Final Report Summary - HDHL CSA (A Healthy Diet for a Healthy Life - Coordination Action)
Executive Summary:
The overall objective of the Coordination and Support Act (CSA) is to support the development and implementation of the Joint Programming Initiative ‘A Healthy Diet for a Healthy Life’ (JPI HDHL). The CSA will coordinate the activities within the Joint Programming Initiative and support the development of a strategic agenda for harmonized and structured research activities in the area of food, nutrition and health.
Vision of the JPI HDHL
In 2030, all citizens will have the motivation, ability and opportunity to consume a healthy diet from a variety of foods, have healthy levels of physical activity and the incidence of diet-related diseases will have decreased significantly.
Strategy
Joint programming of research in the field of nutrition, food and health will provide for coordination of research on the impact of diet and lifestyles on health, contribute significantly to the construction of a fully operational European Research Area on prevention of diet-related diseases and strengthening leadership and competitiveness on the research activities in this field.
Strategic Goal
The JPI HDHL provides a roadmap for harmonized and structured research efforts in the area of food, nutrition, health and physical activity and offers defined priorities to reach the goals as identified in the Vision Document of September 2010. The following three key interacting research areas were identified and are described in the Strategic.
Research Agenda:
1. DETERMINANTS OF DIET AND PHYSICAL ACTIVITY: ensuring the healthy choice is the
easy choice for all consumers.
2. DIET AND FOOD PRODUCTION: developing healthy, high-quality, safe and sustainable foods.
3. DIET-RELATED CHRONIC DISEASES: preventing diet-related, chronic diseases and increasing
the quality of life.
Achievements & Impact
During the period of the CSA HDHL, the governance structure of JPI HDHL was established, a Strategic Research Agenda and the first Implementation Plan were launched (and updated), a communication strategy, infrastructure and deriving tools were developed and procedures and guidelines have been published. Three international conferences, a conference for funding bodies, two high level events with related initiatives and a variety of workshops have been organised. The CSA delivered several strategic reports and guidelines e.g. a communication strategy, two reports on foresight activities, guidelines on financial procedures, peer review procedures and IPR, Open Access and Knowledge Sharing and an evaluation framework and two evaluation reports. The consortia of three Joint Actions are running and four Joint Actions have been prepared with support of the CSA (Task Forces) and are currently in the phase of reviewing the proposals.
JPI HDHL is expected to change dietary patterns based on developments in food-, nutritional-, social- and health sciences, and to develop evidence-based recommendations and innovative product formats that will, together with concomitant changes in physical activity, have a major impact on improving public health, increasing the quality of life and prolonging productive life. The core principle of the JPI HDHL is to facilitate co-ordination between policy makers within the countries involved with a view to supporting collaboration between scientists to generate new scientific knowledge, share existing knowledge and expertise, and bring together important datasets in the areas of food, nutrition and health. The outcomes of the Joint Actions of JPI HDHL will create a strong knowledge base for policy within the JPI HDHL countries, the EU and beyond.
As indicated in the Horizon 2020 Work Programme 2014-2015, Societal Challenge 2, the Joint Programming Initiative ‘A Healthy Diet for A Healthy Life’ (JPI HDHL) is one of the Joint Programming Initiatives where progress has been made by the Member States in tackling one of Europe’s major societal challenges. JPI HDHL operates in the area of food, nutrition, health and physical activity for the prevention of diet-related diseases. During the HDHL CSA the solid base of the JPI HDHL was established including the launch of the Strategic Research Agenda, the first Implementation Plan and seven Joint Actions. JPI HDHL started to build on an extensive network with its stakeholders – from scientific community, to professionals, industry, policy makers and the consumer associations. All of these activities are critically important to develop the European Research Area in the area of Diet and Health.
JPI HDHL operates in the research domains of food, nutrition, health and physical activity for the prevention of diet-related diseases. It is a unique public-public initiative that transcends these four areas of research. And it is the first initiative to begin the process of co-ordinating research in a holistic way in an effort to deliver solutions to this grand societal challenge. The JPI HDHL has made significant progress in co-ordinating research investments in a number of key areas over the last 3 years. Whilst much more has to be done to achieve its vision, the JPI HDHL has the skills, capacity, and critical mass through its substantial research funder networks; the research community supported through JPI HDHL Joint Actions; and its strategic partnerships with a broad range of key stakeholders; to become an important strategic platform with a critical role to play in this important area of research.
Project Context and Objectives:
The overall objective of the CSA is to coordinate and support the development and the implementation of the Joint Programming Initiative ‘A Healthy Diet for a Healthy Life’ (JPI HDHL).
1. Joint Programming
Although European national research programmes are among the best in the world, they are unable to tackle today’s large societal challenges individually. For this reason, in March 2008, the European Council called on the Commission and Member States to explore the potential of Joint Programming. The European Commission has suggested an enhanced cooperation in the R&D area in Europe to address major societal challenges.
Joint Programming is a new process combining a strategic framework, a bottom-up approach and high-level commitment from Member States. It builds on the experience gained from existing schemes coordinating national programmes. Joint programming is a voluntary, long-term, iterative process driven by EU Member States that seeks to make better and more efficient use of a major part of research efforts planned and organised on a national level, in order to provide the long-standing, stable research basis that is required to address grand societal challenges.
This so called JPI is a European process, by which Member States engage on a variable geometry basis in defining, developing and implementing a joint vision document with a common Strategic Research Agenda to address major societal challenges that no individual Member States is capable of handling independently. In other words, JPIs represents a voluntary partnership between Member States and Associated Countries of the European Union and aims to bring major benefits to particular sector of public and societal life. Although the JPI’s originally started as a collaboration between European countries, countries from outside Europe have become engaged as well in the past years. Canada is for instance involved in the four health related JPI’s (Healthy Diet for a healthy Life, Neurodegenerative Disease, More Years Better Lives and Antimicrobial Resistance).
The JPIs should be implemented, using a methodology similar to that used in the European Technology Platforms, which have been successfully developing common research strategies for the main industrial sectors, going through three stages:
• Developing a common vision for the Joint Programming Initiative;
• Defining a Strategic Research Agenda, specific objectives and related deadlines;
• Implementing the Strategic Research Agenda and monitoring results so as to ensure maximum impact.
JPIs specifically seek to identify areas or research activities that would benefit from joint actions: coordination, joint calls for proposals, pooling of resources or other novel means of integration and alignment, in order to reduce fragmentation and duplication and cover research gaps. As one of the objectives of the European Research Area, the aims of JPIs are, on one hand, to export and disseminate knowledge, innovation and interdisciplinary approaches to other parts of Europe and throughout the world and, on the other hand, to ensure the effective use of research outputs in order to foster and facilitate European competitiveness and policy making.
