CO-OP4CBD aims to enhance coordination of the EU support to advance the implementation of the CBD, and doing so make more effective use of existing expertise and initiatives. This will lead to greater coherence in the ways in which the EU, its Member States and associated countries identify and draw on available expertise, improved advice and support to a range of CBD processes, and a more coordinated and cooperative approach in the engagement of experts in supporting implementation of other intergovernmental agreements and processes. Therefore the core focus of CO-OP4CBD is to support the increase facilitation of technical and scientific cooperation in European countries and elsewhere. This will be achieved through the implementation of a set of Coordination and Support Actions: 1) building on existing networks of experts and institutions; 2) engaging experts into the CBD processes; 3) supporting the implementation of monitoring, reporting and review; and 4) increasing technical and scientific cooperation. These actions are targeted at and will benefit the EU, its Member States and associated countries. Many actions and outputs of CO-OP4CBD however will be of interest and use to other Parties to the CBD.

Restoring Ecosystems to Stop the Threat Of (Re-)Emerging Infectious Diseases: There is a growing body of evidence that landscape degradation is linked to zoonotic spillover risk. Large scale restoration is increasingly being touted as an effective solution for mitigating against a range of anthropogenic impacts and is also hypothesised to protect against zoonotic disease spillover. However, little is known about the mechanisms with which restoration may provide this protection. It is commonly assumed that restoration mirrors in reverse the processes that occur during degradation; however, it is likely that this relationship is in fact asymmetric. Rarely can restored landscapes be returned to a state similar to that of pristine ecosystems, and often restored landscapes need to fulfil a range of environmental and socioeconomic requirements that inherently prevent them from doing so. Additionally, the spatiotemporal scale necessary to effect positive change is context dependent, and the type of restoration necessary to protect against zoonotic spillover is currently unknown. Ecosystem restoration can vary widely in type, scale and context and can also change how humans interact with their environment, which may have unexpected consequences for zoonotic disease spillover. Given the complexity of these interactions and their effect on disease, it is vital that we understand how restoration specifically might impact wildlife disease and emergent spillover risk.

The ECO-READY project will develop a real-time surveillance system, an Observatory offered as an e-platform and as a mobile application. This will function as the necessary singular source of information, provide real-time assessments for the food system, and update forecasts frequently and consistently. The Observatory will be available to society, policymakers, the scientific community, and the agri-food industry, and integrated with a network of 10 Living Labs, supported through the third party funding process, covering all bioclimatic regions in Europe, forming the ECO-READY project knowledge infrastructure. ECO-READY will produce knowledge-based resilience strategies, and develop tools that will be embedded on the Observatory. The underlining principle behind the ECO-READY approach is, resilient dynamism, or tackling immediate problems and long-term challenges at the same time. The Living Labs network will facilitate ‘concept to action’ through the co-creation of scenarios addressing their regional needs, the development of policy recommendations, contingency plans, and resilience strategies, and embed them on the Observatory. Furthermore, ECO-READY will develop an early warning system and decision support tools using innovative Artificial Intelligence based on holistic prediction models and Life Cycle Assessment results. ECO-READY will ensure that European farmers and society’s interests be reflected in future policy-making and monitoring, through early-stage active engagement incorporating bottom-up recommendations, facilitated by the increased usership of the digital tools developed, and resulting in increased awareness for climate-adaptive and mitigating agri-food products. Furthermore, the Observatory smart application will include tools that will empower the citizens to actively engage in policy making, and interact directly with the scientific community, farmers, and industry and policy makers, thus driving change in consumption habits.