Land degradation narratives most often serve to justify coercive environmental policies and lead to dispossession and marginalization of local people. Mangrove policy is a good example of tensions between reclamation and conservation. Mangrove has long been considered as a putrid, waste and dangerous swamp, at least at in the eyes of Westerners; it is now considered as a rich, fragile and threatened ecosystem, which must be protected from human pressures and global change. The national and international political agenda of the last decade put mangroves in the spotlight because of their ability for sequestering carbon, thus justifying politics of reforestation in the frame of REDD+. While mangroves provide well-known and recognized benefits or services to people, their drastic decline is undeniable in several countries, their current status and socio-ecological dynamics at the regional level are poorly known and the recommended solutions for their sustainable conservation are debatable. In fact, more and more scholars are questioning the legitimacy (bio-ecological, economic and social) of protection and reforestation actions, analysing changes in governance mechanisms and regimes, and pleading for inclusive and sustainable actions for a fair sharing of benefits or "co-benefit" between mangrove conservation and the people well-being. Our main hypothesis is that the failure of conservation actions is due to more political than technical deficiencies. The multiplicity of actors, each with their knowledge and strategies practices, is one of the main obstacles to shared and sustainable governance of mangroves. COMANCO gives the opportunity to dialogue and exchanges between these actors, whether stakeholders, managers, scientists or decision-makers. The general objective of the COMANCO project is to establish a network of excellence between environmental and social sciences, that is intersectoral (scientists, young pupils, managers, field operators and artists) and international (Europe, Latin America, Africa and Asia) on the issue of mangrove conservation policies. This network will make it possible to capitalize the knowledge of the partners, to synergize their long South-North and North-South partnerships and to value them through new collaborations. The 4 scientific objectives of COMANCO are: - Assessing knowledge on the dynamics of mangroves: characterization of health states of socio-ecosystems at various spatial scales and temporal scales. - Understanding conflicts of values and interests (from global to local scales): scientific uncertainties and controversies, inappropriate policies and conflicts of competences and legitimacy, unfair international mechanisms and resistances of the stakeholders. - Analysing new conservation models and alliances: comparison of case studies, chosen for their exemplarity but also depending on the strength of the partnership (Brazilian Amazon, Casamance / Guinea Bissau, Kenya, Mozambique, Vietnam and Indonesia). - Promoting sustainability and co-benefits: interfaces and boundaries between knowledge and governance; feasibility of replication, training, communication and dissemination. This project also includes two essential components of the RISE projects: training and communication. The following broader objectives will be followed: - Promote scientific and technological cooperation among network members (Europe, Africa, Asia and Latin America); - Develop new collaborations that can lead to innovative ideas and actions and guide decision-process; - Strengthen the capacities and knowledge of young researchers; - Encourage exchanges and synergies between members through mobility and establishing a sustainable network; - Introduce innovative communication (through various media including images) and develop modelling for the co-construction of knowledge to consolidate the network and advance the participants in their careers.

Coast-Scapes (rethinking COASTal landSCAPES with climate-resilient interventions: systemic land-to-sea solutions) proposes to rethink land-coast-sea systems under climate change for enhanced resilience and biodiversity gains. We shall co-design systemic resilience solutions for coastal landscapes using transdisciplinary indicators, early and climatic warnings, business models and knowledge-based maintenance to reduce climatic risks and improve land to sea environments. We propose nature-based-solutions (NbS) suited to a broad range of coastal archetypes, governance, climates and resilience deficits, sequenced along resilience-through-adaptation pathways. Such solutions, supported by governance transformation and cross-sectoral engagement, will be applied by regions and communities empowered by an unprecedented combination of technical tools, financial models and social commitment. Coast-Scapes will promote NbS for a climatic resilience compatible with biodiversity gains and existing infrastructure constraints, seeking a reduced environmental footprint under natural resources that are scarce in quantity and quality. Social and technical innovation, associated to a governance shift, will make systemic resilience operational and fill the implementation gap at a pace commensurate with climate change acceleration. The selected Core Pilot regions/communities feature climate sensitive natural/human assets, controlled by land-coast-sea interactions and acting as large-scale demonstrators of scalable resilience plans for replication and export. These plans aggregate Science, Policy, Industry, Society and Environment actors with administrations responsible for local implementation, organised as resilience platforms and linked in a Regions and Communities Board. Resilience solutions will be monitored/maintained/marketed with the project, new standards and business models, for a resilience build up commensurate with unfavourable climate/human stressors.

