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Accelerating Collaboration and Innovation: PRIMA-Funded Projects unite at ENI CBC Med’s WEF CAP project Capitalization Conference

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Together, fostering Synergies and Innovation in WEFE Nexus Projects

In a significant step towards promoting collaboration and driving innovation in the Water-Energy-Food ecosystem (WEFe) Nexus domain, 26 PRIMA projects participated in a capitalization event, organized by the project WEF CAP, funded by the ENI CBC Med Program.

The Multi-stakeholder Capitalization Conference, themed “Fostering cooperation, tech transfer, and evidence-based policy formation for innovation-driven growth in WEF Nexus Projects,” is set to be a landmark gathering of experts, researchers, and stakeholders.

The event presents an unparalleled opportunity for PRIMA-funded projects to convene, fostering knowledge exchange, collaboration, and the sharing of valuable insights and experiences. These projects are excited to not only collaborate amongst themselves but also forge partnerships with other initiatives under the ENI CBC Med Program. Over the course of two days, participants engaged in panel discussions, interactive sessions, and workshops, exploring innovative approaches, emerging technologies, and policy frameworks that drive growth and sustainability within WEF Nexus projects. Additionally, the event showcased successful case studies, highlighting the tangible impact of these initiatives on the water, energy, and food sectors in the region.

The Multi-stakeholder Capitalization Conference is taking place on the 8th and 9th May in Alexandria, Egypt.

On Day 2 (9th May), a session titled “Parallel Session: Promoting Circular WEF Nexus Projects: Strategies and Approaches for Implementation” featured six PRIMA-funded projects as distinguished speakers. These projects had a unique platform to share their insights, experiences, and strategies related to promoting circular approaches within the WEF Nexus framework. Their presentations offered valuable perspectives on implementing innovative strategies that contribute to a more sustainable and circular economy. Meanwhile, the remaining PRIMA-funded projects actively participated in the session as attendees, providing them with an excellent opportunity to network, engage in fruitful discussions, and establish collaborations with other projects present at the event.

Meet the PRIMA-funded projects gearing up to collaborate and drive innovation at the WEF CAP capitalization conference.

AWESOME – mAnaging Water Ecosystems and food across sectors and Scales in the sOuth Mediterranean. The AWESOME project aims to create a decision-analytic platform that uses a multi-level, integrated WEF model to better understand the tradeoffs and synergies of multi-sectoral WEF. This includes exploring interdependencies and feedbacks across spatial scales, from the macroeconomic level down to the single farm. The platform simulated the impacts of various WEF planning portfolios, including regional policies, river-basin planning, and innovative technological solutions to generate shared economic, environmental, and societal benefits.

https://awesome-prima.eu/ | NEXUS

PHEMAC – Participatory Hub for Effective Mapping Acceleration and Capitalization of EU-MPC NEXUS best practices. PHEMAC aims to develop and disseminate an interactive platform that will gather and share best practices focused on PRIMA SRIA priorities, involving a wide range of stakeholders from the farming system, water management and agri-food sectors.

https://www.phemac.eu/ | NEXUS

NEXUS-NESS – NEXUS Nature Ecosystem Society Solution: Fair and Sustainable Resource Allocation Demonstrator of the Multiple WEFE Nexus Economic Social and Environmental Benefits for Mediterranean Regions. NEXUS-NESS aims to co-develop with stakeholders a Nexus-Ness Service to co-validate WEFE Nexus strategies for fair access to resources in four Nexus Ecosystem Living Labs supported by RRI Roadmap, Multi-Stakeholder User Platform and a WEFE Nexus forum for promoting the solution in the Euro-Med area

https://prima-nexus-ness.org/ | NEXUS

MED Food TTHubs – Trace & Trust Hubs for MED food. MED Food TTHubs is a PRIMA project that seeks to support the implementation of full-path tracing practices through the whole distribution channel from seed to shelf in order to achieve safer and more sustainable Mediterranean food products for people all around the world.

https://tthubs.eu/ | AGRI-FOOD

PLANT-B – A sustainable mixed cropping-beekeeping system in the Mediterranean basin. The main concept underpinning PLANT-B is the development of a diversified farming system of citrus and Aromatic Medicinal Plants (AMPs) in combination with apiculture, which would make best use of resources (agricultural land, low pesticide input, endemic honey bee subspecies best suited to Mediterranean conditions, enhancement of pollination & biocontrol), improve (quality, safety, security) citrus fruit and honey produce, and increase the farmers’ and beekeepers’ income.

https://www.plant-b.net |FARMING SYSTEM

Attendees and participants:

NewFeed – Turn food industry by-products into secondary feedstuffs via circular-economy schemes. The project strategy focuses on testing and demonstrating the technical and economic viability of alternative feed resources from winery, orange juice and olive oil food industry by-products in the South and East of the Mediterranean Area: Spain, Greece and Egypt.

https://newfeed-prima.eu/ | FARMING SYSTEM

Blue-Med – A novel integrated and sustainable approach to monitor and control Bluetongue spread in the Mediterranean Basin.

| FARMING

CerealMed – Enhancing diversity in Mediterranean cereal farming systems. CerealMed aims to valorize and rediscover landraces and domesticated relatives of wheat for specific farming systems, as well as utilize wild species for resistance to pests and diseases, tolerance to abiotic pressures, and good nutritional values.

https://www.cerealmed.eu/ | FARMING SYSTEMS

ImPUlSe – Innovation in the By-ProdUct Supply chain of citrus in Mediterranean area. The project addresses the integration of Mediterranean citrus production and distribution systems within a Circular Economy, while considering local values and heritage.

