MIGRASYL (“Migration & asylum challenges in the Euro-Mediterranean and Africa”) focuses on the study of Mediterranean third countries as a field of experimentation on the issue of migration and as a bridging link between Southern Europe and the Sahel. Mediterranean migration has become a major concern for academic researchers, European policy makers and public opinion. Since 2011, major political upheavals on the Southern shore of the Mediterranean have brought about a crisis situation with new long-term socio-economic and legal consequences at a Euro-Mediterranean level. These changes require the renewal of the paradigms and frameworks of thought. The Mediterranean is a particularly relevant laboratory for the development of new migratory configurations. It is at the crossroads of the South-North migration route and also those of South-South, East-West. It is composed of neighbouring countries that are especially affected by migration because of their geographical location at the "forefront" of arrivals of migrants and refugees from Africa and the Middle East. MIGRASYL’s ambition is to promote the third countries’ migration policy domain that it is in urgent need of investigation. This area is a crucial empirical field for analyzing the complex interrelation concerning push factors and policies managing migration, asylum and refugees in the EuroMed. In the long term, MIGRASYL aims to build a unique multi-partner digital platform, gathering national migration observatories. With this international project, and over a 18 months period (November 2017 – April 2019), MIGRASYL will constitute a network of Euro-Mediterranean and sub-Saharan partners (France, Italy, Spain, Greece, Austria, Turkey, Mauritania, Senegal, Tunisia, Morocco, Lebanon, Malta) thanks to workshops dedicated to the challenges of international migrations and to the evolution of asylum law in this geographical area. These workshops and the MIGRASYL consortium meeting will aim at organizing and structuring an international H2020 project which will be submitted to the European Commission in 2018 or 2019, in the framework of the Societal Challenge “Europe in a changing world – Inclusive, innovative and reflective societies”, « 1. Call on Migration and the refugee crisis ». The MIGRASYL researchers will conduct fieldwork on 3 geographical areas: Southern Europe, the Middle East and sub-Saharan Africa, which are all impacted by important migratory flows and by the hosting of asylum seekers. MIGRASYL ambitions to gather partner institutions in the field of socio-anthropology, political sciences, law, history, demography and geography. This core partnership will be complemented by a network of associations, NGOs and Euro-Mediterranean civil society players. MIGRASYL’s outcomes will include empirical knowledge on social assistance schemes of host and transit countries, based on interviews and statistical data. Policy-makers will benefit from an analysis of the coherence and effectiveness of European policies on migration, compared with the development of migration policies in third countries. MIGRASYL will highlight good practices of institutions active in the defense of migrants and migration governance, at local, regional, national and international level, in order to combat irregular migration. It will also provide an analysis on the unexplored link between migration and sustainable development policies, particularly for Africa.

The Information-based Strategies for LAND Remediation (ISLANDR) project is cross-disciplinary and multi-actor and aims to promote the delivery of Green Deal objectives, in particular achieving Zero Pollution by reducing soil pollution and enhancing restoration. ISLANDR will provide a series of tools and methods to support: (1) the delineation of soil pollution sources, (2) the assessment of risks, (3) the implementation of sustainable and risk-based land management (SRBLM), (4) the inclusion of wider valuation approach in financial and investment cases, (5) closer integration of land contamination and spatial planning decision-making and (6) key policy relevant findings related to the Soil Strategy, proposed soil health law and other areas of policy where soil is a crucial consideration. ISLANDR takes a carefully targeted approach in view of the large existing knowledge base, and has designed its outcomes be easily assimilated by multiple target groups (incl: policy interests, planners and regulators, site managers and their service providers). Care is taken to ensure support for capacity building and also to service the needs of long term repositories (e.g EUSO). Innovations include using CBA to provide robust valuation for parallel benefits to improve business cases; a technical basis for soil functionality as a “soil health” receptor, and operating window analyses of NBS and other low input remediation. ISLANDR makes use of 7 test areas across Europe to provide real world research context and road-test findings, including areas impacted by green transition consequences. Roundtables in these areas provide active local stakeholder dialogue and a basis for rapid implementation and new project roll-out. A key focus of ISLANDR is to facilitate soil remediation in situations where the case is economically marginal or negative, by providing a more thorough understanding of low input approaches and a wider value proposition for investment cases and financial planning.

NEXT proposal has been compiled by a pan-European consortium, which consists of 16 partners from leading research institutes (3), academia (3), service providers (5) and industry (5). The members come from 6 EU member states (Fi, FR, DE, MT, ES and SE) and represent the main metal producing regions of Europe, Fennoscncian Shield, Iberian Pyrite Belt and Central European Belt. These economically most important metallogenic belts of the EU have diverse geology with evident potential for different types of new mineral resource. The mineral deposits in these belts are the most feasible sources of critical, high-tech and other economically important metals in the EU. The project consortium has also a vast international collaboration network, e.g. 50% of the Advisory Board members have been invited from outside EU. In addition to the variable geology, the vulnerability of the environment and the glacial sedimentary cover in the Arctic regions of northern Europe, and the thick weathering crust and more densely populated nature of the target areas in the Iberian and Central European belts influence the mineral exploration in different ways. The social conditions in potential benefits and challenges also vary. Therefore the new environmentally sound exploration concepts and technologies will be optimized and tested on diverse mineral deposit types. NEXT will develop new geomodels, novel sensitive exploration technologies and data analysis methods which together are fast, cost-effective, environmentally safe and socially accepted. Methods developed reduce the current high exploration costs and enhance participation of civil society from the start of exploration, raising awareness and trust. Moreover, the reduced environmental impact of the new technologies and better knowledge about the factors influencing social licensing will help promote social acceptance of both exploration and mining and therefore support the further development of Europe´s extractive industry.