2. Societal Challenge A Healthy Diet for a Healthy Life
Health and Nutrition are such societal challenges. The promotion of healthy lifestyles with better diets and increased physical activity is of utmost importance for future public health, well-being and prosperity in Europe. Food production and human nutrition are embedded into rapidly changing scientific, economic and societal environments. These are characterised by an increasing demand for high quality foods for an ageing and growing world population and an increasing competition for resources such as land, water and crops for production of feed, food and raw materials used for fuels and industrial biotechnology. It can be expected that this will result across the EU in major changes in the availability of foods, and will lead to cost increases that will, secondarily also affect nutrition and health. Furthermore, the food and drink industry will need to comply with agreements on emissions reduction and biodiversity targets that promote a more resource-efficient, greener and more competitive European economy. Moreover, it has become increasingly clear that particularly poor diet, life-style choices and obesity are implicated as key determinants for many chronic diseases. Nutrition and physical activity strategies should aim to promote health and prevent nutrition deficiencies, inactivity and chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes and cancer.
According to the Kondratieff Cycle Theory, health is the key driver for Europe's growth and prosperity (www.kondratieffzyklen.de). Western world governments are struggling with the growing social and economic consequences of an alarming increase in obesity and diet-related diseases, including malnutrition, micronutrient deficiencies and food intolerances and allergies (Stratton RJ. ProcNutrSoc 2007) in subgroups of the population. Lack of sufficient physical activity and high energy intakes are the prime factors determining overweight and obesity development, and the growing incidence of diseases directly or indirectly linked to these lifestyle parameters. Increased affluence and urbanisation are contributing factors that result in lifestyles and daily routines which require less physical activity. At the same time, access to foods with high energy density is becoming more prevalent. It can be foreseen that without effective prevention of diet-related diseases and with an ageing population, health systems will be stretched to breaking point. Consequently, improving health by increasing energy expenditure, changing food choice patterns and providing more healthy diets are key priorities for most JPI HDHL countries in fighting obesity and diet-related chronic diseases amongst their populations.
If no positive action is taken, it is expected that diet- and lifestyle-related diseases will increase rapidly in the next decade and have a negative social and economic impact for many Member States. For this reason, the European Parliament adopted in September 2011 a resolution (P7_TA(2011)0390) on the European Union position and commitment in advance to the UN high-level meeting on the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases. Cardiovascular diseases and cancer are one of the leading causes of death in the Western world and obesity is the second main cause, after smoking, of developing cancer. Cardiovascular diseases have a major economic cost. For example, overall cardiovascular diseases is estimated to cost the European economy almost €196 billion a year. Of the total cost of cardiovascular diseases in Europe, around 54% is due to direct health care costs, 24% to productivity losses and 22% to the informal care of people with cardiovascular diseases (Nichols M, et al, 2012). There is evidence that improved lifestyles can reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes by 58% over four years. Population studies have shown that up to 80% of cases of coronary heart disease and up to 90% of cases of type 2 diabetes could potentially be avoided through changing lifestyle factors (WHO/FAO Expert Consultation on Diet, nutrition and the prevention of chronic diseases. WHO Technical Report Series, No. 916., 2003). Similarly about one-third of cancers could be avoided by eating healthy, maintaining normal weight and regularly exercising. Physical activity is seen as an equally important key modifiable factor contributing to the risk of obesity and associated diseases. Furthermore, sedentary behaviour is beginning to be seen as a separate important risk factor; it appears that being sedentary for large periods of the day may carry a separate risk that is not prevented by short periods of activity (Owen N et al, 2010). There is thus a pressing need to quantify physical activity and sedentary behaviour combined with research on food choice and dietary intake to gain full insight into energy balance and obesity in European populations. The EU Platform on Diet, Physical Activity and Health was set up in March 2005 to provide a forum for stakeholders at European level; the High-Level Group on Nutrition and Physical Activity strengthens the role of governments in counteracting overweight and obesity.
A balanced, adequate diet and appropriate levels of physical activity are major requirements for optimal health, physical development and performance. This requires a good understanding of the health benefits of foods and drinks (and the combinations there of), food choices, production technologies and activity patterns. Joint programming in the field of nutrition, food, exercise and health, with improved coordination of research should lead to a fully operational and coherent Western world Research Area on prevention of lifestyle and diet-related diseases with strengthened leadership and competitiveness of research (Commission staff working document. Brussels, 28.4.2010. SEC(2010)480). An integrated multi-sector approach, embracing education, health care, agriculture, environment, food and drink industry, transport, advertising and commerce will be essential to position food, nutrition and related public health policy and evidence from research sufficiently high on the political agenda so that the combined effort can be translated into real health improvements.
3. JPI A Healthy Diet for a Healthy Life
The JPI HDHL brings together 25 countries that collaborate together to align their research strategies in the area of nutrition and health. The full member countries are: Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Switzerland Spain, Turkey and the United Kingdom. The observer countries are Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Slovenia and Sweden.
The JPI HDHL member countries aim to provide a holistic approach to the development and implementation of a Strategic Research Agenda to understand the interplay of factors known to directly affect diet-related diseases, discover new relevant factors, mechanisms and strategies, as well as to contribute to the development of actions, policies, innovative products and diets, with the aim of drastically reducing the burden of diet-related diseases. The promotion of healthy lifestyles with better diets and increased physical activity is of utmost importance for future public health, well-being and prosperity. Therefore the JPI HDHL focuses on the health aspects related to food supply and dietary choices. Health aspects related to the food supply and dietary choices are closely linked to economics, and social and environmental determinants of consumer behaviour. Food production and human nutrition are embedded into rapidly changing scientific, economic and societal environments. These are characterised by an increasing demand for high quality foods for an ageing and growing world population, and an increasing competition for resources such as land, water and crops for production of feed, food and raw materials used for fuels and industrial biotechnology.
The countries involved in JPI HDHL agreed in 2010 on the following vision: “In 2030, all Europeans will have the motivation, ability and opportunity to consume a healthy diet from a variety of foods, have healthy levels of physical activity and the incidence of diet-related diseases will have decreased significantly.”
A stepwise approach ensures an efficient implementation of the JPI HDHL. The task of the CSA was to support the development and implementation of the JPI HDHL by the participating Member States, and to coordinate activities to do so. At the start of the JPI HDHL we envisioned a phased approach on Joint Programming in order to reach the objectives.
These phases were:
1. Define grand challenge
2. Develop a Vision paper & governance structure
3. Develop a Strategic Research Agenda
4. Harmonisation of Research Standards
5. Strategic Funding
6. Joint Activities
7. Synergy with the Common Strategic Framework
Based on the grand societal challenge a common vision paper was produced in 2010 by the participating Member States before the start of the JPI HDHL CSA.
At the end of the CSA HDHL 25 countries are involved with JPI HDHL as either full member (19) or observer (6) country. As of June 2015, the new vision of the JPI is that: “by 2030 all citizens will have the motivation, ability and opportunity to consume a healthy diet from a variety of foods and to have healthy levels of physical activity, and that the incidence of diet-related diseases will have decreased significantly”. This change of the vision is coherent to the development within the JPI to also welcome third countries as full members within the JPI which already resulted in Canada and New Zealand as very dedicated full member countries of JPI HDHL.