https://impulse-sustainable-supply-chains.net/ | FOOD

MEDWATERICE – Towards sustainable water use in Mediterranean rice-based agro-ecosystems. The project aims at exploring sustainability of innovative irrigation options, in order to reduce rice water consumption and environmental impacts, and to extend rice cultivation outside of traditional paddy areas to meet the escalating demand.

https://www.medwaterice.org/ | WATER

HaloFarMs – Development and Optimization of Halophyte-based Farming systems in salt-affected Mediterranean Soils. HaloFarMs will develop and optimize new sustainable farming systems for the Mediterranean region based on the smart use of halophyte plants to value degraded and unexploited salt-affected lands.

https://www.facebook.com/halofarms.prima   | FARMING

SIRAM – Sustainable innovations for Regenerative Agriculture in the Mediterranean area. The project aims to develop approaches to address climate change, pollution, pest control, and low-income issues under different smallholder framing systems, while at the same time working for restoration and regeneration of soil health and for the socio-economic evaluation of the before-mentioned approaches

https://www.siram-prima.org | FARMING

REVINE – Regenerative agricultural approaches to improve ecosystem services in Mediterranean vineyards. The project aims at improving the biodiversity in vineyard and the fertility and water availability of soil.

https://www.revine-prima2020.org | FARMING

ORABBIT – Omega RABbit: un aliment pour la santé. The project has the following goals: 1. To develop a new quality food product – “Ωrabbit meat” 2. To optimise the production model of rabbit meat so as to reinforce the whole value chain both for local and foreign markets; 3. To increase the competitiveness of small-scale farmers, manufacturers, local distributors and other intermediate actors.

  https://mel.cgiar.org/projects/orabbit | FOOD

SUREFISH – Fostering Mediterranean fish ensuring traceability and authenticity. The global solution offered by SUREFISH regarding safety, traceability and authenticity for the Mediterranean fishery supply chain (fishing, on board processing, in land processing, retailers/importer), is made up by two technological solutions for safety and traceability and a third solution for authenticity by 12 harmonised analytical protocols.

https://surefish.eu | FOOD

SwitchtoHealthy – Switching Mediterranean consumers to Mediterranean sustainable healthy dietary patterns. The SWITCHtoHEALTHY project will generate a dietary behaviour change in the direction of a greater adherence to the Mediterranean food model.

https://switchtohealthy.eu | FOOD

PulpIng – Development of Pumpkin Pulp Formulation using a Sustainable Integrated Strategy. The Pulping project is expected to generate an entire value chain, from nature to safe food products/ingredients, improving incomes, creating jobs and promoting local economies in the Mediterranean region.

https://pulping-prima.eu | FOOD

VALUEFARM – VALorization of Mediterranean small-scale FARMs by cropping wild UnExploited species. ValueFarm aims to promote small Mediterranean farms by cultivating wild edible plants of the Mediterranean as complementary crops.

http://valuefarm-prima.agr.uth.gr | FARMING

Farms4Climate – The Farms4Climate project aims to transform agrosystems across the globe. The process involves farmers identifying opportunities for regenerative practices, which are validated by agronomic experts and then certified by digital developers. This provides a means for farmers to access premium prices as a driver of rural transformation. The goal is to demonstrate that this process can be easily replicated and scaled.

https://www.farms4climate.eu | FARMING

Freeclimb – Fruit Crops resilience to climate change in the Mediterranean Basin. The FREECLIMB project aims to develop smart and sustainable farming systems in Mediterranean countries by advancing knowledge on mechanisms of plant environmental adaptation and biotic/abiotic stress resilience.

https://primafreeclimb.com | FARMING

MEDISMART – Mediterranean Citrus: innovative soft processing solutions for S.M.A.R.T (Sustainable Mediterranean Agronomically evolved nutRitionally enriched Traditional) products. MEDISMART aims to develop a new range of citrus derivatives (for example citrus pulp with juice) both for the fresh (i.e. fresh cut with covering juice having high service content packaging under protective atmosphere), and for the canned markets, but processed using soft innovative technologies (HPP, up to 10000 Dalton, and US) able to maintain unchanged the nutritional and sensory performances.

http://www.medismart.org | FOOD         

DAINME SME – Dairy Innovation for Mediterranean SME. The aim of the project is to improve circular economy of the dairy SMEs, in the Mediterranean countries. This objective will be achieved through the introduction of innovative technologies, and the development of new valuable dairy products

https://dainme-sme.eu/ | AGRI FOOD

HANDY WATER – Handy tools for sustainable irrigation management in Mediterranean crops. The general objective of the HANDYWATER project is to improve water use efficiency (WUE) in Mediterranean agriculture. In this sense, the project is focused on gaining new knowledge and offering low-cost and lean solutions for enhancing the adoption of efficient irrigation innovations by small farmers, for increasing the environmental and economic sustainability of two different crop productions models, both highly water demanding and widely cultivated in the Mediterranean area, such as citrus (as intensive system) and olive (as rainfed system).

https://mel.cgiar.org/projects/handywater |WATER

Meet the latest projects, selected in 2022 under AWP2022 and in the process of being started:

SUREPASTOR – Management Strategies to Enable SUstainable REsilient AgroPASTORalism. SUREPASTOR enables more resilient agro-pastoralism to climate change in Mediterranean areas that are dependent on traditional small ruminant breeds rearing on marginal lands. 

PROMEDRICE – Prevent and reduce land and water salinization and pollution due to agri-food activities.

Mush Med – Transition to Healthy Mediterranean Functional Food via Integrating Mushroom Beta-glucans and Proteins: Promoting Body Homeostasis After Stress-Related Health Problems’.

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