TOWARDS A SYSTEM BASED, HOLISTIC ENVIRONMENTAL RISK ASSESSMENT OF CHEMICALS (SYBERAC) Biodiversity is key to modern society, sustaining natural resources and providing essential ecosystem services. According to the UN Sustainable Development goals, the European Green Deal, the EU Biodiversity strategy and other European and national level Directives and strategic regulations, pollution is one of the main drivers of biodiversity loss. The risks resulting from the use, release and effects of chemical on the environment is addressed in a plethora of EU-level Directives and regulatory strategies, each with specific (chemical) targets and protection aims. There is, however, concern that such a fragmented approach does alleviate the threats of chemicals to biodiversity and ecosystem services. To protect genetic and functional biodiversity from pollution impacts, a paradigm shift is needed. Thistransformation should move beyond the current fragmented Environmental Risk Assessment (ERA) performed in specific regulatory silos, e.g., Plant Protection Products (PPPs)regulation for pesticides, REACH for industrial chemicals and Biocides framework for Biocidal chemicals, towards a harmonised and systems-based ERA applicable to all chemicals, species and land use functions. To make this advance, SYBERAC will provide ways forward to rationalise the current silo-based Protection Goals into high-level system-based Protection Goals and to operationalise their use within systems-based ERA robust and broadly applicable ERA structures. Six case studies, overarching different silos of current ERA will provide proof-of-concepts of the developed approaches. Based on targeted stakeholder engagement, in close cooperation with other relevant projects on the topic, results and outcomes will be disseminated towards a wide audience, including national and EU level regulatory institutions, industrial partners but also land managers, farmers and conservation bodies.

The vision of the HORIZON-MISS-2023-CLIMA-01-01 call is that Europe’s Regions will be responsible for their sustainable and resilient adaptation to climate change (CC), by developing Roadmaps for adaptation of agriculture to CC. These roadmaps will need to empower regional stakeholders to innovate new, nature-based solutions that meet society’s needs for CC adaptation through better planning that is compatible with national and international policy. TRANSFORM proposes that innovating new crop rotations – the sequences of crops that farmers use to achieve their farming goals – will deliver nature-based solutions for sustainable and resilient CC adaptation in arable and mixed farming. Working in the Atlantic Biogeographic Region (Bio-region) of Europe, we adopt an explicitly multi-actor approach in which stakeholders are in charge of the innovation. TRANSFORM will co-create with stakeholders tools and methods: for Regional-level Roadmaps that describe the needs for adaptation of local people in agriculture; for farmers to innovate crop rotations for their region using the Future Rotations Explorer tool; and, a Toolbox of spatio-temporal methods and tools for stakeholders to explore and evaluate the societal, economic and environmental indicators of impact of rotations. When embedded within our social science methods, these methods and tools will leverage an iterative ‘pipeline to innovation’ for CC adaptation in agriculture that produces lists of acceptable crop rotations, and maps for planning, across the Atlantic Bio-region, and ultimately the whole of Europe. This will allow the European Commission, EU Member States and associated countries and their regions and stakeholders to make progress in attaining the goals of the EU Mission: Adaptation to Climate Change.

The overarching objective of FutureLakes is to demonstrate innovative solutions needed to transform lake restoration, integrated into lake management. These aim to significantly improve ecological and chemical status of European lakes, restore biodiversity, recover valuable resources, enhance the services that lakes provide and make society more resilient to climate change. FutureLakes aims to deliver this through an integrated framework for lake protection and restoration that demonstrates a range of technical solutions that include innovations in Nature-based Solutions, Circular Blue Economy Solutions and Biodiversity-focused Solutions. Demonstrating integration of these solutions in operational lake management in six large European lakes (Demo Basins) which will deliver a Blueprint for lake protection and restoration. The FutureLakes Blueprint will incorporate a catalogue of innovations and guidance on the enabling environment needed to turn promising technical innovations from niche measures to become mainstream approaches in lake basin management planning. This includes demonstrating more effective and inclusive collaboration in water governance and showcasing innovations in policy implementation and green financing. FutureLakes will also develop a Roadmap for Upscaling European Lake Restoration in support of the Mission Restore our Ocean and Waters deployment and upscaling phase. Upscaling of measures across Europe will be tested through activities aimed at replicating the FutureLakes approach in three associated regions. FutureLakes will not only contribute to delivering to the three objectives of the Mission (to protect and restore freshwater ecosystems and their biodiversity; to reduce pollution; and to build a sustainable carbon-neutral and circular blue economy) but it includes specific objectives to develop the Mission’s two enablers: creating a European Lakes Digital Innovation Hub and demonstrating innovative approaches to enhancing public engagement.