4. HDHL CSA
The CSA coordinated the activities within the Joint Programming Initiative and support the development of a Strategic Research Agenda for harmonised and structured research activities in the area of food, nutrition and health. The main tasks of the CSA were to develop a Strategic Research Agenda; to establish and support the governance structure of JPI HDHL; and to coordinate the activities of the governance structure including the development of tools and guidelines to support these activities.
The general objectives of the CSA of JPI HDHL were:
1. To monitor and report on progress of the JPI HDHL
2. To coordinate and support the activities of the Management Board, Scientific Advisory
Board, Stakeholders Advisory Board and Taskforces
3. To develop the Strategic Research Agenda
4. To implement the framework conditions based on the GPC recommendations
5. To set up a communication and dissemination platform for funding agencies, researchers, industry and other stakeholders.
The CSA consisted out of five Work Packages (WPs).
WP1 focussed on the coordination and management of the CSA including administrative and financial tasks, project management tasks and updates on relevant activities of the CSA to the European Commission.
WP2 was the umbrella WP for the secretariats of the different governance bodies of the JPI HDHL. In this WP a secretariat was set up and run for the Management Board, the Scientific Advisory Board, Stakeholder Advisory Board and the different Task Forces that were established during the course of the CSA. The objectives of the secretariats were to perform key support tasks such as the organisation of meetings and preparation of documents.
WP3 had the objective to translate the vision paper into a Strategic Research Agenda, entailing specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-based (SMART) short, medium- to long-term research needs and objectives in the area of diet, physical activity and health and prevention of lifestyle and diet-related diseases. In this WP there was also an objective included to update the Strategic Research Agenda towards the end of the CSA period.
WP4 included a variety of tasks related to the implementation of the framework conditions based on the GPC recommendations. These tasked included the development of procedures and guidelines for financial and peer review procedures as well as for Intellectual Property Rights, Open Access and Knowledge Sharing. In addition Foresight activities and the evaluation of the JPI were objectives within this WP.
The development and implementation of a communication and dissemination strategy and infrastructure was dedicated to WP5.
The WPs were designed in a way that they have well defined tasks; however some cross links between the WPs exist. WP1 had the objective to coordinate the activities of the different WPs and to make sure that connections between the WPs were made. For example WP3 which focuses on de the development and update of the Strategic Research Agenda needs input from the secretariat of the Scientific Advisory Board, the Stakeholder Advisory Board and the Management Board as well as from WP4 regarding the output from the performed foresight activities. And WP 5 provided support to all other WP to exchange information on their activities with all parties involved, though WP 5 depended on the input from the other WP to feed the communication platforms.
Project Results:
The JPI began its discussions in 2010 with a small group of countries. Since then it has grown to 25 countries, with representatives from Ministries of Agriculture, Food, Health and Research & Science. The vision, the Strategic Research Agenda and the first Implementation Plan (2014-2015) were three key milestones of the JPI which set the scene for countries work together. Relationships between the different countries of the Management Board have been strengthened considerably over time through:
• the co-ordination of funding activities; consortia of three Joint Actions were funded and the calls of four additional Joint Actions were launched;
• detailed and insightful discussions on issues such as foresight, IPR, communication;
• team building activities organized by countries hosting meetings;
• the organization of international conferences;
• the willingness to learn from each other about the development of funding programmes;
• the desire to make strategic and important investments to build capability, capacity and critical mass in areas of research within the scope of the JPI.
This has led to a more structured and coherent approach which has resulted in a number of significant achievements highlighted below including strategic partnerships with key stakeholders such as the European Commission. The CSA HDHL has supported JPI HDHL in its development. It played a key role in the establishment and support of the governance structure of the JPI, the development of the strategic documents e.g. the Strategic Research Agenda and the Implementation Plan 2014-2015, establishing a communication strategy and infrastructure.
During the period of the CSA HDHL, the governance structure of JPI HDHL was established, a Strategic Research Agenda and the first Implementation Plan were launched, a communication strategy and deriving tools were developed and procedures and guidelines have been published.
All of these activities are critically important to develop the European Research Area in the area of Diet and Health.
1. Strategic Research Agenda
The Strategic Research Agenda has been launched during the first international conference of JPI HDHL in June 2012. The agenda builds on the vision paper adopted by all JPI HDHL member countries previous to the start of the CSA HDHL. The Strategic Research Agenda is structured along the lines of establishing networks and standardising new and existing data and making these databases accessible, followed by joint research programmes. The following three key interacting research areas named ‘pillars’ were identified and are described in the Strategic Research Agenda. Horizontal issues to achieve the primary goal for 2020, a full integration of the research areas and the establishment of a European Nutrition and Food Research Institute, are formulated in the last chapter.
A. DETERMINANTS OF DIET AND PHYSICAL ACTIVITY: ensuring the healthy choice is the easy choice for all consumers. The challenge is to understand the most effective ways for improving public health through interventions targeting motivation, ability and opportunity to adopt and maintain healthy dietary and physical activity behaviours.
The consumption of food is clearly associated with pleasure, culture and symbolism, with further influences on food choice from economic factors and consumer preference. To ensure the healthy choice is the easy choice for all consumers, the research challenge is therefore to understand dietary and food behaviours which impact health. Furthermore, studies on the extent to which people from different ethnic backgrounds engage in health promoting physical activity will generate insight into how the social and physical environments influence these behaviours - leading to a rise in consumer understanding of healthy foods, healthy diets and healthy physical activity patterns and underpinning consumer efforts to control body weight. The main focus of this research area is on diet and food choice – but, because most diet-related chronic diseases are related to diet and physical activity, physical activity in relation to diet and food choice will also be explored.
B. DIET AND FOOD PRODUCTION: developing healthy, high-quality, safe and sustainable foods. The challenge is to stimulate the European consumers to select foods that fit into a healthy diet and to stimulate the food industry to produce healthier, high-quality foods in a safe, sustainable and affordable way.
Diet and food production are facing differing challenges. The concept of food quality has changed significantly, with increased emphasis on affordability, convenience and well-being in addition to safety and quality. In addition, changes in society and demographic trends will impact on the choice of foods, the ways in which food will be prepared and the places where it will be consumed. Moreover, new research is increasingly showing that the risks, benefits and nutritional requirements may vary between different population groups, and even between individuals, on the basis of their genetics. Better understanding of these determinants and requirements is necessary so that dietary advice can be more focused on the needs of particular consumer groups and can even lead to development of specialised foods and services for specific groups of consumers. Besides, foods optimised for their health impact are an important driver both for healthier food and functional food development. The two major bottlenecks are the characterization of the food intakes and the measurement of changes in health status. To characterise food intakes, good intake biomarkers reflecting foods and food components, are largely lacking and must be developed to address the characterization of food intakes. Health promotion via foods requires research to identify key bioactive components in foods, to understand how they are handled in the organism and their mode of action. Therefore, it is essential to obtain in-depth knowledge of the nutritional and functional characteristics of foods and diets, and validated measures of exposures. Therefore, the agriculture and food industries will need to adapt and incorporate modern nutritional and production philosophies, such as lean and agile manufacturing of foods with lower content of saturated fat, sugar and salt, as those which have proved to be successful in other market sectors and which allow producers to remain at the forefront of market innovation. Overall, attention must be paid to the entire process and production line so as to optimise each of the individual elements. In addition, further research is required on the collective impact of economic and environmental factors on the production levels and market prices of health-promoting foods including fruit, vegetables and seafood.