Young people aged 15-24 represent 20% of the African population but over 40% of the total unemployed people in Africa. There arises the need to encourage young people in Africa to pursue vocational education, and to better connect the existing vocational education structures with the private sector, and the labour market in general. Therefore, the aim of this project is to upskill VET in African countries (Cape Verde, Senegal, Kenya) in order to increase employability of young people and to connect VET with the rising sectors of the labour market in the private sector. A sector that can be targeted for this initiative is the cultural tourism sector. African countries have a wealth of local assets that can serve as a motivation for cultural, green, and responsible tourists to visit the continent. In this project, we aim to create channels of communication between VET centres and the private sector, to create a joint vocational education curriculum on green, cultural, circular, responsible tourism among the partner countries of Europe and Africa, to strengthen the connection between vocational education and work, by introducing the concept of micro-credentials and to provide opportunities to students for Green Apprenticeships/Mentoring with private sector professionalsThe following steps will be taken in order to achieve the objective: creation of local and international networks, focus groups with the created networks (first local, then international) in order to assess the educational needs associated with employment in the touristic sector, and to create the learning objectives and micro-credentials, development of a joint qualification profile and joint curriculum, organisation of blended courses on the issue, organisation of e-apprenticeships (digital exchange) of students to private institutions from other partner countries and assessment of students, and awarding of micro-credentials in a digital portfolio

The project ‘Climate smart, ecosystem-enhancing and knowledge-based rural expertise and training centres’ (RURALITIES) delivers an ecosystem-enhancing and climate action driven expertise and learning framework organised in hubs e.g., the ‘RURALITIES’, comprising a series of innovative methodologies with the learner at its core, supported by a comprehensive network of living labs, and a digital platform combining the Internet and wireless technologies, to assist engage, connect and empower actors. This is done via a multi-point approach e.g., multi-actors, multi-disciplines, multi-systems, multi-scale, multi-sectors, and multi-levels. RURALITIES is rooted in the recruitment, preparation, training and coaching of 1.000+ facilitators (KPI) distributed in all participating countries, for a variety of tasks (e.g., trainers, facilitators, role models, hub coordinators, etc.), and who play a significant role in creating the matrix and the platform upon which the learning framework is built, develops and evolves. RURALITIES proposes to ideate, implement, futureproof, validate and deliver the aforementioned expertise and learning centres via real-scale practicing in 6 simplified rural socio-ecological systems (SIMSES) e.g., demonstrators, 2 in Italy, 1 in the United- Kingdom (UK), 1 in Slovenia, 1 in Spain and 1 in Romania. RURALITIES coordinates identified actions of local, regional authorities in supports of rural innovation in regions and economic sectors where rural innovators are not yet engaged in a relevant network. RURALITIES coordinates identified SIMSES networks promoting rural innovation solutions whilst establishing innovative multipoints ‘RURALITIES Hubs’ of expertise and training on rural innovation. This is done via coordinating action for the managing authorities and regional bodies influencing regional and national policy instruments in Italy, the UK, Slovenia, Spain and in Romania.

Mangrove studies fit into sustainability science through a trade-off yet to be found between the need to protect them, and the needs of IPLC (Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities) in low-income countries. Today, governance of mangroves is mainly aimed at global objectives (driven by Northern countries) and not at the needs of IPLC. SUFUMANG, an interdisciplinary project driven by such context around the mangrove is proposed to facilitate the cross-sector implementation of transformative solutions fostering shared prosperity and reduced poverty while protecting the environment. This project will focus on the uses of mangrove and in particular on the transformative solutions that will reconcile SDGs centred on society and SDGs centred on nature. To this end, our positioning is to bring a Southern-centric, local-centric, and women-centric perspective. The project is therefore positioned in an interstice between studies that aim to understand the state and the dynamics of mangroves and their explanatory factors, and those that aim to improve decision-making tools in the fields of conservation. This project aims to understand the values and uses of IPLC to assess how and why they constitute explanatory factors for changes, in terms of degradation, conservation or improvement. It is important to emphasize that this project is designed in partnership with research institutions in the studied countries (Santa-Cruz in Brazil, Saloum in Senegal) and that a little part of the budget will be allocated to missions of Brazilian and Senegalese team members. The project is structured in 4 Tasks. T0 is dedicated to management with a strong focus on the interface (Interdisciplinary, intersectoral, exchanges between case study). T1 is answering to the question what a “healthy” mangrove is, when mangrove is defined as a social-ecological system. A large set of disciplines will put studies together. Then, 3 components will be mobilized in a retrospective analysis of dynamics. T1 will produce an original grid for such assessment based on interdisciplinary collective work. T2 is fully dedicated to the uses of the mangrove where the science is mostly persistent on assimilating use as driver of degradation. To reanalyze uses differently, they will be the object of new in-depth interviews bringing both accurate description an understanding of the values. Then such new understanding of uses will be confronted with a political ecology analysis of governance understanding how fair governance is regarding the uses. A model developed ad hoc will be used for both retrospective analysis (hypothetico-deductive approach on the impacts of uses on the environment) and prospective seminars (stakeholders visualizing the effects of scenarios of management). T3 will, then, identify, analyse, and disseminate success stories addressing the nexus of SGDs. It requires innovative co-learning between disciplines to assess the criteria of success. The actors of these solutions will be implied in the process. We will work on a sample of actions subject of in-depth studies, analysing their governance and trajectory all along the innovation. Our understanding of such success story will be the thread of the exchanges with stakeholders during intersectoral workshops to design a shared framework of analysis. The last 5 months will be dedicated to the networking and dissemination outside the partners on the results concerning sustainable and fair uses of the mangroves. Impact and benefits of the project are: a new approach, new tools applied to a more sustainable use of mangroves, Initiatives of knowledge transfer on a new vision of mangrove conservation, promoting fair and sustainable uses inside and outside the academic consortium and knowledge transfer designed for new management insuring fairer use of mangroves.