Obiettivi e Attività

The task will include:

• definition of general intervention strategies;
• detailed planning of activities, coordination & assessment of their implementation;
• taking of the administrative decisions needed for the implementation of the planned actions, with the related spending responsibilities;
• maintenance of relations with and between partners, with the CINEA Agency, the monitoring group and the European Commission;
• reporting of expenditures;
• production of the progress reports required by the Programme.

The task will be implemented for the entire duration of the project and include:
a) Project monitoring.
b) Monitoring and verification of the effectiveness of communication, through:

• Collection of quantitative and qualitative data through semi-structured interviews and/or questionnaires to target audience, to be verified in correspondence to the progress reports and at the end of the project.
• Analysis of data collected and verification of effectiveness at different levels;
  The main output of the task will consist in quarterly monitoring reports.

The task includes the following activities:

1. Coordination of project communication activities and Production of a Communication plan including the project corporate identity.
2. Media activities: at least 15 press releases during the whole project duration; starting press event; conclusive press event for the final conference.
3. Web-based communication: project website and social media profiles. The website (in Italian and English) will be designed and managed by US. It will be realized within the first quarter of the first year and include a quarterly newsletter and a virtual tour of the project sites and short videos (‘pills’) on project topics.
4. Communication kit: Brochures (6.000 printed); Postcards in Italian (10.000 printed); Posters in Italian and English (1 for each partner); Roll-ups (10 units); Gadgets (8000 units); infographics; Notice boards to be displayed at the partner sites (1 for each partner) and in the intervention areas (2 in each area); Layman’s Report.

Public awareness campaign carried out during the whole duration of the project, consisting of web activities (mainly through social media) and in person events:

• Every year, on the bee world day, specific events will be organized
• A social contest “the nicest pollinated balcony” will be launched
• A workshop BeeHappy! will be organised every year
• Bee hotels will be installed in public and private gardens in urban/periurban areas.
• The Legambiente campaign “Save the Queen” will be enhanced with LIFE BEEadapt topics and the information on the project will be transmitted through the communication channels of the campaign.
• Good practices will be disseminated among the network “Ambasciatori del territorio”
• One local event addressed to the general public, in each target area (5 in total), will be organized by UNICAM, RN, PNATE, CA and CONF in the last semester.
  A final conference will be organized by LEG.

Networking activities with other relevant EU-funded projects (i.e. LIFE IMAGINE, A_GreeNet, PollinAction and Greenchange), initiatives and networks.
A database of relevant EU projects, initiatives and networks will be drafted during the first 6 months of the project; individual contacts will be promoted with each project/initiative/network and meetings will be organised.
Beneficiaries will also participate in at least 2 international events, such as the Green Week, and in at least 4 national or local events, such as the National Conference on Biodiversity, Festambiente, and others.

Sub-T.3.1.1: Creation of a geographical database.

Sub-T.3.1.2: Mapping of stakeholders to be involved in the project. The analysis will be developed in three main phases: Identifying, Analysing, Mapping and Prioritizing.

Sub-T.3.1.3: Downscaling of climate scenarios and risk and vulnerability assessment associated to climate change regarding domestic and wild pollinators. A climatological analysis at local scale will be carried out at the beginning of the project. At a second stage, CNR-IBE will perform an appropriate downscaling of selected scenarios for the Mediterranean region in order to obtain detailed climatic information on the study areas for the future time horizons selected by the project. CNR-IBE will be the responsible for climate scenarios and US for the risk and vulnerability assessment. 

Sub-T.3.1.4: Mapping and assessment of pollinators-related ecosystem services: pollination, crop production, habitat quality. The following are the steps of the process:

1. ECOSYSTEM IDENTIFICATION;;
2. ECOSYSTEMS ANALYSIS AND EVALUATION;
3. EVALUATION OF ECOSYSTEM SERVICES. 

The task sets up a coordination and consultation Board to define the policy framework for pollinator-oriented tools and investments in urban, peri-urban and rural areas pursuing LIFE BEEadapt objective to increase the heterogeneity of the environmental mosaic and the ecological connectivity, thus creating favourable conditions for resilience of pollinators. The Board is a governance tool active at project level and at national level engaging the most relevant stakeholders, such as regional and national authorities and research institutes. The Board will be coordinated by UNIROMA3, all partners will participate and have the responsibility to engage the regional authorities and key stakeholders.
The Board will develop:

• Plan for the implementation of the task, setting the agenda of relevant meetings.
• Stewardship agreement models, Pact’s model.
• Assessment framework on funding sources.

The task aims at promoting the integration of pollinators-oriented GI implementation into territorial planning and decision-making processes in order to foster climate adaptation measures in target regions and more specifically in the project’s target areas (WP5). This objective will be reached through:

• Investigation and analysis of the territorial planning tools;
• Definition of objectives, rules, indicators, quality standards, priorities to be applied in the territorial planning instruments to promote effective planning, implementation and management of pollinators-oriented GI. The criteria will be applied during the project in the planning instruments in force in the project areas.
  The work will be coordinated by UNIROMA3 in coordination with US with the collaboration of the partners responsible of the target areas.

The task sets up an operative, local level governance tool by establishing one Pact for each target area (5 Pacts). The Pact will function as an open and permanent working group, within which relevant local stakeholders share a pollinators-oriented climate adaptation local Agenda. Through this the Pact will promote the acknowledgment of LIFE BEEadapt approach and the tailored harmonization of CC adaptation strategies and tools through the signature of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). The Pact will also provide capacity building initiatives for future and already committed Stewards (T.5.2), and specific information about how to implement and manage dedicated habitat and optimize land use of low productive land and field margins to improve the environmental balance whilst retaining farm profitability and benefits for the community. The responsibility for the development of each Pact remains under the partner in charge for the design and implementation of adaptation interventions (WP5), while US will coordinate the task and UNIROMA3 will support US and all the partners.