C. DIET-RELATED CHRONIC DISEASES: preventing diet-related, chronic diseases and increasing the quality of life. The challenge is to prevent or delay the onset of diet-related chronic diseases by gaining a better understanding of the impact of nutrition and lifestyle on human health and diseases.
Although epidemiological studies suggest an association of food categories (e.g. meat, fruit and vegetables) and individual dietary constituents (e.g. fibres, vitamins and trace elements) with human health, randomised controlled trials with, for example, vitamin supplements have in many cases failed to show beneficial effects. This may be due to the heterogeneity of the populations studied (including genotypes) and, therefore, future studies should take this into account. Although genome-wide association studies have yielded a wealth of information on human genetic heterogeneity and risk alleles, it has become obvious that information on dietary exposure and phenotype is insufficient for defining causal relationships. A better understanding of how diet contributes to health and to the health disease trajectory on the basis of a given genetic makeup will require large scale cohort studies with a much better definition of the volunteer's phenotype and dietary exposures. Moreover, poor nutrition, imbalanced energy intake and insufficient physical activity can all lead to changes in gene expression and epigenetic alterations that cause sustained impairments, for example, in immune responses and increased susceptibility to disease. Advanced technologies allow the effects of diets to be studied on each level along the flow of biological information from the genome to the transcriptome, proteome and metabolome and, thus, the human phenotype. In addition, almost all chronic diseases are negatively affected by low grade inflammation which derives from metabolic perturbations. Understanding how diet (and the composition of the diet) can interfere with these mechanisms is of key importance for effective food-derived strategies in prevention, such as ‘personalised nutrition’. Access to these strategies for all population groups should be taken into account. Maternal diet and infant nutrition are important determinants that, by imprinting and epigenetic effects, can cause disease predisposition. To prevent or delay the onset of diet-related chronic diseases, a better understanding of the impact of nutrition and lifestyle across Europe on human health and diseases is needed. It is necessary to pool existing national data and knowledge and define new research requirements to improve our capacity to understand the qualitative and quantitative links between diet, nutritional phenotype (e.g. obesity) and risk factors for diet-related chronic diseases. This includes the need for proper and predictive biomarkers (based on novel life science technologies) that characterise the trajectory from health to disease in the context of dietary intake and phenotypic changes. This may be achieved by the re-analysis of existing dietary intervention studies and the execution of newly-designed studies. Individual organs display different susceptibilities and the effects of dietary factors and lifestyle, including a too high food intake and low grade inflammation, need to be explored with respect to new treatment options or adjuvant approaches for (organ-specific) health improvements.
For each of these research areas, primary initiatives and research challenges are described for the short, medium and long term.
1.1 The 2nd edition of the Strategic Research Agenda
June 2015 a 2nd edition of the Strategic Research Agenda has been published. The 2nd edition of the Strategic Research Agenda is based on input derived from the Foresight Activities of JPI HDHL (see WP4), a questionnaire completed by the Scientific and Stakeholder Advisory Boards and in-depth discussion with the Scientific Advisory Board and the Stakeholder Advisory Boards. Based on these activities it became clear that it would be too early to consider a thorough update/ rewriting of the Strategic Research Agenda, though that there were improvements needed which could be processed by making a 2nd edition of the current Strategic Research Agenda – without changing the main aims and/or structure of the document.
The structure of the three pillars and the short, medium and long term description of the research challenges have not been changed. For each pillar however some editions have been made were the process on the update of Strategic Research Agenda indicated major gaps. For pillar one the developments of innovations in the area of ICT, multimedia and web-based technologies and common methods to evaluate policy interventions have been added. For pillar two research challenges related to the supply side of the food sector as well as food safety related to food intolerance have been included in the research challenges of this section of the agenda. In pillar three the underlying mechanisms of food allergies, malnutrition related to food choices/food composition/obesity and personalised nutrition were included. Furthermore – besides an update of the context of the Strategic Research Agenda and JPI HDHL – some overarching changes were implemented in the second edition. It goes beyond the purpose of this report to describe the changes in details, though some of the more major changes are:
- The vision of the JPI HDHL has been updated to ooze a global perspective by changing ‘European citizens’ into ‘all citizens’.
- The description of the public health issues and the role of public health in relation to the societal challenge have been improved.
- The food system as a whole (context), the agriculture (sector) and farmers (stakeholder) have been included in the context description of the societal challenge of JPI HDHL.
- The connection between the different pillars has been underlined.
1.1.1 Foresight report JPI HDHL
The Foresight team of the Coordination and Support Act – part of WP 4 – delivered two reports on Foresight Activities.
The first report includes the mapping of already performed foresight studies within the thematic scope of JPI HDHL and published the Final report on Foresight Activities. It summarizes the analysis of 36 publications on existing foresight activities in the area of food, diet and health, on a national, international and global level. The analysed reports bring together strategic intelligence and insights from a wide range of areas and disciplines – from environmental to societal and social issues as well as medical, economic and regulatory aspects, reflecting the complex nature of the area of diet, food, nutrition and health. Almost all of the analysed projects refer to certain and specific aspects within this complexity – for example many studies are focusing on agriculture and food production, others on health or the increase of lifestyle-related chronic diseases. Based on the analysis, major trends and drivers have been identified that were considered to have a significant impact of shaping the future of nutrition, diet, health and physical activity. According to their content-related connections these have been grouped into 8 “Core Drivers” whose current status and anticipated developments are described in the report. These are:
1. Growing Food Demand
2. Climate Change and Resource Depletion
3. Food Provenance
4. Changing Lifestyles
5. Health and Wellbeing
6. Innovation in the Food Sector
7. Innovation in Research / Health sector
8. Governmental Intervention / Regulatory Framework
Given their complexity and interdisciplinarity, core drivers closely interrelate with each other, while in some cases, they are partly contradictory. The discrimination of the core drivers is nevertheless considered as an input for further discussions on the future challenges and priorities for research and policy. Based on the mapping it can be concluded that a relatively large number of foresight activities with relevance to the scope of the JPI HDHL have already been performed. Most of them are based on a defined foresight process using different methods (literature scanning, horizon scanning, scenario workshops, or surveys). On the international level most of these reports have been published within the last 3-5 years, however, in some cases on the national level only more dated reports are available. The reports are addressing a wide range of relevant aspects, reflecting that the area of food, nutrition and health itself is a highly complex issue, and its possible future developments are influenced by a vast variety of trends and drivers. However, also in the foresight reports the traditional separation between “food” and “nutrition” persists, making it harder to consider all relevant aspects and their interrelations when thinking about future developments and challenges in the food and health area. On the other hand, the strong interrelations between the core drivers that appeared during our analysis emphasize even more the importance to take a holistic view on diet, nutrition and health and the ways they should be addressed and approached.
