The current changes in climatic conditions including recurrent droughts in Mediterranean countries become a huge threat to the sustainability of grape production, food security and farmers’ incomes in this region. In addition, the majority of the grown grapevine cultivars (Vitis vinifera L.) is susceptible to fungal diseases requiring use of chemical pesticides that are harmful to human health and the environment. A true challenge is currently the evolution towards production systems combining sustainability, economic viability, and more eco-friendly practices. Using and managing functional microbial diversity (FMD) with beneficial viticultural practices is among the most promising and innovative levers in farming system. Manipulation of plant microbiome has great potential in reducing disease incidences, promoting plant growth and fitness and increasing productivity even under stress conditions. MiDiVine project aimed at developing knowledge, tools and integrated approaches based on grapevine genetic resources and agricultural practices promoting functional microbial diversity (FMD) to better improve grapevine production and resistance against the main foliar and trunk diseases (grey mold, downy mildew and esca) under drought stress conditions, thereby reducing pesticide use in vineyards. The project will focus on the characterization of FMD and the identification of beneficial microbes from traditional cultivated/elite cultivars with different practices and indigenous vines for improving grapevine health and productivity in open vineyards under water shortage conditions. MiDiVine project will analyze the impact of plant genotype, soil type and agricultural practices including the use of covers and service plants, on FMD and the efficiency of beneficial microbes against diseases under stress conditions. The proposal will therefore provide innovative and sustainable solution to improve agroecosystem services by managing soil microbiome and intercropping in Mediterranean countries in order to reduce dependency on agro-chemical pesticides in vineyards, These objectives might be achieved through the development of instruments, such as innovation partnerships, to promote innovation in viticulture by bridging the existing gap between research and farming practices and facilitating communication and cooperation among stakeholders. The project will especially focus on (i) the valorization of local/elite grapevine genotypes and indigenous varieties to characterize FMD to increase sustainability and resilience of farming systems; (ii) understanding the genetic and physiological bases of grapevine adaptation to abiotic stress and resistance to pathogenic oomycete and fungi and development of new protection strategies through multi-factorial approaches, based mainly on the promotion of beneficial FMD; (iii) identifying beneficial microbes and managing FMD in vineyard systems as an innovative strategy for restoring soil functionality, avoiding water scarcity, ensuring sustainable grapevine protection against diseases, and thus improving profitability and (iv) disseminating practical experiences within Mediterranean regions with local cultural practices in which the actors will develop, test and validate the new tools and strategies integrating FMD for effective resilience to drought as well as integrated disease management in new farming systems.

The overall objective of SafeAgroBee is to contribute to adaptation and mitigation of the effects of climate change and other drivers negatively influencing the sustainability and the resilience of the agricultural system in the Mediterranean basin, ensuring the income of farmers and food security. In SafeAgroBee we focus on beekeeping and pollination provided by both wild and managed bees as important drivers in ruling food security and human existence. To this aim, SafeAgroBee will specifically address the following: 1) examine the resilience of bee pollinators (Apis and non Apis bees) on a changing environment towards pollination services and productivity by a) documenting wild and domesticated bee contribution to the pollination of key crops; b) determining the carrying capacity of several crops as a novel approach for bee productivity and c) by projecting historical climatic data and bee related data in today's conditions; 2) investigate the adaptability of local bee populations and the application of optimal practices under climate change in order to ensure sustainable beekeeping by monitoring the development and the performance of local populations and their resistance to diseases for long periods; 3) support the development of mitigation strategies ensuring the health of the bees and provide advice for the beekeepers by comparing the health and productivity of the honey bee colonies between different agricultural ecosystems and by performing alternative and new strategies to control bee diseases; 4) develop innovative monitoring tools and precision apiculture systems for advanced data acquisition by building on sounds, bee movements and heat detection, also enhancing business potential; 5) test and validate novel models for predicting the health of the bees, as for example the Health Status Index, as well as their productivity in terms of honey and pollination services based on two strong conditions, i) on previous experience, developments and knowledge and ii) on the large data sets with very accurate data and from diverse climatological conditions; 6) adopt a Citizen Science approach to interact and collaborate with all stakeholders and the citizens, thus performing a multi-actor approach at all levels; furthermore by forming an active Advisory Board we ensure extra scientific support and input in re-designing farming strategies to stakeholders' needs. Our main and specific objectives fall exactly under the scope of this particular call, as we are going to address specifically the challenges which have been identified in the call. We recognize that preserving the ecosystem, the resilience of pollinators and bees and sustainable beekeeping practices are among the major challenges of our time. We are going to address and tackle all these topics through the monitoring of different management practices of bees both in terms of their own health and productivity, but also in their pollination services. Droughts and pest invasions, losses of bees’ and other pollinators’ biodiversity due to use of agrochemicals, and possible changes in the plant -pollinator interactions, urges for sustainable solutions in the agroecosystem models, and our proposal aims to tackle exactly those drivers and to seek for alternatives using precision apiculture systems and smart digital technologies as well as different modeling tools for scenario analysis and the planning of strategic management. Here we will also test different mitigation strategies in order to ensure sustainability in a continuously changing environment, also with in areas experiencing harsh conditions exist (e.g. the dry areas). Building resilient ‘farming systems’ is our aim, and we are going to tackle this in two directions, from the beekeepers and the farmers perspective.

Average global temperatures are projected to rise by 3–5 ¬°C by 2100. A changing climate leads to changes in the frequency; intensity, spatial extent, duration, and can result in unprecedented extreme weather and climate events. Climate change (CC) will affect the ecosystem processes such as primary production, and the distribution and abundance of plant species. Climate change will also alter the plant diseases since the rate at which pathogens evolve and overcome host resistance may increase. Because abiotic factors such as temperature affect host susceptibility to pathogens and pathogen aggressiveness, interactions between plant resistance traits and abiotic stress tolerance may represent the most substantial impact of climate change on plant productivity. VitiSmart is a 3 years project with interdisciplinary research activities, structured with a well-balanced division between research and innovation, basic and applied research, field data collection and demonstration, socio-economic, technology transfer and dissemination actions, as well as management. It will contribute to the achievement of sustainable development goals by integrating economic, social and environmental dimensions and addressing mutually food security and climate challenges. The project is composed of 3 main themes: 1) Sustainably increasing agricultural quality, productivity and incomes; 2) Adapting and building resilience to climate change; and 3) Reducing chemical inputs while maintaining quality using biocontrol methods. The project aims to produce, at the end of the project, a resilient viticultural system able to speedily recover from biotic and abiotic stresses. This will be achieved by combining resilient cultivars with beneficial microorganisms to acquire a natural-cross-tolerance while maintaining yield. The main objectives of the project are to: • Strengthen climate change models on grapevine crop systems by understanding how climate change will affect cropping systems (as opposed to crop productivity); • Improve both preventive and curative strategies for more grapevine cultivars tolerant to pathogen under a CC context; • Understanding of the molecular and physiological pathways underlying the interaction between grape cultivars/beneficial microbial agents/pathogens/climate change; • Facilitate interdisciplinary research integrating innovative adaptive strategies with socio-economical aspects of grapevine production; • Support the European grapevine growers by matching consumer demands for top quality grapes and food safety; The project aims to produce, at the end of the project, a resilient viticultural system able to speedily recover from biotic and abiotic stresses. This will be achieved by combining resilient cultivars with beneficial microorganisms to acquire a natural-cross-tolerance while maintaining yield.