BIOLAWEB aims at building a sustainable cooperation between the Institute of Chemistry, Technology and Metallurgy, University of Belgrade (UB-ICTM), and leading EU institutions – The French National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment (INRAE, France) and the Norwegian Institute for Water Research (NIVA, Norway), thereby strengthening the research and innovation capacity of UB-ICTM in biodiversity assessment and biomonitoring. BIOLAWEB will (1) bring UB-ICTM up to current standards with respect to methods that are currently applied across the European Union, and (2) apply newly emerging metabarcoding and eDNA technology to develop new and improved methods using eDNA. In order to strengthen research and innovation capacity, BIOLAWEB will establish a research management office at UB-ICTM to support project application, management and reporting at international level. Staff exchange, common field and laboratory work, and a variety of courses will be used for an effective knowledge transfer from the partnering institutions to UB-ICTM. Recently emerging technology will be implemented to develop new tools for water management, which will be useful across Europe. The methods developed in BIOLAWEB will pave the ground for further research and innovation in the assessment of biodiversity and ecological status. BIOLAWEB foresees that the methods developed during the project lifetime will later be applied in regular watercourse monitoring in Serbia and the region. The implementation of the BIOLAWEB results will raise the research profile of coordinator and partner institutions and contribute to UB-ICTM's vision of becoming a lighthouse for attracting the best talents and tackling the burning issues of environmental assessment.

CONTRAST will develop an integrated assessment and effect-based monitoring framework (IAF) to measure the impacts of CECs on the marine environment to provide a measure of Good Environmental Status for application in EU policy (i.e. MSFD/WFD). The IAF will involve chemical measurements together with biological effects endpoints that will be optimised to detect the presence and degree of effect of CECs in the marine environment. CONTRAST will identify the CECs that pose the greatest threat to marine life by using chemical prioritisation schemes to inform which of the CECs should be measured in the environment. Additionally, which CECs should be used in the laboratory-controlled experiments, where the effects on biological systems and marine biodiversity will be performed. A combination of in silico, in vitro and in vivo bioassays together with omics will be used to determine the principal mechanisms of toxicity of CECs selected from the chemical prioritisation schemes. This will provide important information on how CECs may interact with marine organisms at environmentally relevant concentrations and inform which biological effects tools should be used in the IAF to cover the range of toxicity mechanisms that CECs produce. CONTRAST will address this by optimising existing and developing new biomarkers, so that the IAF includes biomarker tools to cover many of the mechanism of toxicity produced by CECs. A series of European wide case studies will be used to test the suitability of the IAF to measure the effects of chemicals including CECs on indicator species and biodiversity. The knowledge gained from field testing and laboratory studies will form the basis for guidance documents and policy briefs on the best practices for performing an IAF on CECs in the marine environment. Furthermore, the interactions of climate change drivers on CECs will be evaluated including effects on CECs distribution, circulation, fate, bioavailability, and toxicity to marine life.

The NORDBALT-ECOSAFE project involves eight partners in the Nordic-Baltic region and includes seven work packages and a cross-cutting issue on climate change. The project aims to develop new standards for setting safe ecological boundaries in water bodies and novel nutrient regulations using models, mitigation and policy tools and governance schemes. We will make an in-depth assessment of nutrient reference conditions and establish harmonised safe ecological boundaries for various biological indicators in water bodies, including climate change impacts. We will apply a state-of-the-art catchment model (SWAT+) to the project’s six river basins to demonstrate to stakeholders how to estimate nutrient concentrations, loads, sources and pathways, followed by a comparison of our findings with existing national models to assess model credibility. The water body status after adoption of the new ecological boundaries will be investigated using the SWAT+ output and an analysis of a large-scale river dataset on the entire Nordic-Baltic region. In NORDBALT-ECOSAFE we will produce guidance for the use of high frequency sensors in nutrient monitoring and their pros and cons compared to standard monitoring techniques. An analysis of trends in river stoichiometry (CNP) in the region will be made and the outcome compared with that of historical policies. We will develop novel indicators for balancing GHG emissions with nutrient loadings to water bodies and a framework for novel nature-based solutions (NBSs) and mitigation measures (MMs), including guidance for optimum efficiency for nutrient reduction and side effects. Finally, a River Basin Management Support System for implementing NBSs and MMs in river basins to meet nutrient reduction targets will be developed and demonstrated. Stakeholders and policy makers will be involved at all project stages.

Empowering Community Led Action in the Atlantic & Arctic (ACT-AA) aims to mobilise and engage communities across the Atlantic and Arctic regions in ambitious efforts to restore and protect marine and freshwater ecosystems. By fostering community-led initiatives, the project seeks to make significant progress toward the objectives of the EU Mission “Restore our Ocean and Waters by 2030.” ACT-AA will provide comprehensive support to local stakeholders, including financial aid through cascading grants, technical assistance, and capacity-building resources to ensure effective and sustainable ecosystem restoration actions. ACT-AA’s key components include: 1. Cascading Grants for Community-Led Pilot Actions: Awarding at least 5 grants ranging from EUR 200,000 to EUR 2 million each to innovative projects addressing local ecological and socio-economic challenges. 2. Support for Transition Agendas: Funding at least 20 strategic roadmaps, each up to EUR 100,000, to guide communities in achieving the Mission’s objectives and ensuring long-term sustainability. 3. Technical Assistance: Providing tailored support, including business plan development, impact assessments, and capacity-building programs, to enhance local stakeholders’ ability to implement and scale innovative solutions. Expected outcomes include: 1. Demonstrable, measurable progress towards the Mission’s objectives through well-managed, community-led actions. 2. Support for EU member states and stakeholders in implementing marine and freshwater ecosystem related legislation. 3. Increased engagement and resource mobilization from communities to restore oceans, seas, and waters. 4. Enhanced readiness at the local level to deploy innovative restoration solutions. ACT-AA will ensure broad participation, leveraging local knowledge and fostering long-term commitment to ecosystem protection, thus contributing significantly to the European Green Deal’s biodiversity, pollution, and climate targets.

The three-year CrossGov project aims to enhance knowledge on how coherence and cross-compliance of marine related policies and legislation affect the ability to realise the goals of the EU Green Deal for the protection of marine ecosystems and biodiversity, and to co-create proposals and roadmaps towards this end. A core strength of CrossGov is the close collaboration with the policymaking community that will be engaged in co-creation of knowledge and recommendations for solutions. The background for the project is the complex multi-level and multi-sector governance system created by global and regional international frameworks, the EU and the European coastal states. This policy landscape has not managed to halt the degradation of European seas and will be challenged further by the EU Green Deal’s call for transformative changes. Based on scenarios and methodological guidance for studies of coherence, cross-compliance and scientific advice, the project will analyse how policies and legislation at various levels support or impede progress towards the Green Deal in the marine domain. The practical results of attempts to implement the various requirements will be studied in three regional cases (the North Sea, the Baltic and the Mediterranean), and in five national cases (Finland, Norway, Netherlands, France, Italy). The insights gained will be discussed with CrossGov’s Stakeholder Forum to co-create recommendations for better integrated policies towards implementing the Green Deal in the marine context. The innovative, web-based and fit-for purpose roadmaps and methodological guidelines will enable policymakers to effectively foster environmentally sustainable law and governance that is fit-for-purpose for delivering the societal transformation called for.