The rate of global biodiversity decline is unprecedented and accelerating. Urban sprawl, population growth and industrialization bring previously unrecognised drivers of biodiversity loss, including light and noise pollution. The EU has adopted policies, including the EU Green Deal and the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030, to enable transformative change through better protection of biodiversity and nature restoration activities. However, current projections suggest that the EU’s 2030 biodiversity target will not be met; an alternative plan is required. PLAN-B takes an integrated, multidisciplinary and multi-actor approach to deliver better understanding and support reduction of light and noise pollution impacts on terrestrial biodiversity and ecosystem services. Key outputs of PLAN-B include: a framework and supporting handbook for assessing light and noise pollution impacts to inform environmental decision-making; an open access database on light and noise impacts on terrestrial biodiversity; spatiotemporal models for evaluating noise and light impacts on terrestrial biodiversity and ecosystem services, including at the European scale; innovative solutions to prevent and mitigate light and noise pollution impacts; recommendations for enhancing legal and policy frameworks to reduce light and noise pollution impacts on terrestrial biodiversity; and sustainable Communities of Practice (CoPs), centred around key stakeholder groups, on the impacts of light and noise on terrestrial biodiversity. Working with European and international partners, including from Brazil, CoPs, key networks (e.g. Biodiversa+) and the Horizon Europe sister project on aquatic biodiversity and ecosystems, PLAN-B will maximise its global reach and research impact. Through its work programme, PLAN-B will create the enabling conditions to support and enhance activities planned in the EU biodiversity strategy and provide a new path towards meeting the EU and international biodiversity targets.

UPSTREAM addresses the targets of the Mission by overcoming challenges related to the monitoring, prevention, elimination, and valorisation of litter (L), plastics (P), and microplastics (MP). Demonstrating a suite of 14 solutions addressing pollution at every step in the water system, connected to 7 rivers in 5 countries, will enable the co-creation of an extensive database of knowledge and sustainable business models with a focus on making information as widely accessible as possible. The involvement of wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) owners, industrial partners with existing supply chains, innovative SMEs, and a water cluster association will ensure exploitation of the project solutions, while €500k in cascade funding will enhance replication across Europe. The UPSTREAM consortium will thus establish circular value chains with the potential to decrease plastic litter by 50% and MP pollution by 30%. The advances in UPSTREAM are based on best-in-world innovations, including: • Standardised, rapid monitoring techniques able to detect MP down to sizes >25 µm • Bio-based, biodegradable plastics the stop the formation of MP in consumer products and WWTPs themselves • Elimination of more than 90% MP within WWTPs from both sludge and effluent streams • Innovative floating platforms capable of removing >83% of L, P, and MP directly from rivers at both the surface and riverbed, without creating noise pollution or harming ecosystems • Production of relevant monomers from recovered plastics through both advanced fractionation and depolymerisation and biotransformation UPSTREAM represents a pan-European consortium with 5 demo sites across Europe, including 4 WWTPs (UK, ES, DE, IT), plus a testing area on the Danube in Serbia. The consortium is strengthened by top European RTOs, the world leader in sustainable bioplastics development, Novamont, and completed by partners dedicated to creating a digital knowledge sharing platform and engaging with citizens and stakeholders.