| LIFE23-NAT-SK-LI - Restoration of priority grassland habitats in Slovakia and Romania |
| Duration: | 1. 6. 2024 - 30. 9. 2031 |
| Evidence number: | LIFE23-NAT-SK-LIFE DIVERSEED/101148306 |
| Program: | LIFE |
| Project leader: | RNDr. Dúbravková Daniela, PhD. |
| SAS cosolvers: | Mgr. Gajdošová Zuzana, PhD., Mgr. Janišová Monika, PhD., Ing. Kučera Jaromír, PhD., RNDr. Senko Dušan, PhD., Mgr. Škodová Iveta, PhD. |
| Annotation: | DIVERSEED is a 7-year project focused on the restoration of priority grassland habitats shared between Slovakia and Romania, and brings innovative mapping and restoration techniques which will have wide and long-lasting impact after project end. It will target 10 habitats (9 Priority Habitats in Annex I of Habitats Directive, and one Endangered habitat in the European Habitats Red List) in 33 SCIs, 30 in Slovakia and 3 in Romania. At least 920 ha of priority grassland habitats will be restored directly, and a further 1,200 ha indirectly through replications. In addition, the project will give a significant boost to future grassland restoration by demonstrating, and leaving sustainable capacity for, the harvesting of seeds from priority habitats, and by developing protocols for seed collection and reseeding in protected grasslands. Local seed mixtures are not available in Slovakia or Romania, and are needed to meet increasing demand for restoration. DIVERSEED will work closely with farmers and farmer associations, environment agencies and national authorities, who have all expressed their interest. Restoration will use classic measures including grazing, mowing, removal of invasive species. In addition, the innovative seeding approach will restore species composition of grasslands. This will also benefit pollinators; flora and pollinators will be monitored to assess project impact. Importantly, the project will also properly map and assess the critical decline of grasslands in Romania, underestimated owing to lack of mapping capacity, and will demonstrate use of latest mapping techniques. Project results will assist improvements of agri-environment schemes in Romania which are failing to halt grassland declines. Many activities for volunteers, schools and general public will take place, as well as policy work with authorities and extensive farmer training. The seed mixtures will be designed for market uptake for further replication after the project ends. |
| Partner countries: | Romania, Slovakia |
| Project website: | https://broz.sk/projekty/life-diverseed/ |
| The European Biodiversity Partnership - IAS Subpilot |
| Duration: | 1. 1. 2023 - 31. 12. 2027 |
| Evidence number: | 101052342 |
| Program: | Horizont Európa |
| Project leader: | RNDr. Šingliarová Barbora, PhD. |
| Annotation: | The species monitoring sub-pilot will consist of two modules. Module 1 focusing on plants and Module 2 focusing on insects. The main focus will be on invasive alien species, but additional emphasis will be put on the wider group of non-native species, whose impacts are not fully understood. This wider scope should prepare for the detection of future invasive alien species. Both modules employ image recognitions using computer vision and deep learning models for cost efficient and rapid detection of species of concern. These methods rely on training data of the species of concern to function effectively. Such data is available in GBIF as well as in pilot projects from Denmark (plants and insects) and France and Switzerland (plants), but additional data will be collected as part of this pilot program to ensure accurate detection models for the future. For module 1, there will be an effort to monitor both introduction and spread. In this way, the pilot program will be relevant in the context of introduction sites as well as for the collection of additional training data to improve image recognition models. |
| Partner countries: | Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Israel, Italy, Portugal, Slovakia, Sweden |
| Project website: | https://www.biodiversa.eu/biodiversity-monitoring/pilot/ |
| PANGEOS - Pan-European Network of Green Deal Agriculture and Forestry Earth Observation Science |
| Duration: | 6. 11. 2023 - 5. 11. 2027 |
| Evidence number: | CA22136 |
| Program: | COST |
| Project leader: | RNDr. Galgóci Martin, PhD. |
| SAS cosolvers: | Mgr. Jurčík Ján, PhD., Mgr. Klobučník Miroslav, PhD., RNDr. Kormuťák Andrej, DrSc. |