The second phase of the foresight activities consisted of a participatory foresight workshop, during which the core drivers – that derived from the mapping activity - were further developed into key future challenges, resulting in identification of thematic areas for research activities. This report was due end of February 2015. The recommendations were as follows (more to be found in the Report. D4.6):
• Increase interconnectivity and multidisciplinarity
• Lay emphasis on communication
• Stronger links between new technologies for health care and health services
• Focus on the effects and impacts of policy measures addressing healthy diet and lifestyle
• Impact of food industry
By summarizing the main conclusions and the most significant future developments, the two foresight reports provides a start-of-the-art description of the most siginificant developments in the area of food, nutrition and health. The objective of the Foresight Activities is to assist the Management Board of the JPI HDHL in identifying the long-term challenges and opportunities in research and innovation in the thematic area relevant for the JPI HDHL, taking into account also the wider socio-economic context. The outcome of the foresight activities has been taken into account in the process of the update of the Strategic Research Agenda of the JPI HDHL. Its provides an evidence-based input for its update to ensure that the strategic direction of research activities still respond and anticipate current and upcoming challenges in the complex area of food, nutrition, health and physical activity. Besides its role in the update of the Strategic Research Agenda, the report on foresight activities will also be taken into account in the drafting of the Implementation Plan 2016-2018 as some of the output relate to the operational level of the scoping and implementation of joint activities.
2. Implementation Plan
The Strategic Research Agenda is a high level document which sets out the strategic areas JPI HDHL will act on to align and add value in the ERA landscape. To deliver on the vision and strategic goals of the JPI HDHL, JPI HDHL launches an Implementation Plan every 2 to 3 years in which the actions and activities that the JPI HDHL will carry out in the next years are presented. In March 2014 the first Implementation Plan, covering the year 2014-2015 has been published. The period between the launch of the Strategic Research Agenda (June 2012) and the launch of the first Implementation Plan (March 2014) has been named the ‘pre-implementation phase’. During this pre-implementation phase the JPI HDHL worked on its procedures in parallel with the design and implementation of three Joint Actions – one for each pillar.
The Implementation Plan 2014 – 2015 (and its successors) aims to translate key research challenges into Joint Actions and describes the topics which will be covered in the upcoming period. The implementation of the Strategic Research Agenda, however, goes beyond the establishment of Joint Actions. Another crucial element of the Joint Programming Process is the alignment of national and European research programmes and strategies within a Strategic Research Agenda, in order to achieve a European Research Area and to avoid fragmentation and duplication. JPIs play an important role in achieving alignment by bringing together programme owners, funding bodies and policy makers from both national and European level. A significant amount of research activity relevant to nutrition and health is taking place within the participating countries of the JPI HDHL. Alignment of these activities with the goals of the JPI HDHL will increase the impact of the individual efforts of the involved countries to resolve the global societal challenge addressed by the JPI HDHL. At the national level often multiple funding bodies are involved in the area of nutrition and health, which may have different pay masters (e.g. ministries, private funds, charities) and mandates. Therefore, national tuning and collaboration within the participating countries of the JPI HDHL is of great importance for countries to be able to align with the JPI HDHL. Moreover,alignment and collaboration with the substantial number of European and global initiatives with similar/related objectives of the JPI HDHL is crucial. Examples include European Technology Platforms (ETPs), European Innovation Platforms (EIPs), ERA-NETs and Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KIC) derived from the European Commission’s FP7 and Horizon 2020 programmes. Besides the JPI HDHL, nine other JPIs have been established, each addressing a different societal challenge. JPI HDHL can benefit from collaborating with these JPIs at a strategic level (e.g. sharing best practices) and at the level of Joint Actions (e.g. in areas of mutal interest). For example, the FACCE-JPI is an important partner for collaboration, as together, the JPI HDHL and JPI FACCE cover the whole food and health system. In addition, other JPIs have interests in common with JPI HDHL, such as JP Neurodegenerative Diseases in research regarding nutrition and cognitive function. Finally, collaboration with the European Commission is essential for the implementation of the Strategic Research Agenda to be able to differentiate between research topics that could profit from a place within the Framework Programmes of the European Commission and topics which could be more efficiently addressed by a Joint Action of the JPI. To conclude, the strategy and actions of JPI HDHL to encourage national and international alignment with the Strategic Research Agenda are an important part of the Implementation Plans of the JPI.
3. Joint Actions
One of the objectives of the JPI is to make arrangements for funding agencies to improve the possibilities of cross border research through Joint Actions or Activities in research. Essential is that the Joint Actions are complementary to European funding of research projects through FP7 and/or Horizon 2020. There are many different kinds of joint activities that can contribute to increased European collaboration in the field of health, diet and the prevention of diet related diseases. Instruments to achieve this include: Joint calls for research proposals, exchange programmes for researchers, sharing of data, set up European research infrastructures, etc.
The CSA of JPI HDHL has supported Task Forces (TFs) of national experts and funding agencies on specific areas for Joint Actions. These Tast Forces have a clear mandate from the Management Board of the JPI to develop methods of research collaboration on specific theme.
3.1 Joint Actions Pre-implementation phase
The implementation of the Strategic Research Agenda started with the design of three Joint Actions – one for each pillar of the agenda. The selection of the topics, design of the calls, the funding procedure and the start of the research projects took place during the course of the three reporting periods of the JPI. The Joint Actions can be seen as a spinoff of the JPI HDHL and the supporting CSA project. Although the support of call and monitoring secretariat of the Joint Actions is not included in the CSA project some of the tasks within the CSA are directly related to the Joint Actions– for example the secretariat of Task Forces (preparation phase of a Joint Action) and the development of IPR, peer review and financial procedures; the communication Work Package provided tools for stakeholders consultation (the workshops on mapping the research domains of the Joint Actions and consult the research community) and collection of networking and research proposals (online Electronic Submission System).
During the first CSA JPI HDHL funded three Joint Actions – one for each of the three pillars.
▪ Knowledge Hub on the Determinants of Diet and Physical Activity (DEDIPAC KH)
o DEDIPAC KH (€17m invested) is the first pilot action to contribute to the Determinants of Diet and Physical Activity pillar of the Strategic Research Agenda of the JPI HDHL. The knowledge hub is composed of/gathers 51 research groups from 13 different countries (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Spain, The Netherlands and The United Kingdom). The objective as formulated in the Strategic Research Agenda is "to understand the determinants, at both the individual and group levels, regarding dietary, physical activity and sedentary behaviours using a broad multidisciplinary approach, including biological, ecological, psychological, sociological, economic and other socio-economic perspectives, and their interrelationships and to translate this knowledge into a more effective promotion of a healthy diet and physical activity." This first Joint Action of JPI HDHL is to contribute to that overall objective of the Strategic Research Agenda, and aims to do so by preparing, developing and realizing a knowledge hub –i.e. a network and infrastructure – for future monitoring, research and translation of research to policy and practice regarding determinants of dietary, physical activity and sedentary behaviours. The main concrete products of DEDIPAC will be a web-based, open access toolbox of best-practice and state-of-the-art research methodologies in order to aim for better harmonisation and comparability between European countries and a Pan-European toolbox for development, evaluation and implementation of public policies and multilevel interventions related to dietary, physical activity and sedentary behaviours.