T4.1: In the areas subject to Task 5.2, a fact-finding survey will be carried out before the interventions begin, aimed at generating a baseline data. The results of this first activity will be described in a specific report called “Definition of the baseline data”. An identical survey on the same areas will also be carried out at the end of the project. The same methods will be used in order to have comparable results and to be able to measure the variations incurred in terms of improving the adaptation / resilience of pollinators and agroecosystems. A monitoring Program will be defined by UNICAM and SUSDEF and contain the details of the indicators to be monitored and the responsible beneficiaries.

1. Floristic monitoring of the green infrastructures implemented. UNICAM will coordinate the monitoring, define the monitoring Program and supporting the partners (RN, CA, PNATE, CONF) in implementing the monitoring activities in target areas.
2. Monitoring pollinators- SUSDEF will coordinate the monitoring, define the monitoring Program and supporting the partners (UNICAM, RN, CA, PNATE, CONF) in implementing the monitoring activities in target areas.
3. Ex-post risk and vulnerability assessment. US will coordinate.

T4.2: The aim of the task is to monitor socio-economic impacts of the project activities assessing LIFE BEEadapt contribution in terms of increasing of the value of ecosystem services generated by the implementation of project activities, and increasing of the resilience of local communities. The assessment will concern in particular the impacts produced by WP3 and WP5 in relation to:

1. Ecosystem Services provided by the GI
2. Governance system
3. Social and economic activities
4. LIFE BEEadapt transferability and replicability actions
   Two Monitoring Reports (for each target area) will be developed (mid-term and final).
   CONF will coordinate the task, define the monitoring Program, set the indicators and coordinate the partners responsible for target areas (UNICAM, RN, CA, PNATE) in implementing the monitoring activities. US, UNIROMA3, CNR-IBE, LEG and SUSDEF will contribute to the monitoring with their expertise.

1) Definition of an Abacus of plant species to be used to implement GIs: identification of the criteria to select plant species that attract pollinators, and creation of a database with relevant characteristics for the species that meet the above requirements. All partners will collaborate to the definition of (i) the species selection criteria; (ii) the lists of suitable species in target areas.
2) Definition of guidelines for implementation and management of GI- All participants, coordinated by UNICAM, will collaborate in defining management models of GIs suitable to sustain pollinators in the specific ecological contexts of the target areas.

Sub-T5.2.1 Pollinators-oriented adaptation actions in Montagna di Torricchio State Nature Reserve.

Sub-T5.2.2 Pollinators-oriented adaptation actions in Apennine Tosco-Emiliano National Park and surrounding farms.

Sub-T.5.2.3 Pollinators-oriented adaptation actions in urban and peri-urban reserves of RomaNatura.

Sub-T.5.2.4 Pollinators-oriented adaptation actions in Agro Pontino.

Sub-T.5.2.5 Pollinators-oriented adaptation actions in Aprilia.

An exploitation plan will be produced, containing: objectives in terms of sustainability, transferability, and replicability; measures to undertake (during and after the end of the project) that will help to achieve the expected impact of the project; selection of the project’s results that should be exploited; strategy to put in place to ensure their exploitation and the mobilisation of investments; timing of the strategy and activities, including the after-LIFE period; target groups that should make use of the project’s results and an involvement strategy; role and responsibility of each partner in the continuation of the project. The plan will include the explanation of the objective of the LIFE BEEadapt Model (see task 6.2) and the strategy for its transferability and replicability, that will be implemented in tasks 6.4 and 6.5. SUSDEF will draft the plan in the second year in coordination with the other partners, and update it during the project implementation if needed.

The different public and private financial opportunities will be collected in a document, which will guide managing bodies to find the most appropriate financial instrument allowing the development or continuation of the BeeAdapt Model, to apply for the funds and to follow the process. The guidelines will consider both the existing and forecast financial instruments, based on the development of political scenario in Italy and Europe.

The strategy for replicability will foresee:

• the formalization of the commitment of 5 managing bodies/areas where the “pollinators-friendly” protocol can be adopted (Gola della Rossa e di Frasassi Regional Park, Pollino National Park, Alta Murgia National Park, Valle del Ticino Park, Milano Nord Park, Island of Gozo (Malta)); the commitment will result in the formal adoption of the Protocol where managing bodies take responsibility to share the objectives of the project, to support the replication of LIFE BEEadapt model in their managed area, and to participate in a workshop dedicated to this aim;
• the organization of a 3-day workshop in each area (Roadshow) by engaging key local stakeholders in a participatory working session aimed at drafting a local Agenda (1 in each area) for the implementation of the protocol.

The LIFE BEEadapt model will be disseminated among other Regions, national and local authorities, other public and private bodies, in order to make them integrate the Protocol in their policies, plans, funding programmes. An involvement strategy will be defined in the exploitation plan and put into practice from the second year of the project, keeping the selected stakeholders informed about the project’s progresses. Numerous bilateral or multilateral meetings with the targeted stakeholders will be organized. During these events, witnesses of the pilot interventions (WP5) and of the replication strategy (T.6.3) will present their experience. Also, during the final conference, a session will be dedicated to transferability opportunities; expressions of interest from actors will be collected and followed-up by the project’s staff.

Based on the achievements of tasks 3.2 and 3.3 and of the T5.2, a “pollinators-friendly” Protocol will be elaborated and shared among the stakeholders involved in the project. The protocol will explain LIFE BEEadapt model in terms of intervention logic and specific objectives and outline a path for the design, implementation and maintenance of green infrastructure as climate change adaptation interventions. Main deliverables of WP3 (criteria) and WP5 (abacus and guidelines) will be annexes of the protocol.