| Annotation: | The sustainability of Europe’s green resources are threatened by climate change associated environmental changes. Agricultural systems and forests are among the ecosystems mostly interlinked with human health and wellbeing due to the socio-economic services they provide. Whether heat, drought, extreme weather, or biotic stressors, conventional agriculture and forestry today is unprepared for future climate scenarios, rising populations, changing consumption habits, and traditional management practices need re-thinking. The objectives set by PANGEOS are developed in the wake of the European Green Deal strategic goals. For agriculture, these include ensuring food security in the face of climate change, strengthening the EU food system’s resilience and reducing the environmental and climate footprint of the EU agricultural sector towards a competitive and sustainable use and management of resources. For forestry, these span the protection, restoration and enlargement of the EU’s forests to combat climate change, reversing biodiversity loss and ensuring resilient and multifunctional forest ecosystems. To support these goals, PANGEOS aims to leverage state-of-the-art remote sensing (RS) technologies to advance field phenotyping workflows, precision agriculture/forestry practices and larger-scale operational assessments for a more sustainable management of Europe’s natural resources. We propose to bridge the gap between state-of-the-art technologies and applied sciences, to directly serve and inform academics, Young Researchers and Innovators, Inclusiveness Target Countries and Near Neighbor Countries, end-users (e.g., farmers, foresters), and stakeholders in industry and policy-makers by bringing together RS experts and applications in (1) Field Phenotyping, (2) Precision and Regenerative Agriculture, (3) Sustainable Land Management of Complex European landscapes, and (4) Uncertainty Analysis and Standardization. |
| Partner countries: | Albania, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Moldova, Montenegro, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Poland, Portugal, Serbia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom |
| E-NICHE - European Network In CHEmical Ecology: translating the language of life into sustainability |
| Duration: | 6. 10. 2023 - 5. 10. 2027 |
| Evidence number: | CA22102 |
| Program: | COST |
| Project leader: | RNDr. Matúšová Radoslava, PhD. |
| SAS cosolvers: | Mgr. Danchenko Maksym, PhD., Kryvokhyzha Maryna, PhD. |
| Annotation: | E-NICHE will help unify the different branches of chemical ecology (CE) by bringing together researchers who study natural compounds that can act as semiochemicals (i.e., communication signals). At present, collaborations among these researchers are limited because CE is an extremely fragmented field. E-NICHE will foster partnerships between (a) scientists studying aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems; (b) natural products chemists, biochemists, and ecologists; (c) vertebrate biologists and entomologists; (d) plant and animal biologists; (e) zoologists and molecular biologists; and (f) neurobiologists and microbiologists. Their interactions will generate original ideas and perspectives while simultaneously meeting societal needs, a challenge that involves the creation of new chemical formulations, novel molecules, and innovative applications for natural compounds. This work will be nourished by a deeper understanding of the living world through the lens of chemical mediation, the main system of biological communication. It will also aim to prevent the loss of the chemical biodiversity found in nature, under threat because of global changes. Consequently, E-NICHE’s overarching objective is to establish a strong, extended European CE network that catalyses international, interdisciplinary, and cross-sectoral exchanges with a view to building knowledge and intergenerational sustainable development solutions. Via the new network created by E-NICHE, researchers will broaden their breadth of knowledge, define new research directions, and transform their discoveries into pioneering solutions. |
| Partner countries: | Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Moldova, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Serbia, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom |
| Project website: | https://www.cost.eu/actions/CA22102/#tabs+Name:Description |
| RECROP - Reproductive Enhancement of CROP resilience to extreme climate |
| Duration: | 4. 10. 2023 - 3. 10. 2027 |
| Evidence number: | CA22157 |
| Program: | COST |
| Project leader: | Mgr. Lakhneko Olha, PhD. |