▪ European Nutritional Phenotype Assessment Data Sharing Initiative (ENPADASI)
o ENPADASI consists of a consortium of 51 research groups from 9 countries (Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands) (€1.6m cash; €2.0m in kind invested). The main objective of ENPADASI is to deliver an open access research infrastructure that will contain data from a wide variety of nutritional studies, ranging from mechanistic/interventions to epidemiological studies including a multitude of phenotypic outcomes that will facilitate combined analyses in the future. The main concrete products of ENPADASI is the delivery of an open access research infrastructure (contain data from wide variety of nutritional studies to facilitate combined analyses in the future) and training modules to stimulate the use and further development of the infrastructure.
▪ BIOMARKERS in NUTRITION AND HEALTH
o The main objective of the Biomarkers in Nutrition and Health Joint Action is to support interdisciplinary research and innovative approaches for the validation of biomarkers and the investigation of intake/exposure and nutritional status of biomarkers within this scientific area. It supports research consortia that aim to define and harmonise the methodology necessary to prove the nutritional effects in the development of foods.
▪ FOODBALL (€4.95m invested)
• The FOODBALL consortium includes 22 partners from 11 countries (Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Spain, Switzerland and the Netherlands). A partner from New Zealand is an observer in the project. The project includes a systematic exploration and validation of biomarkers to obtain a good coverage of the food intake in different population groups within Europe by applying metabolomics to discover biomarkers and exploring use of easier sampling techniques and body fluids. The consortium will also revise the current dietary biomarker classification and develop a validation scoring system to select new biomarkers and explore their biological effects using biomarkers of intake.
▪ MIRDIET (€0.5m invested)
• The MIRDIET consortium includes research institutes from France, Switzerland and the Netherlands. The project aims to identify differential responses of specific circulating microRNAs that occur during carefully assessed dietary interventions in individuals with various metabolic status. Studies will be based on adipose tissue miRNome studies by comparing hypo- and hyper caloric dietary interventions or intervention studies focused on dietary polyphenols, protein content or glycaemic index. The biomarker potential of microRNA signature will be validated at the circulating level using blood samples from both same and unrelated dietary interventions.
It is too early to make conclusions about the output and outcomes of the running Joint Actions. However it is interesting to follow the Joint Actions not only on the amount of papers and products that will be developed and the economic value e.g. new jobs, but also on their impact on new alliances between researchers of different disciplines and countries e.g. the effect on increased multidisciplinary research and international collaboration. It is promising to see the involvement of the running Joint Actions with regard to knowledge sharing activities, for example when looking to the workshops/conferences with (planned) active involvement of the Joint Actions in a quite early stage of the projects.
3.2 Joint Actions Implementation Plan 2014-2015
In the Implementation Plan 2014 five topics for the following Joint Actions of the JPI HDHL are listed:
1. Effectiveness of existing policies for lifestyle interventions
2. Intestinal microbiomics
3. Food models and food processing
4. Nutrition and cognitive function
5. Identification, prevention and treatment of malnutrition
At the beginning of 2015, JPI HDHL launched the calls for 4 new Joint Actions. The Management Board decided to postpone the implementation of a fifth Joint Action, namely the Joint Action on Effectiveness of existing policies for lifestyle interventions to enable a good connection with the first outcomes of the DEDIPAC Knowledge Hub. A project agency of the BMBF, DLR in Germany will lead the consortium of countries participating in this Joint Action and it is expected that the call will be launched in 2016.
- The Joint Action “Nutrition and Cognitive Function” (NutriCog) aims at promoting research activities that address the interrelation of diet and cognitive function. This knowledge will lay the basis for dietary preventive strategies and recommendations to guide individuals and populations towards health promoting dietary habits. Ten countries participate. Available funding is €7.5m cash and €1.7m in kind. The funding decision is expected to be made at the end of 2015. The call secretariat is coordinated by DLR based in Germany.
- The overall vision of the Joint Action on Intestinal Microbiomics (Microbiomics) is to develop dietary interventions or guidance for modulation of the intestinal microbiome to promote health and/or prevent the development of non-communicable chronic diseases. The program should generate new knowledge to support health maintenance and/or new treatments. Twelve countries participate. Available funding is €8m. The funding decision is expected to be made at the end of 2015. The call secretariat is coordinated by ZonMw, based in the Netherlands.
- The main objective of the Joint Action "Food Processing for Health" (Food Processing) is to support multidisciplinary transnational research consortia using innovative and scientific approaches to investigate the preservation and/or the enhancement of health promoting properties of food as a result of food processing. Eight countries participate. Available funding is €4.5m. The funding decision is expected to be made at the end of 2015. The call secretariat is coordinated by the ministry of Agriculture of Ireland.
- The main objective of the Joint Action "Malnutrition in the Elderly Knowledge Hub" (Malnutrition) is to support transnational networking activities on the definition of malnutrition in the elderly and the integration and harmonisation of currently available valid and reliable screening instruments to enable identification of groups of elderly people that will benefit from nutrition interventions in different settings (e.g. home care, nursing homes, hospitals) and countries. Seven countries participate. Available funding is €1.2m. The funding decision is expected to be made at the end of 2015. The call secretariat is coordinated by ZonMw, based in the Netherlands.
The JPI HDHL will also apply for an ERA-NET on Biomarkers for Nutrition and Health in 2015 to follow up on the Joint Action on BioNH which was implemented in 2014. This ERA-NET (ERA-HDHL) will also support additional Joint Actions (referred to as Joint Funding Actions), of which some might be the follow-up of the Joint Actions describe above. With these activities established and in progress the countries that participate in the JPI HDHL have already committed €25m in the first three Joint Actions and are able to commit at least €31m in the new Joint Actions as well as the envisioned ERA-NET. These budgets are without taking into account the funding/finances brought in by the applicants – which in the case of for example the running research consortia of the BioNH Joint Actions have been shown to be significant (approximately 3 million on top of the call budget of 5.5 million).
The next challenge for JPI HDHL is to connect the Joint Actions (make cross links) and to build on the Joint Actions. Furthermore possible synergy with objectives and funded research by the European Commission e.g. in H2020, especially Societal Challenge 1 and Societal Challenge 2 and JPI HDHL related DGs amongst which DG Santé and DG Agri as well as possible synergy and collaboration with other JPIs and related initiatives will be explored. Future joint programming agendas are envisaged to be developed within a (virtual) European Nutrition and Food Research Institute. The research needs to be framed by effective strategies for joined research, including new infrastructures but also by development and innovation activities. Efficient communication within the JPI but also in dissemination to all stakeholders is most crucial for success.
