, national, and EU levels by fostering a freely and easily adoption to policymakers, practitioners, researchers, and stakeholders.<< Implementation >>NEFELE project aims to reach the objectives with a 30-months project that involves 6 Partners from 5 different countries: Italy, Greece, Spain, Switzerland, Netherland.The project involves 4 higher education institutions, 1 company and 1 network of Universities in the field of distance education.NEFELE partnership includes:- UNINA (University of Naples) in Italy, the partner leader, that will bring its expertise in the in the areas of psychological and cognitive sciences, as well as in developed learning platforms and methodologies, including manipulative technologies, game-based learning, gamification and online courses.- UVEG (University of Valencia) in Spain which has a long tradition of Positive Psychology studies to promote well-being and health in adolescents.- HOU (Hellenic Open University) in Greece, which develops and maintenances online platforms and it is expert in the development and delivery of online courses and MOOCs- SUSPI (Scuola Universitaria Professionale della Svizzera Italiana) in Switzerland, which is recognized as a Teacher Training Professional University (centuries-old tradition) and provide its leading role in career guidance for adolescents.- SM (Smarted srl) in Italy, is a SME that will represent the technological branch of the NEFELE project bringing its expertise in applying technologies and innovative methodologies in education, included the paradigm of Tangible User Interfaces.- EADTU (European Association of Distance Teaching Universities) will bring to the Consortium its evaluation competences and an excellent network to reapply the NEFELE training course in different countries. EADTU is the leading institutional network for innovative online, open and flexible universities and is at the heart of the modernization agenda. These countries constitute a representative sample of Europe and can be replicated across other member states with the effort of the EADTU that is a network of 25 countries covering 200 universities.The project encompasses three main phases:Project investigation: the consortium wants to create an ad hoc, new, and innovative framework for teachers starting from Career Development Framework, Positive Youth Development Framework, and the TUIs Methodology. Specifically, the TUIs are natural candidates to lead a revamping of the classical psycho-pedagogical practices. These activities will be integrated and re-thinking to be useful strategies in teachers' hands. This first project result created a theoretical and methodological framework that be implemented in Teacher Education This prototype framework will be the input for the development of the MOOC, the NEFELE BOX, and the creation of OERs materials available on the NEFELE PLATFORM.ToolsDesign and creation of the tools usable by the teacher training. The consortium intends to create a MOOC through the definition of the Training Approach, and the syllabus based on the outcomes of the first project result.The second tool is the NEFELE BOX based on the TUIs paradigm. The final part of the MOOC will contain practical examples of the use of the NEFELE BOX. The tools will be presented in E6.PlatformCreation of the NEFELE PLATFORM to make the tools of the training model open, shareable and usable. Contents as OERs (produced by the Consortium and the participants during the co-design events) will be shared. The training model available on the Platform will be compliant with the norms of CPD programs and certification systems at stake in each country. The platform will make all the contents of the project shareable, guidelines and good practices for educational practitioners, policy recommendations, and allow the uploading of all contents to those who will use the NEFELE training model.<< Results >>Through the project results, the Consortium expects to enhance HE courses by providing innovation in Teaching Education. NEFELE (from ancient Greek, Νεφέλη) in Greek mythology is a nymph of the clouds. It is the name given to a magic cloud, which was modeled by Zeus guided by the appearance of Era. Providing adolescents with space to metaphorically look at and shape the clouds is meant to be a way to train their aspirations. Teachers can help pupils by developing these tasks. Thanks to its novel approach, the Partnership expects to achieve results at different levels and moments:SHORT-TERM- Sustainable training model for enhancing support adolescents’ career construction in middle school practice.- Enhancing teachers’ competences and digital skills by NEFELE training model. Co-design workshops (E2, E3, E4) are planned also to empower teachers’ digital skills through the implementation of the NEFELE box. Other teachers, teacher educators, and professionals in the field of education not involved in the events will have the possibility to learn these competences using the MOOC. Finally, users then add the OERs elements in the Platform to access digital creativity. Distance and blended learning needs are current topics in Teacher Education policy recommendations and curricula, not usually address appropriately.MEDIUM-TERM- Effect of the platform on other not directly involved in the project. We expect that the NEFELE PLATFORM is used by middle school teachers, educators, psychologists. It would be desirable that other people involved in adolescents' career choice can find inspiration from the OERs and then use, re-use, and adapt those resources.- Impact on adolescents. Teachers will use the new pedagogy in middle school classrooms, impacting adolescents. It will increase several 21st-century future-oriented skills (i.e., curiosity, fantasy, imagination, interests) enhancing career decision-making and future positive vision. The final goal is to bring adolescents to start “shaping their NEFELE”.- Use of NEFELE BOX in guidance practices. NEFELE dissemination and exploitation activities will boost the adoption of the BOX as a useful tool in the orientation practice of students in different settings (e.g., career guidance centers).LONG-TERM-Integration of the NEFELE model in HEI. The HEIs are expected to play a central role in the experience of integrating the project results into their policy and educational activities, internalizing it as a strategy and tools to integrate their activities. The open methodology of NEFELE is useful for this purpose.- Integration of the NEFELE training model in CPD programs. We expect that the open training (available on the NEFELE platform) and certified to users can be integrated into the curricula of in-service teachers and other professionals in the field of education.- Reducing NEET-rate. The pedagogical and technological approach has the final impact of reducing the NEET phenomenon, applying early prevention with actions on teacher education. We expect a long-term impact on career choices and transition points (i.e., from middle school to high school, from high school to university, school-to-work).