| SAS cosolvers: | Mgr. Danchenko Maksym, PhD., MSc. Kale Rohan Arjun, Kryvokhyzha Maryna, PhD., MSc. Mishra Shubhi |
| Annotation: | Climate change is a threat for food security as extreme weather phenomena will reduce the yield of all major crops. Grain and fruit crops which consist the core of human diet are particularly vulnerable due to the sensitivity of sexual reproduction process to abiotic stresses. Consequently, there is an urgent need to generate elite varieties with enhanced reproductive stress resilience. RECROP (Reproductive Enhancement of CROP resilience to extreme climate) is a team of agronomists, physiologists, geneticists, biologists, bioinformaticians and researchers from the field of Machine Learning from public organizations and private sector which will use holistic approaches to understand the grounds of crop sensitivity and design solutions for yield stimulation in the era of climate change. RECROP aims to: (1) Identify the genetic, molecular, and physiological makeup of the sensitivity of crop reproduction, (2) Create a roadmap for the generation of resilient crops, and (3) Provide guidelines of exogenous treatments to increase resilience in a sustainable manner and push the limits of the genetically inherited stress tolerance. The aims will be fulfilled by four Working Groups (WGs) which in addition to research discussions will organize training schools, workshops, conferences, and dissemination activities. RECROP will actively support Early Stage Career researchers through training and networking and support interactions with Near Neighbouring and partner COST countries. RECROP members will be actively involved in building communication channels with Policy Makers to provide scientific advice and support them in scientific-based context of future policies on biotechnology, technology and agriculture sectors. |
| Partner countries: | Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Israel, Montenegro, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Serbia, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom |
| SUSTAIN - Sustainable use of salt-affected lands |
| Duration: | 3. 10. 2023 - 2. 10. 2027 |
| Evidence number: | CA22144 |
| Program: | COST |
| Project leader: | Mgr. Mistríková Veronika, PhD. |
| SAS cosolvers: | Ing. Hricová Andrea, PhD., Mgr. Hunková Júlia, PhD., MVDr. Kačírová Jana, PhD., Mgr. Lisinovičová Monika, Ing. Szabóová Monika, PhD. |
| Annotation: | Salinisation, the accumulation of water-soluble salts in the soil, is one of the major causes of soil degradation affecting 833 million hectares of land and 1.5 billion inhabitants worldwide. However, these lands can be used by applying saline agriculture, involving soil, water and salt-tolerant crop management methods. Cultivation of salt-affected lands aids in addressing food and water security in the times of progressing climate change and population growth. As a result, there is an urgent need to create a network of research and practice and foster the sustainable use of salt-affected lands. This COST Action aims to build a global transdisciplinary network of scientific experts and engaged stakeholders in the field of salinity research in the context of food security, sustainability and the intensifying climate crisis. Our activities will focus on: (i) understanding responses to heterogeneous soil salinity and other combined stresses in the soil-rhizosphere-plant continuum; (ii) building a knowledge-base to improve water and soil management, and crop production on salt-affected lands; (iii) showcasing the total value of salt-affected lands and saline landscapes; (iv) connecting various stakeholders involved in saline agriculture; and (v) developing targeted policy frameworks for the proper salinisation management, bringing saline agriculture as a complementary component in the European food security agenda for coastal and inland salt-affected lands. Mutual knowledge exchange and sharing best practices will contribute to more sustainable use of salt-affected lands and enhance the resilience of the landscape as a whole. |
| Partner countries: | Albania, Cyprus, Greece, Hungary, Israel, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, United Kingdom |
| Project website: | https://www.cost.eu/actions/CA22144/#tabs+Name:Description |
| COPYTREE - European Network for Innovative Woody Plant Cloning |
| Duration: | 24. 10. 2022 - 23. 10. 2026 |
| Evidence number: | COST CA21157 |
| Program: | COST |
| Project leader: | Mgr. Perniš Miroslav, PhD. |
