AQURI Poor air quality (AQ) is of major concern to policy makers and public alike, but is proving impervious to current mitigation efforts. In many areas, the dominant source of air pollution is the formation of secondary pollutants (ozone and aerosol) from the atmospheric reactions of volatile organic compounds, over 90% of which are biogenic in origin. Yet few atmospheric chemistry models currently used to simulate AQ include dynamic representations of interactions between the terrestrial biosphere and the atmosphere. Furthermore, elevated ozone concentrations damage vegetation, reducing productivity and altering emissions of biogenic ozone precursors. This project will address these critical omissions, developing a ground-breaking model of the exchange of trace gases and particles between forest canopies and the atmosphere that can be used to improve the performance of AQ models. The model will be applied to determine the effects of peri-urban forests on urban AQ and vice versa. Trans-disciplinary research in plant ecophysiology and atmospheric science at key experimental sites based in a peri-urban forest in central Italy and in a boreal forest in Finland will fulfill the specific scientific objectives: - Acquire and apply advanced micrometeorological techniques to improve understanding of forest-atmosphere exchange of trace gases and particles; - Develop a state-of-the-science model of the processes involved in these interactions, improving current parameterisations of deposition and uptake of air pollutants through plant stomata and introducing the effects of ozone damage to vegetation; - Quantify the effects of future change on urban and peri-urban AQ, and the resulting impact on the productivity of peri-urban forests; - Derive parameterisations of the key processes suitable for inclusion in regional AQ models. The resultant cutting-edge model will drive future research into the interactions of the land-atmosphere-AQ system and inform future policy.

Plant viruses cause an estimated 50 billion € loss worldwide per year. Viral diseases represent one of the most limiting factors in European crop production having negative effects on the quantity and quality of foodstuffs. The recent identification of plant factors required for virus infection, together with the development of functional genomic tools in several economically important crops, offer novel opportunities to protect crop plants against viral diseases. The scope of TESS is to capitalize on the latest biotechnological tools in order to manipulate the plant/virus interactions towards non-host resistance and to match the research outputs with fruit industry and breeding applications. TESS benefits from multidisciplinary research teams involving genomics, tissue culture, molecular biology, virology and plant breeding. It focuses on Prunus species for stone fruit trees. The originality of TESS is to test the generic mode of interference of plant viruses with their host during the infection and use this information to implement complex and durable resistance in perennial fruit tree species.

Wine production is one of the most historic and emblematic sector of European economy involving thousands of workers in the whole sector. Europe is the largest vine producing region in the world and wine exportation is a key economic sector. However, the quality and amount of wine production are threatened every year by grapevine virus diseases. Indeed, more than 60 different viruses can affect the vineyard.PAThOGEN aims to improve basic and transversal skills of wine professionals (winegrowers, nurserymen, consultants and advisors, students) by providing a relevant training ProgrAmme TO improve GrapEviNe virus knowledge and field management.PAThOGEN proposes an innovative training scheme combining e-learning with field trainings providing on-hand experience dispensed by high level trainers.PAThOGEN proposes three levels of training in order to be more efficient and adapted to the targeted audience. A first level, mainly dedicated to winegrowers, vineyard technicians and nurserymen enables them to detect, recognize, manage and prevent virus diseases. A more advanced level, addressed to consultants and advisors, who are key stakeholders as they are in contact with a lot of practitioners, provides deeper insight in the virus management with additionnal modules . In order to have a wider impact and multiply the available field sessions, a trainer level provides advisors with skills to give training sessions to practitioners on grapevine virus diseases. A special attention has been given to the scientific quality of the training by involving high level experts on grapevine viruses, but also to the organization of the modules giving a smooth progression, through interactive media and a common methodology for field sessions. An advisory board composed of winegrowers and advisors from France, Italy and Spain were consulted during the project to make sure that the content and progression is relevant for their profile. Besides, external and independent evaluators checked the content of the training to make sure the scientific content is accurate.PAThOGEN project was coordinated by the French Wine and Vine Institute and involved four other partners from Italy and Spain. High level trainers and vine virus experts from the French Wine and Vine Institute, the Italian Experimentation and Research Centre for viticulture and enology (CREA) and the viticulture and plant pathology group from the University of Santiago de Compostela (Spain) were involved in the writing the content of the modules and in providing a progression adapted to each level. The eLearning platform and website were managed by HORTA, an Italian SME specialized in ICT tools for agriculture. The communication, dissemination and exploitation aspects were managed by FEUGA, a foundation representing the research groups of the University System of Galicia in Spain. The project was organized in several operational stages. First partners established and agreed on a common methodology to build the training and also evaluation methods and procedures. An important part of the project was to write and build the content of the eLearning modules and quality check them. Then, the modules were put into eLearning format on a dedicated platform. The combined training (eLearning and field training sessions) was then tested and evaluated by 200 volunteers trainees from different selected profiles (winegrowers, nursery professionals, advisors and technicians). Improvements were made in order to adapt the training to the professional’s needs. All through the project duration, communication and dissemination activities were made, focusing on our main targets (winegrowers, technicians and advisors in the wine sector). As a result, the project has enable to produce a high quality combined training, dedicated to wine professionals, for improving the knowledge and management of grapevine viruses. The elearning course is available in four languages (French, English, Spanish, Italian) and field sessions are available in France, Spain and Italy. We believe this innovative training will be highly beneficial for the wine sector. Professionals involved in the evaluation and testing of the training have been very positive and enthusiastic about it. Partners have agreed on a common exploitation plan in order to spread the knowledge on grapevine viruses in each partner country (France, Spain and Italy) and replicate the PAThOGEN training in other regions and at national level. Several promising contacts, including in Greece, are interested in adapting the training to their country. Also, the training has been promoted at international level, including Canada, Chile and South Africa where vineyards are also concerned by grapevine virus management. The objective is to train at least 100 new professionals per year from Spain, Italy or France and additional trainees from other countries in Europe or abroad.The report is written in English as it is the common language for partners.