ENVIRNAT aims to (i) to monitor the sale, use and efficacy of anthelmintics in European livestock farming; (ii) to investigate factors related to farming practices, the environment and climatic conditions that favour the persistence of anthelmintics in the environment; (iii) to assess the impact of anthelmintic residues on ecosystems; (iv) to develop sustainable methods to reduce the use of anthelmintics in a variety of European settings; (v) to conduct socio-psychological research on barriers that may arise in the implementation of sustainable methods; (vi) to model the impact of anthelmintic use, considering both animal health benefits and ecosystem risks through benefit-risk assessment.
CESAM member: Bruno Nunes
Role: Management Committee member
Website: Action CA23154 – COST
The European Commission aims to reduce microplastic pollution from tyres, textiles, and plastic pellets, addressing knowledge gaps in MNP risks and occurrence, and developing standardized methods. The ICPLASTIC Action will create a network to establish protocols and equipment for MNP detection, supporting new ISO standards and legislation.
ICPLASTIC will benefit the scientific community, economy, and citizens by developing ISO-compliant equipment for MNP analysis, introducing compatible water legislation, and promoting information dissemination for regional monitoring and career development.
CESAM member: Teresa Rocha-Santos
Role: Management Committee member
Website: Action CA23131 – COST
The global food system is challenged by the need to produce enough high-quality protein, reduce environmental impact, and manage waste effectively. Insects have the potential to upcycle waste and valorize industrial by-products, making insect feed production a critical area to optimize for cost and environmental efficiency. Understanding insect nutritional and dietary needs can significantly lower costs and environmental impact while boosting yields. Despite an increase in studies over the past 15 years, essential knowledge on insect nutrition remains fragmented. GIN-TONIC aims to consolidate this fragmented knowledge from academic and industrial sources into a public platform, providing a comprehensive overview, identifying knowledge gaps, and promoting new research and business opportunities by connecting applied and fundamental research.
Role: Management Committee member
Website: Action CA23127 – COST
This COST Action aims to enhance productivity, efficiency, and environmental sustainability in agri-food systems, driven by global population growth, through evidence-based decision-making. It seeks to create a European hub and network to support and promote the use of evidence syntheses (ES), which systematically collate and evaluate existing evidence for informed decision-making.
The objectives are to raise awareness among decision-makers and academia about the value of ES, enhance European capacity for delivering robust ES, and facilitate their use in agri-food decision-making. This will lead to more informed decisions and contribute to sustainable development in the agri-food sector. EU-NESA will foster collaboration and knowledge exchange, supporting the transition towards sustainable agri-food practices.
CESAM member: Cristina Esteves
Role: Management Committee member
Website: Action CA23107 – COST
The main aim of DSS4ES is to establish a research network for facilitating the conceptualisation and development of new methodological approaches in decision support systems including important relations between forest and landscape. The emphasis is on screening, evaluating and proposing existing and future tools to support holistic planning approaches to increase sustainable forest management, considering various ecosystem services and products addressing the associated risks and uncertainties.
CESAM member: Sofia Corticeiro
Role: Management Committee member and Coordinator of WG5.
Website: https://www.cost.eu/actions/CA22141/
This Action will focus on knowledge transfer between various insect species, as well as from other animal breeding and genetics sectors to allow for economic and research gains in insect farming and beekeeping. The collaboration within the Action will enable a more sustainable growth in the insect farming sector, progress European research capacity by laying the foundation for long-term collaboration within both research and industry across borders, and support educated decisions on insect breeding regulations.
CESAM member: Olga Ameixa
Role: Management Committee member
Website: https://www.cost-insectimp.eu/
The FoodWaStop COST project aims to: (i) build an interdisciplinary and multi-actor European Network that will also connect with non-EU Mediterranean countries, to promote knowledge on food loss and waste (FLW) beyond the state of the art; (ii) determine incidence of FLW in the critical points of the fruit and vegetable value chain; (iii) foster technological innovations and sustainable management strategies to reduce and prevent FLW; and (iv) valorise agrofood waste to promote a circular bio-economy.
CESAM Member: Paula Quinteiro
Role: Management Committee member
Website: https://www.foodwastop.eu/
This COST Action will support insect monitoring and conservation at the national and continental scale in order to understand and counteract widespread insect declines. The Action will bring together a critical mass of researchers and stakeholders in image-based insect AI technologies to direct and drive the research agenda, build research capacity across Europe, and support innovation and application.
CESAM Member: Heliana Teixeira
Role: Management Committee member
Website: https://insectai.eu/
RethinkBlue centres around the Blue Economy and related policies affecting European societies and aims to rethink the Blue Economy, in two ways. First, by assessing its impact on coastal societies, and second, by exploring opportunities deriving from innovations and potential synergies between established and emergent marine activities.
CESAM Member: Cristina Pita
Role: Management Committee member
Website: https://www.cost.eu/actions/CA22122/
The EUFLYNET COST Action initiative aims to establish a scientific network focused on understanding the intricate dynamics of migrant landbird populations. Recognizing the necessity for research spanning the birds’ extensive flyways, this network will be created on a large-scale platform, fostering cooperation and coordination among existing local research efforts across Europe. Emphasis will be placed on providing training and sharing expertise with peripheral countries to ensure comprehensive engagement.
CESAM member: José Alves
Role: Management Committee member
Website: https://www.euflynet.eu/
SHiFT proposes the creation of a transdisciplinary Hub to address existing challenges in advancing timely societal transformations in the face of climate change. It includes the delivery of a plan of action-focused missions, initiatives, and digital content creation. The Hub comprises a core group of SSH transdisciplinary researchers and practitioners and their extended networks with a focus on unfolding the benefits of engaging with transformation in practice ideas across different social, political, economic, environmental, and technological contexts. Recognizing from the onset that these categories have blurred demarcations in practice and exploring the nexus between these and their impact on different systems and regimes.
CESAM members: Fátima Alves (FA) and Myriam Lopes (ML).
Roles: FA is a Management Committee member from Portugal and ML is member of WG2 and WG4.
Website: https://shift-cost.eu/
COPYTREE focuses on the major research challenges of in vitro cloning of woody plants, its public acceptance, risk assessment and the promotion of commercial applications in order to connect and inform the Scientific Community from various domains, policy makers, stakeholders and the marketplace.
CESAM Member: Glória Pinto
Role: Management Committee member
Website: Home | Save Our Shores (copytree.eu)
AtheroNET aims to consolidate and connect experts from different fields into European and international network that will focus on the use of multiple omics technologies and data integration through machine learning/artificial intelligence ML/AI approach to bring novel paradigms in prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD).
CESAM Member: Rosário Domingues
Role: Participates in WG2 and WG3.
Website: https://www.atheronet.eu/
OFF-SOURCE COST Action aims at creating a new scientific network that will address if and how Offshore Freshened Groundwater can be used as an unconventional source of potable water in coastal regions.
CESAM Member: Davide Gamboa
Role: Vice-Leader of WG1
Website: What is OFF-SOURCE – OFF-SOURCE • COST Action CA21112
FAIRNESS CA aims to improve standardization and integration between databases/sets of micrometeorological measurements that are part of research projects or local/regional observational networks established for special purposes (agrometeorology, urban microclimate monitoring).
CESAM member: Bruna Oliveira
Role: Management Committee member.
Website: https://www.fairness-ca20108.eu/
SEAWHEAT CA proposes an innovative conceptual pathway to create an efficient network, active in all aspects and disciplines related to Ulva spp. biology, biotechnology, engineering, aquaculture, nutrition, bioactivity and social aspects. This CA will lead to the development of advanced science, create business and job opportunities in the maritime and coastal economies, and have a significant impact on societal welfare.
CESAM members: Rosário Domingues (RD), Ana Moreira (AM), Felisa Rey (FR) and Tânia Melo (TM).
Role: RD is the Management Committee member from Portugal; AM and TM participate in WG3, WG4 and WG7; FR participates in WG3 and WG4.
Website: https://seawheatcost.haifa.ac.il/
PRIORITY CA aims to create and coordinate a transnational and multidisciplinary team of scientists and experts to address the challenges in the field of environmental nano- and microplastic pollution. This will be achieved through collaboration, sharing of know-how, discussions and training activities.
CESAM Members: Mónica Amorim (MA), Ângela Barreto (AB), Cláudia Mieiro (CM), Helena Oliveira (HO), Marcelino Oliveira (MO), Vera Maria (VM) and Verónica Bastos (VB).
Role: MA is the Management Committee member from Portugal and leader of the WG1; AB participates in WG1, WG4, WG5 and WG7; CM participates in WG1, WG5 and WG7; HO participates in WG1; MO participates in WG1, WG2, WG3, WG4 and WG7; VM participates in WG1, WG4, WG5 and WG7; VB participates in WG1.
Website: https://ca-priority.eu/
EUVEN CA aims to foster venom investigation at the European level by identifying priority targets and promising innovative approaches, developing best practice pipelines that ensure consistency across Europe and providing international standards in venom research.
CESAM Members: Helena Oliveira (HO) and Verónica Bastos (VB).
Role: HO Participates in WG1 and WG5; VB participates in WG1.
Website: https://euven-network.eu/
The objective of EPI-CATCH COST action is to define, develop, generate and share new breaking knowledge and methodologies for the investigation of epigenetic mechanisms modulating plant adaptation to environmental stresses driven by climate change. EPI-CATCH will create a pan-European framework for networking in this under-investigated research field and explore new frontiers on both innovative and translational research targeting the new challenges in plant epigenetics.
CESAM Member: Glória Pinto
Role: Management Committee member and vice-leader of WG1 and WG 2.
Website: Epicatch
CIRCUL-A-BILITY CA aims to address the major technical and non-technical hurdles for implementation of sustainable food packaging solutions within future circular food supply chains. This CA will actively work to harmonise and integrate food packaging-related research, share information, support the industry in the implementation of sustainable packaging systems, and create authoritative working groups able to give science-based recommendations to consumers, user groups, policymakers and industry.
CESAM Member: Paula Quinteiro
Role: Participates in WG1 and WG2.
EpiLipidNET CA aims to build a multidisciplinary pan-European network of researchers, clinicians and enterprises working in the field of lipidomics and epilipidomics to boost a hub of research excellence, advanced knowledge and technology transfer, to promote high level of training for young researchers and facilitate clinical translation.
CESAM Members: Rosário Domingues (RD), Ana Moreira (AM), Felisa Rey (FR), João Monteiro (JM) and Tânia Melo (TM).
Role: RD is Action Chair and participates in WG1-WG5; AM participates in WG1 and WG3; FR and JM participate in WG1 and WG4; TM participates in WG1, WG2 and WG5.
Website: https://www.epilipid.net/
The main goal of this Action is to create the structures, capacities and procedures necessary for expanding an existing data platform on soil fauna (“Edaphobase“) into an open, publicly available data warehouse for Europe-wide soil biodiversity data as well as for developing tools that use and evaluate this data. The Action focusses on combining available soil biota’s distributional and trait data with indispensable environmental metadata while integrating data on soil microorganisms and soil fauna.
CESAM Member: Susana Loureiro
Role: Management Committee member and participates in the WG3, WG6 and WG7.
Website: EUdaphobase – CA18237 – European Soil-Biology Data Warehouse for Soil Protection
From November 6th 2019 until May 5th 2024, the COST action PERIAMAR (PEsticide RIsk AssessMent for Amphibians and Reptiles) addressed, through a multidisciplinary network of scientists from academia, government, business and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), the challenge of ensuring a straightforward and useful procedure to avoid unacceptable risks of pesticides to amphibians and reptiles, contributing to solve existing uncertainties and to support ongoing efforts that, at the European level, aim to improve the efficacy of the whole scheme of Environmental Risk Assessment of pesticides.
CESAM Members: Isabel Lopes (IL), Marcelino Oliveira (MO), Marta Santos (MS) and Sérgio Marques (SM).
Role: IL is Management Committee member from Portugal; MO and MS participate in WG1 and WG3; SM participates in WG1 and WG2.
Website: https://periamar.com/
FIRElinks CA aims to power synergistic collaborations between European researchers and stakeholders with the objective to synthesise the existing knowledge and expertise, and to define a concerted research agenda which promotes an integrated approach to create fire-resilient landscapes, considering biological, biochemical and physical, but also socio-economic, historical, geographical, sociological, perception and policy constraints.
CESAM Member: Susana Cardoso
Role: Participates in WG1.
Website: https://firelinks.eu/
Nano2Clinic CA aims at developing and strengthening industry-academia relations to foster the clinical translation of nanomedicine from bench to bedside. This will be achieved by creating the first pan-European interdisciplinary network of representatives from academic institutions and small and medium enterprises, including clinical research organizations, devoted to the development of nanosystems carrying anticancer drugs from their initial design, pre-clinical testing of efficacy, pharmacokinetics and toxicity to the preparation of detailed protocols needed for the first phase of their clinical studies.
CESAM Member: Helena Oliveira
Role: Participates in WG2 and WG3.
Website: https://www.nano2clinic.eu/
INDAIRPOLLNET will improve our understanding of the cause of high concentrations of indoor air pollutants. It will assemble experts in laboratory and chamber experiments, modelling studies and measurements of relevance to indoor air quality (IAQ), including outdoor air chemists. This Action aims to significantly advance the field of indoor air pollution science, to highlight future research areas and to bridge the gap between research and business to identify appropriate mitigation strategies that optimize IAQ. The findings will be disseminated to relevant stakeholders such as architects, building engineers and instrument manufacturers.
CESAM Member: Regina Duarte
Role: Management Committee member
Website: https://indairpollnet.eu/
The scientific aims of this COST action are to ensure that the practices of optical EO measurements of ecophysiology are compatible at various spatial and temporal scales, enabling synergistic multi-sensor use and transferability between European research groups; to guarantee the transfer and knowledge exchange on scaling methods, e.g. through physical modelling (e.g. radiative transfer modelling, RTM) and identified protocols that include traceability and uncertainty analysis; and,
to coordinate overarching analyses in a European context to strengthen the European leading role. These activities will ultimately lead to a clear-cut advance in the knowledge of capturing scalable ecophysiology dynamics.
CESAM Member: Bruna Oliveira
Role: Management Committee member
Website: https://www.senseco.eu/about-senseco
The Action will address multidisciplinary research questions in relation to developing and implementing Citizen Science; advancing scientific understanding of Alien Species dynamics while informing decision-making, specifically implementation of technical requirements of relevant legislation such as the EU Regulation 1143/2014 on Invasive Alien Species.
CESAM Member: Heliana Teixeira
Role: Participates in WG1-WG5.
Website: https://www.ceh.ac.uk/our-science/projects/alien-csi