| SAS cosolvers: | Mgr. Danchenko Maksym, PhD., Mgr. Jurčík Ján, PhD., Mgr. Klubicová Katarína, PhD., Mgr. Mravec Jozef, PhD., RNDr. Salaj Terézia, DrSc. |
| Annotation: | In vitro culture of woody plants is leaving the academic laboratories and is now being developed in a range of commercial applications in horticulture and forestry that respond to the challenges of climate change and changing global food and wood consumption habits. It is therefore urgent that the research challenges, public acceptance, risk assessment and commercial application are confronted now in order to establish a well informed scientific community, policy makers and market place. This proposal concerns the following challenges, whose solution will have a significant scientific, social and economic impact: How can we overcome recalcitrance in a lot of woody plants? What are the best tools for diagnosis, sanitation and storing clean stocks? How can the production of elite clones be scaled up at a acceptable price? What are the real risks of this technology and how can the public be informed so that they appreciate and accept the applications ? How can foresters and landowners be persuaded to invest in planting poly-clonal forests? Taking these aspects into account, it seems more than urgent to us to set up a European network to connect the researchers involved from various domains, so that they can share innovations and develop new research strategies, assess the risks of the technology and improve communication with stakeholders and the general public. |
| Partner countries: | Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden |
| Project website: | https://www.cost.eu/actions/CA21157/ |
| Developing UNITE database for estimating global distribution of ectomycorrhizal fungi |
| Duration: | 1. 1. 2024 - 31. 12. 2025 |
| Evidence number: | EAS-SAS-2023-01 |
| Program: | Mobility |
| Project leader: | Mgr. Adamčík Slavomír, PhD. |
| SAS cosolvers: | Mgr. Adamčíková Katarína, PhD., Mgr. Caboň Miroslav, PhD., RNDr. Caboňová Michaela, PhD., MSc. Shapkin Vasilii, MSc. Zaib Shanza |
| Annotation: | The project focuses on describing fungal diversity using UNITE – a public database of DNA barcodes. The main aim is to improve distinction of species in case of low inter- but high infraspecific DNA sequence variation, and to develop search of sequence metadata deposited via the data linked to PlutoF platform. |
| Partner countries: | Estonia |
| FULLRECO4US - Cross-border transfer and development of sustainable resource recovery strategies towards zero waste |
| Duration: | 28. 9. 2021 - 27. 9. 2025 |
| Evidence number: | COST CA20133 |
| Program: | COST |
| Project leader: | Ing. Szabóová Monika, PhD. |
| SAS cosolvers: | Ing. Hricová Andrea, PhD., Mgr. Hunková Júlia, PhD. |
| Annotation: | Waste is being generated as a result of population growth, industrialization, and improvement of human standard of living. In the absence of efficient waste management systems, waste ends in landfills and in the environment (through informal discharges) leading to pollution and to a linear economy. Due to increasing awareness of the deleterious effects on the environment and human health, policies are being gradually implemented to motivate a mindset shift from linear to circular (bio)economies and decouple economic growth from use of resources. Full waste recycling and valorization will play a crucial role in the establishment of sustainable circular (bio)economies. Although waste recycling and valorization strategies have started to be implemented across borders within Europe, their implementation level is not homogenous and harmonization is needed. FULLRECO4US is an answer to this need and will function as a discussion platform centred on holistic approaches to waste recycling and valorization, and on the development of new cross-border interdisciplinary and intersectoral networks. These networks, in turn, will cooperate in the development of feasible and environmentally-friendly resource recovery approaches that can be translated into, e.g., competitive research funding applications and contribute to building research and innovation capacity within Europe and beyond. FULLRECO4US will include a set of networking activities such as Short-Term Scientific Missions, Workshops, Conference and Symposium attendance, supported by Working Groups focused on genesis of holistic approaches for waste recycling and valorization, engagement of stakeholders, and on dissemination and communication of Action’s results to enhance impact, consensus, and harmonization of newly built strategies. |
