The aim of the ERA-GAS Cofund is to strengthen the transnational coordination of research programmes and provide added value to research and innovation on greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation in the European Research Area. ERA-GAS will organise a single joint transnational call for proposals with cofunding from the European Commission (EC). In addition, ERA-GAS will undertake additional joint activities including at least one other joint call without EC cofunding. By pooling national money and funding projects at a European/international level, ERA-GAS will achieve a critical mass for funding GHG research, thereby reducing duplication, harmonising research effort and making more efficient use of limited resources. Greater cooperation will enhance innovation capacity in the European Research Area and encourage the development of enabling solutions to reduce GHG emissions and improve inventories. ERA-GAS will work closely with other ERA-NETs and reinforce existing collaborations between actors in the research area (e.g. via FACCE-JPI and the GRA). A plan will also be drawn up for future collaborative actions to ensure that enhanced cooperation will be maintained past the lifetime of the ERA-NET. Through collaboration in this ERA-NET and additional joint activities, partners in the consortium will exchange experience and gain insight into other national/regional research programmes. This will help managers to follow best practice in terms of implementing international funding calls and harmonise research and policy agendas across nations. The objectives of ERA-GAS will directly address the scope of the Work Programme by incentivising participating countries to commit resources towards the development of a sustainable, innovative and more GHG efficient bioeconomy in Europe. This transnational effort is urgently required to develop mitigation solutions, refine reporting mechanisms and design policy instruments necessary to tackle this key global environmental challenge.

The objective of FACCE SURPLUS is to strengthen the European Research Area in support of different integrated food and non-food biomass production and transformation systems, especially by organising, implementing and cofunding with the EU a joint call for transnational research projects on the topic of sustainable and resilient agriculture. As this topic falls within the scope of the Strategic Research Agenda (SRA) of the Joint Programming Initiative on Agriculture, Food Security and Climate Change (FACCE–JPI), this ERA-NET Cofund will contribute substantially to the delivery of the FACCE–JPI SRA. It will thereby also contribute to the overall EU objective of building the European Research Area through enhanced cooperation, coordination and alignment of national research programmes. The action FACCE SURPLUS also aims at implementing other joint activities such as organizing workshops, scientific events, clustering of research platforms and infrastructures in the field of food and non-food biomass production and transformation systems, and also additional joint calls without EU cofunding. Launching such joint calls on a regular basis would pave the way to the long term objective of FACCE SURPLUS to establish a self-sustaining joint programme for FACCE-JPI. This will include establishing links with ongoing FACCE-JPI actions as well as related EU and international initiatives. FACCE SURPLUS will also support innovation and value creation from biomass in a sustainable way. The ERA-NET Cofund instrument is appropriate for FACCE-JPI, since it provides additional incentive to participating countries to engage financially on the field of sustainable and resilient agriculture, but also includes the flexibility to implement further activities to contribute to the establishment of a renewable bioeconomy in the ERA.

Building on earlier experiences such as LEAP-Agri, Belmont Forum and JPI FACCE, the project will implement a range of joint activities, contributing to the creation of a strong and effective trans-national, European-African-Latin America and the Caribbean research and innovation network and the better coordination and synergising of national, international and EU research programmes relevant to food security under climate change evolution. The joint call will focus on regional food systems within a global perspective and addressing: - Assessing climate change-related risks for food value chains, including impacts on prices, international trade and food security, and resulting changes in consumer behaviours. The three dimensions of sustainability will be adressed: social-cultural, economic, and environmental (including climate change mitigation); - Improving resilience and reducing volatility in agri-food production and food markets to sustainably improve food security in the context of climatic variation; - Reducing food losses under climate change including through novel approaches to valorise side streams and reduce food waste. The first pillar of the proposal relates to the preparation and implementation of a joint call for proposals for collaborative research and innovation projects, funded by European, African and South American national research funding agencies, with additional support from the European Commission. In addition, the call will be co-funded by some Belmont Forum members. These countries does not want to participate to the EU project but will be surely, as Belmont forum, member participating to the call, funding their national teams without any top up from the European Commission. The projects selected through the call will focus on achieving goals of mutual benefit for Member States, Associated Countries and Africa and South America countries, based on a balanced and cooperative approach.

This proposal seeks funding under the Horizon 2020 Work Programme to establish an ERA-NET for International Coordination of Research on infectious Animal Diseases (ICRAD). The scope for this ERA-NET has been developed under the SCAR Collaborative Working Group on Animal Health & Welfare Research (CWG AHW), which seeks to build further on 2 previous successful ERA-NETS (EMIDA, ANIHWA). 31 partners from 20 countries initially seek to support one co-funded call followed by other joint activities including the update of the EU Animal Health Strategic Research Agenda and the initiation of new international partnerships. Animal diseases cause severe social, economic and environmental damage and in some cases threaten human health as well. Disease threats to the livestock industry have increased in the last decades due to globalisation, altering production methods, climate changes and increased contacts between wildlife and livestock. Effective control tools or key knowledge leading to better control is still missing for many important livestock diseases, including for African Swine Fever and animal influenza which pose great challenges in Europe and globally. Partners in this ERA-NET will address these threats through joint European research within a framework which supports multi-disciplinary research in the fields of (i) fundamental understanding of host/(vector)/pathogen interactions and the epidemiology of disease; (ii) vaccinology and (iii) diagnostics. Research and innovation coordinated through ICRAD will (i) increase preparedness and ability to respond to emerging and endemic livestock threats; (ii) provide improved vaccines and diagnostic tools and strategies; (iii) contribute to the reduction of antibiotic and antiparasitic resistance; and (iv) contribute to animal welfare by better disease prevention. By reducing the burden of animal disease and its impact on international trade, ICRAD will enhance food security and sustainable livestock production.

The aim of SUSFOOD2 is to foster research and innovation in the field of sustainable food systems through enhanced cooperation and coordination between EU member and associated states. It will thereby contribute to the overall EU objective of building the European Research Area as well as a newly emerging Food Research Area. Major challenges will influence future food chains asking for innovative solutions to - respond to increased demand for food by increasing production sustainably (Food and Nutrition Security) - make optimal use of resources while mitigating impact on the environment - reducing losses and waste - follow a whole food chain approach from production to consumption - improving competitiveness of the European agri-food-business SUSFOOD2 focusses on sustainability in post-harvest food production, thus covering relevant fields from natural sciences to food engineering and social sciences. Building on the achievements of its predecessor in FP7, SUSFOOD2 Cofund will strengthen efforts to support and fund excellent research in the food area by one co-funded call of around 11.4 Mio. €. The consortium also aims at implementing other additional activities in a three-fold approach: i) strengthening networking and knowledge transfer among various stakeholders (i.e. by workshops, stakeholder events etc.) ii) additional funding activities without EU co-fund (preferably linked with other initiatives) iii) implementation and further advancement of the SUSFOOD SRA (developed in FP7) With the outlined approach SUSFOOD2 will contribute to - maximizing impact of transnational cooperation pooling resources (material and intellectual) and implementing best practice - using synergies and reducing overlap by interacting with related (international) initiatives (especially JPIs HDHL and FACCE) - Promoting the outputs of SUSFOOD2 network and funded projects via targeted dissemination thus sharing common vision and creating awareness for the field of food sustainability.