3.3 Guidelines to support the drafting and implementation of Joint Actions
The HDHL CSA has delivered three guidelines for JPI HDHL to support the set up and implementation of its Joint Actions. The guidelines focus on Intellectual Property Rights and Knowledge transfer; financial procedures and peer review procedures. These guidelines connect with the “Developing Voluntary Guidelines on Framework Conditions for Joint Programming in Research” set by the High Level Group of Joint Programming (GPC).
3.3.1 Guideline on Intellectual property rights (IPR), Open Access and Knowledge Sharing
For the JPI HDHL knowledge sharing, including open access of research outputs, of the various Joint Actions is of crucial importance to address its societal challenge. JPI HDHL coordinates research on the impact of diet and lifestyles on health, significantly contributing to the construction of a fully operational European Research Area for the prevention of diet-related diseases and strengthening the leadership and competitiveness of research activities in this field. The impact of the JPI HDHL will, to a large extent, depend on the effectiveness of communication and on the transfer of knowledge and technology to all stakeholders. During the CSA period a dedicated team operating under the umbrella of WP provide an overview of pre-existing expertise, as well as those accumulated during the CSA running time to the JPI HDHL on Intellectual property rights (IPR), Open Access and Knowledge Sharing. This has been an ongoing activity for the duration of the HDHL-CSA. JPI HDHL has – based on this activities – published a first guideline on Dissemination and Exploitation of Research Results – the Quick Guide. This document has been updated in the summer 2015 into the GUIDELINE FOR INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS, OPEN ACCESS AND KNOWLEDGE SHARING – deliverable 4.8 Second update of the report on the State of Art of IPR for JPIs. This guideline includes important information and recommendations on communication, dissemination and exploitation both to prepare an application in the frame of JPI HDHL as well as when in the phase to start up and run a research consortium that has received funding within the frame of JPI HDHL. The guideline includes some basic rules and expectation of JPI HDHL on communication and knowledge sharing as well as general information & recommendations regarding Open Access, Open Data as well as on IPR issues.
3.3.2 Guideline to support the peer review procedures
Peer review procedures play a central role when funding organisations decide on allocating funds to specific research projects. The CSA HDHL has developed common and agreed rules and procedures for the Peer Review Procedures for the JPI HDHL Joint Actions. The JPI HDHL launched several Joint Actions in 2014 and in 2015. The peer review procedure was a central part of the implementation of the Joint Actions. The procedure was further developed and applied taking experience from JPI HDHL members made with other European activities like ERA NETs into account. After the implementation of the first three Joint Actions, a workshop was organized in January 2015 to identify strong and weak points of the procedure. Members of the Management Board, members of the Task Forces preparing the Joint Actions, reviewers, applicants of the Joint Actions and representatives of other JPI's participated in that workshop in order to discuss the experiences with the peer review procedures. The results of the workshop were: When setting up a Joint Action, a general discussion and decision on several aspects is needed among the respective members/ committees due to its relevance for the peer review procedures. These aspects are: Decision on funding instrument (Knowledge Hub, transnational collaborative research project, etc); Submission process (EoIs, pre-proposal, full proposal); Evaluation process (one- or two step procedure, timeline); Evaluation criteria (specifically the scoring system); Written statements & panel meeting (if necessary due to the number of proposals additional written statements); Experts (number, who?); Panel Meeting with/ without hearing or interview. In case of a two step procedure: how many proposals should enter the full proposal stage? Communication of - especially negative - results to the applicants. Some specifics should be discussed in more detail (e.g. the scoring system for evaluation of the different aspects of a proposals). The already existing documents within JPI HDHL build a good basis for future Joint Actions. However, the particular documents as well as the exact details need always some adjustments. In general the processes and procedures used in JPI HDHL are in line with the description and guidelines given in the “Voluntary Guidelines on Framework Conditions for Joint Programming in Research 2010”. All details are part of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) which is signed by the involved funding parties in advance to publication of the call documents of a Joint Action. The output of the workshop was processed into a report on peer review procedures for Joint Action of JPI HDHL. This will be used for preparing new activities in the future.
3.3.3 Guideline on financial procedures
One aim of the CSA was to develop a common financial instrument for funding cross border research including the examination or development of funding instruments e.g. by putting together financial procedures, based on the requirements of the national regulations, the experiences made in other initiatives and the consideration in Developing Voluntary Guidelines on Framework Conditions for Joint Programming in Research. The overall experiences of the JPI members as well as the “Voluntary Guidelines on Framework Conditions for Joint Programming in Research 2010” were taken into account. The voluntary guidelines were developed by the Member States. They provide a toolbox for cross border research based on either real common or virtual common pot (http://ec.europa.eu/research/era/joint-programming-documents_en.html(odnośnik otworzy się w nowym oknie)). Results from EU – projects like “JPIs To Co Work” (http://www.jpis2cowork.eu/(odnośnik otworzy się w nowym oknie)) and others were also considered when developing the financial instruments. Several Joint Actions were implemented in 2014 and 2015 by the members of the Joint Programming Initiative based on the approach of “variable geometry”. Advantages and disadvantages of a real and a virtual common pot are described in the toolbox for funding modes which has been made available by Netwatch/ ERA LEARN 2. Furthermore the ERA-Net Plus scheme designated as “mixed-mode” is mentioned within the available documents of Netwatch/ ERA LEARN. “Mixed mode” is understood as the national budget allocated for a call is matched by EU money (33% top up funding via EU framework programme). This approach is continued in Horizon 2020 by the ERA Net co-fund instrument and will be used by JPI HDHL in the future.
Countries involved in the Joint Actions decided to which extend and with how much budget they participate in the respective activity. A workshop was performed to reflect on the implemented Joint Actions, the procedures, the financial and the funding instruments used. A discussion among the participants was conducted, also elaborating on funding instruments not used by JPI HDHL at the time being. Within JPI HDHL we distinguish between the financial and the funding instruments applied. The term funding instrument refers to the type of the funded activities like transnational collaborative research projects or a knowledge hub. Financial instrument relates to applying a real or a virtual common pot or in case of using ERA Net cofund for implementing a Joint Action a mix of a virtual common pot (by the involved funding countries/ organisations) and a real common pot (top up funding provided by EU). The financial instruments seem to be somewhat limited to a virtual, real common pot or a mix of it. In contrast funding instruments could be manifold. In general the virtual common pot model is established within JPI HDHL. Among the members of JPI HDHL no need for a common pot has been identified. Concerning funding instruments it is very likely that JPI HDHL will make use of other instruments than knowledge hubs and transnational collaborative research projects in future taking into account the aims and the best suitable funding instrument. In addition to that the focus of this task was extended and include the funding of the costs related to the call secretariat (staff call secretariat; reimbursement of Peer Reviewers) as this seem to be an area where there is a knowledge gap and more knowledge on this issue can help the future Joint Actions to progress more easily. A survey was performed. The issue of sustainability of the JPI HDHL was also addressed. Based on the outcome of the survey approximately half of the JPI HDHL members will contribute budget to run the supporting JPI HDHL structure until a decision on a proposed second CSA had been taken. The output of the workshop was processed into a report on financial procedures of JPI HDHL. This will be used for preparing new activities in the future and the upcoming implementation plan.
