The Apulia Region is renowned for its diverse agricultural output, a fundamental element of its economy. However, climate change poses significant threats to the health of soils, due to diverse degradation factors, water scarcity, and non-sustainable land management practices.The depletion of water resources, the prolonged droughts, and deficiencies in soil nutrients threaten the region's agricultural productivity, its biodiversity, and its overall environmental sustainability. Addressing these issues requires a systemic approach through collaborative, transdisciplinary research with practical, on-the-ground involvement of stakeholders (farmers, land managers, local administrators). The University of Foggia (UNIFG), is ideally positioned to lead innovation activities to co-design an innovative model for soil health enhancement at regional level, in collaboration with farmers, land managers, policy makers, and civil society organizations.The project will combine different solutions, to be tested with the support of international leading partners, at a scale that is representative of the regional dimension and characteristic of most geographical regions of Mediterranean Europe. In particular, the project will develop experimental actions using Nature Based Solutions (with the support of FC.ID from Portugal), developing short supply chains for high potential biofertilisers (with local industrial partners), cutting edge precision fertigation systems (with Ugent) and a digital dashboard to enhance data-driven soil policies based on scientific evidence.The project will reinforce UNIFG’s positioning as a leading knowledge institution in rural economies and agrarian sciences, as well as contributing to sustainable regional soil health policies in the framework of the new European legislation on soil health and monitoring.

The objective of PoliRuralPlus is to foster a sustainable, balanced, equitable, place-based and inclusive development of rural and urban areas through improved connections, governance arrangements, and integrated territorial policies that prioritise experimentation and innovation in domains that favour bi-directional urban-rural synergies and the development of a well-being economy. Key focus will be driven by Foresight, planning and implementation of integrated urban-rural strategies. The PoliRuralPlus project aims to improve the quality of life for people living in urban and rural areas across the EU by promoting coordinated and collaborative development within the regions. The project will support 9 pilot projects (including 8 from the previous PoliRural project and 1 new project) that focus on developing rural-urban partnerships. The aim is to increase the resilience and interconnectedness of urban and rural areas. In terms of financing, the project will demonstrate successful application of funding mechanisms to support these partnerships, including public-private partnerships, crowdfunding, and other innovative financing models. The goal is to find sustainable financing solutions that can support the long-term development of these partnerships. PoliRuralPlus will validate an EU-wide regional-driven integrated territorial planning & implementation Action-Foresight Process & Tool Box, by extending the latter’s Innovation Hub through the European Digital Innovation Hubs using open-source System Dynamic Modelling & a GIS collaborative online service called Map Whiteboard, enhanced by up-to-date Artificial Intelligence and Deep Learning (AI/DL) applicable algorithms. The project has an ambition to become an integral part of the New European Bauhaus due to its lighthouse success of gradual buildup of hands-on experience using up-to-date tools supporting decision-making process based on foresight principles.

In the Danube River Basin lives 79 million inhabitants. As the Danube River Management Plan indicates the majority (52%) of all rivers do not meet the criteria of good chemical status, moreover all monitored indicators deteriorated. The Danube River is an artery of the ecosystems of the whole DRB and the region with significant environmental impact. The river also has an important economic utilization supporting SMEs, and creating jobs for locals as well as having a cultural importance. To properly manage this complex and fragile ecosystem we must think of a river basin and harmonize our actions from the Black Forest to the Black Sea. DALIA (Danube Region Water Lighthouse Action) is comprised of 22 expert organizations including universities, authorities, SMEs and NGOs from 8 different Danube EU and Associated countries accumulating an outstanding set of knowledge, covering not only the basin geographically but all different fields of expertise necessary to deal with the multidisciplinary issues from source to sea. The project brings to DRB integrated DALIA tool, which will be integrate into DAnube Mission Hub for better decision making to improve DRB restoration of fresh and transitional water ecosystems; it provides options for strategies and policies that concern freshwater ecosystem protection and ecosystem connectivity in DRB and improved protection of local communities and ecosystems from extreme events and pollution threats. The DALIA project will contribute directly to the establishment of EU and UN initiatives, related to the further execution on the Water Framework Directive by the execution of innovative actions across a variety of geographies, their scaling and the multiplication of outcomes with a wider network of ecosystems and related EU Missions and project actions throughout framework .