| Partner countries: | Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, United Kingdom |
| Project website: | https://www.cost.eu/actions/CA20133/ |
| Distributed System of Scientific Collections Transition to ERIC Project; DiSSCo Transition) - HORIZON Coordination and Support Actions |
| Duration: | 1. 12. 2023 - 31. 5. 2025 |
| Evidence number: | 101130121 |
| Program: | Horizont Európa |
| Project leader: | prof. RNDr. Marhold Karol, DrSc. |
| Annotation: | The Distributed System of Scientific Collections (DiSSCo) is a pan-European Research Infrastructure (RI) initiative. DiSSCo aims tobring together natural science collections from 175 museums, botanical gardens, universities and research institutes across 23 countriesin a distributed infrastructure that makes these collections physically and digitally open and accessible for all forms of research andinnovation. DiSSCo RI entered the ESFRI roadmap in 2018 and successfully concluded its Preparatory Phase in early 2023. The RI is nowtransitioning towards the constitution of its legal entity (an ERIC) and the start of its scaled-up construction (implementation) programme.The primary goal of the DiSSCo Transition Project is to ensure the seamless transition of the DiSSCo RI from its Preparatory Phase to theConstruction Phase (expected to start in 2025). In this transition period, the Project will address five objectives building on the outcomesof the Preparatory Phase project: 1) Advance the DiSSCo ERIC process and complete its policy framework, ensuring the smooth earlyphaseImplementation of DISSCo; 2) Engage & support DiSSCo National Nodes to strengthen national commitments; 3) Advance thedevelopment of core e-services to avoid the accumulation of technical debt before the start of the Implementation Phase; 4) Continueinternational collaboration on standards & best practices needed for the DiSSCo service provision; and 5) Continue supporting DiSSCoRI interim governance bodies and transition them to the DiSSCo ERIC formal governance. The Project’s impact will be measured againstthe increase in the RI\'s overall Implementation Readiness Level (IRL). More specifically, we will monitor its impact towards reachingthe required level of maturity in four of the five dimensions of the IRL that can benefit from further developments. These include theorganisational, financial, technological and data readiness levels. |
| Partner countries: | Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Sweden, United Kingdom |
| Network on water-energy-food Nexus for a low-carbon economy in Europe and beyond |
| Duration: | 25. 5. 2021 - 24. 5. 2025 |
| Evidence number: | COST CA20138 |
| Program: | COST |
| Project leader: | Ing. Szabóová Monika, PhD. |
| SAS cosolvers: | Ing. Hricová Andrea, PhD., Mgr. Mistríková Veronika, PhD. |
| Annotation: | An international network of researchers is working with policymakers and the business sector to better understand how the water-energy-food Nexus fosters policy coherence in the domains of water, energy and food, supporting the transition towards a circular and low-carbon economy in Europe. Focus is on job creation, enhancing wellbeing and care for the environment. The Nexus concept is tested at different scales (i.e. local, regional, national, European), while the international dimension is explored through the involvement of international proposers. More Nexus-compliant practices are foreseen through a knowledge sharing hub at European level and beyond. Public-private initiatives pave the path for Nexus compliant practices, building on network members’ advice. NEXUSNET will deliver examples of nexus compliant decision making, and recommendations to best achieve them, to come-up with an overview of Good Nexus Practices in Europe (policy coherence, Nexus-compliant practices and more coherent nexus evaluations). Transdisciplinary approaches are adopted to test Nexus compliant practices with the involvement of relevant stakeholders, while interaction and engagement with current and finished Nexus-related projects will be pursued. Academic Nexus knowledge will be translated into practical and applicable knowledge for the private sector or policy makers. A series of intense knowledge transfer and dissemination actions are planned to ensure that the network will have a significant impact in Europe and beyond. |
| Partner countries: | Austria, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, France, Greece, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom |
