It is well established that world’s climate change influences the emergence of diseases particularly vector-borne diseases (VBDs). This project deals with Bluetongue (BT) which has been one of the most feared VBDs affecting the Mediterranean region. BT virus (BTV) is characterized by having multiple serotypes with scarce to null cross-reactivity between them causing obvious consequences in terms of prophylactic countermeasures. The majority of the recent BTV epidemics occurring in the Mediterranean region have been shown to be strictly related. Considering the high costs of recent European BTV incursions which ranged from 85 million to 1.4 billion/year, a coordinated surveillance program and common research projects within Mediterranean countries are of fundamental importance. The BlueMed consortium, which encloses important Institutions from Italy, France, Tunisia and Egypt, through a multidisciplinary approach, intends to develop an integrated operating model to prevent, tackle and control BTV epidemics in the Mediterranean region. The capacity to define, detect and respond to the emergence of new BTV strains or re-emergence of old strains will be achieved through an integrative surveillance program where entomological, virological and serological data will be integrated with relevant climatic and environmental variables. New applications with a web interface and technologies will be created and used to develop models and integrate this multiple source surveillance data. We will provide an up-to date molecular epidemiological map of BTV strains circulating in the Mediterranean region and we will verify the capability of portable next generation sequencing platforms to identify BTV, directly in the field. This project will also characterize antigenically the isolated strains by antigenic cartography providing crucial information upon the best strain to be used for vaccine production

In the Mediterranean region, the nexus between global dynamics such as climate change, water scarcity and food insecurity, has the potential to lead to highly severe consequences. The agri-food compartment is particularly exposed to such consequences, and urgently calls for the implementation of innovative and eco-efficient solutions. In view of this, the MedInCircle project aims at advancing the state of the art of the circular management of water, nutrients and bioresources, fostering the transition towards a more sustainable and resilient agri-food chain. More specifically, MedInCircle will pursue the development of a modular technological platform targeting the on-site treatment, recovery and valorization of water, wastewater and solid waste arising from typical Mediterranean agri-food activities. The specific objectives of the project involve i) the development of new biological treatments to enable a safe and effective domestic wastewater ferti-irrigation as well as the direct reuse of the collected agricultural drainage water, ii) the recovery and the valorisation of the nutrient content of domestic wastewater and agri-food waste, iii) the upcycling of carbon and nutrients from industrial wastewater under the form of slow-release microbial fertilizers and biostimulants, iv) the evaluation of the fertilizing and the growth-promoting properties on typical Mediterranean crops, as well as the impact on the soil microbiome, of the recovered water and nutrient streams and biological agronomic additives, v) the assessment of the cost-benefit balance of the developed innovation to promote the acceptance and the integration of the proposed technical solutions among the stakeholders of the Mediterranean agri-food chain. To achieve its objectives, the MedInCircle project will implement a research and development trajectory based on the integration of innovative waste and wastewater treatments and agronomic practices, enabling nutrient recycling and sustainable ferti-irrigation in a Mediterranean rural context. The specific solutions will involve the development and validation up to TRL 4-5 of moving bed membrane bioreactors to biologically treat and decontaminate domestic and agricultural drainage water, high solid anaerobic digestion to recover the nutrient content of agri-food waste and to synthesize plant growth promoting rhizobacteria through the recovered biogas, heterotrophic aerobic assimilation for the synthesis of slow-release nitrogen fertilizers and biostimulants. MedInCircle will pursue its objectives by integrating cutting-edge, multidisciplinary scientific knowledge and innovation potential across the fundamental and applied research. The successful completion of the project will thus enable i) the circular valorisation of waste flows from sewage and agri-food processing to generate liquid and solid fertilizers with specific features that can be effectively and safely applied on agricultural fields, ii) promoting the growth of autochthonous crops by shielding the effects of excess salinity in the Mediterranean soil through the application of halo-protective bioinoculants, iii) capturing the agricultural drainage water, thereby circumventing the contamination of surface water bodies and underground aquifers, and iv) replenishing the nitrate content and abate contaminants in agricultural drainage water through an innovative aerobic biological process integrating the membrane bioreactor and the moving bed biological reactor technologies. The MedInCircle project addresses the “2.1.1-2022 (RIA) Prevent and reduce land and water salinization and pollution due to agri-food activities” topic, which is part of the “PRIMA Section 2 Multitopics 2022” call. More specifically, the project will bring forward new circular and sustainable management strategies for agri-food activities, concomitantly reducing the pollution due to conventional and emerging contaminants, as well as to salinity, of soils and water bodies.

While outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses (HPAIV) in Europe used to be rare and geographically contained, the situation has dramatically changed in the last few years with thousands of outbreaks reported in domestic poultry and wild birds. Despite being an intensive field of research, many unknowns remain as we are still struggling to predict HPAIV emergence, avoid viral spread and limit the socio-economic impact entailed predominantly by control measures. Vaccination of domestic poultry against avian influenza, is now being given full consideration, as it is becoming clear that traditional prevention and control approaches alone will not curb the accelerating pace of occurrence of devastating HPAIV epidemics. On 1 October 2023, France became the first EU country to implement a nation-wide vaccination campaign in ducks. However, vaccinating domestic poultry does not come without important challenges. VIVACE therefore aims at putting together a doctoral network to contribute to fully integrate poultry vaccination approaches into efficient management strategies for HPAIV. We will do so by unravelling the impact current and upcoming EU vaccination policies will have on avian influenza virus evolution, surveillance and control strategies and societal burden of HPAI. This will be done through a combination of disciplines from life sciences, epidemiology, computer sciences and social and behavioural sciences. The training program proposed here includes scientific and transferrable skill sessions, builds on the integrated added values of complementing expertise (virology, immunology, modelling, spatial and molecular epidemiology, social psychology, economics and policy), and full access to state-of-the-art technologies in excellent environments. The consortium gathers 15 universities or research institutes and 5 private companies, securing both inter-sectoriality and wide geographic distribution with tailored epidemiological and vaccination contexts.