4. Web Platform
During the HDHL CSA a unique web platform integrating different components was established. A public website, a restricted area for the JPI HDHL members and advisory bodies (intranet), a Meta Data Base platform to collect and share information with users, an Electronic Submission System to manage different Joint Actions and a mobile application functionality were made available and integrated under the web domain: www.healthydietforhealthylife.eu.
4.1 The Electronic Submission System
The Electronic Submission System allows both the electronic preparation and submission of applications aswell as the electronic check on eligibility by the funders. During the course of the CSA three different formats have been developed and tuned to be suitable for managing different type of calls e.g. one and two step calls for research projects aswell as calls for Knowledge Hubs. The formats have been used for three out of four of the calls launched early 2015. The Electronic Submission System has been structured to be linked to the MetaDataBase making it possible the transfer of information (profile data) between the two parts of the system. In the Electronic Submission System also all reference documents of the calls have been provided to applicants. Furthermore, the Electronic Submission System made a restricted area available to the call secretariat and the funders to make the eligibility check and share comments to facilitate the selection of applications for further steps. Some tools have been developed to generate overviews on the data of the different applications submitted (e.g. main applicant; countries involved; budget per country, etc.).
The link between the MetaDataBase and the Electronic Submission System has encouraged people to use the database for sharing information and start creating a HDHL community making it possible to access different services with a unique account. Applicants have to register in the database to access the electronic submission system, but also other tools like the forum and posting area. The tool for mapping of research capacity (profiles of researchers, organisations and infrastructures and description of activities) in the JPI HDHL domains has been widely used and better linked to the Electronic Submission System to exchange information. 1119 user’s profiles and 523 organization’s profiles are accessibile to registered users to exchange information. Statistics tools have allowed to monitor the use of the MetaDataBase and address interventions to improve efficiency.
4.2 The Metadatabase
An interactive platform – Metadatabase – has been developed as part of the web platform of JPI HDHL. The Metadatabase supports a bottom-up approach to interact with the users/visitors of the website. It enables scientists and other stakeholder to register themselves and to deposit their profiles and enter information on networks, programmes, research projects and specific research results. Registered users can also contact each other and there is a search function to search on e.g. expertise and country. At the end of the CSA over 1100 profiles have been registered and more than 500 organisations. The interactive platform also contains a forum area where posting information and the launch of consultations (e.g. questionnaires) on specific topics will be possible. The forum function has been used during the CSA project by the ENPADASI knowledge hub consortium to prepare their application. The questionnaire functionality has been used for the questionnaire on Intellectual Property Rights, Open Access and Knowledge Sharing. Statistical outputs from analysis of collected information on specific issues can be made. In the upcoming period the functionalities from the MetaDataBase will be further developed and implemented in the operational activities of JPI HDHL.
5. Governing bodies of JPI HDHL
Three permanent governing bodies have been established during the CSA HDHL following the vision paper made by the Management Board of JPI HDHL previous to the start of the CSA HDHL. The Management Board is the central decision making body of the JPI HDHL. It consists of a maximum of two representatives of the full member countries and the representatives need to have a mandate to represent their country. JPI HDHL also allowes observer countries to participate in the Management Board meetings – though without voting rights and without full disclosure of all the meeting documentation. For the day-to-day management of the JPI and interaction with the project manager and other representatives of the CSA consortium a Steering Committee has been established. The Steering Committee consists of the chair, vice-chair and two elected members of the Management Board. The Steering Committee is involved in the design of the agenda and meeting strategy and the plays a more active role in the development of strategic documents and the representation of JPI HDHL at meetings and events. The Management Board received advice by two advisory bodies, a Stakeholder and a Scientific Advisory Board. Both contain 15 members with more or less an equal distribition among the three pillars of the Strategic Research Agenda. Members of the Scientific Advisory Board join the body on a personal title wheras the Stakeholder Advisory Board contains out of representatives of organsiations. All bodies have a Terms of Reference which is developed with support of the CSA HDHL which descripes the role and rules of the different bodies within the JPI. The process evaluation (see next section for more details) has been a usefull tool to assess the functioning of the different bodies and the interaction between the bodies aswell as their perception on the performance of the JPI. Especially the interaction between the different bodies of the JPI aswell as the destinction between the role of the Scientific Advisory Board and the Stakeholder Advisory Board have and stay points of attention, though the evalations showed significant progress have been made regarding these points.
In addition to the permanent governing bodies the CSA of JPI HDHL has also supported several Task Forces, mainly focussed on the developement and implementation of Joint Actions. The Task Forces differ from the permanent advisory bodies as they perform activities on a more operational level which can be compared more or less with the activitise of an ERA-Net (cofund). With the extention of the amount of Joint Actions the challenge will be to keep the different Task Forces connected with the strategy and ambitions of the core bodies of the JPI.
Evaluation Framework and reports
Evaluation is one of the ‘Framework conditions’ described by the High Level Group for Joint Programming (GPC) as essential for the effective development and implementation of Joint Programming in research (GPC, Voluntary Guidelines on Framework Conditions for Joint Programming in Research 2010). The evaluation of the JPI HDHL is described in “A Healthy Diet for a Healthy Life – Coordination Action”, Work package 4, Task 4.3. The evaluation includes both a midterm and an end evaluation. The objectives of the evaluation are as follows:
- Evaluation of the process of joint programming, its efficiency and benefits
- Development of indicators for the evaluation of the quality of research
- Development of indicators for the evaluation of the sustainability of networks and results
- Share experience of the process with other JPI’s
Based on the work-document ‘Exploring collaboration for the evaluation of joint programming initiatives’ made by collaboration between multiple JPIS, a framework was developed to evaluate the JPI HDHL. The JPI HDHL Evaluation Framework is based on the three functions of JPIs:
- Governing research policy making
- Governing research performance
- Responsiveness to societal needs and innovation
These three functions are the dimensions of the Evaluation Framework. Each of the three dimensions is associated with different goals of the JPI HDHL and the evaluation of the JPI HDHL targets these goals. Within the period of the HDHL CSA two evaluations have been executed that mainly focussed on the process indicators of the performance of JPI HDHL e.g. how the governing bodies function and how they interact with each other, the perception of the governing bodies regarding the activities that JPI HDHL is performing. At the end of the HDHL CSA an evaluation took place that focussed more on the first output & outcomes of JPI HDHL.
The preliminary evaluation of the output and outcomes shows that JPI HDHL has come a long way in working towards its goals and objectives. It is too early to draft conclusion on the impact of its scientific activities – though this evaluation provides some insights in the strength of certain elements and activities (Knowledge Hubs, communication activities, Joint Actions) and in challenges and barriers. The overall opinion of the Management Board is that JPI HDHL is working towards its objectives and that substantial progress has been made during the last phase of the project. First results – which can be expected in the upcoming years - of the efforts made in the past couple of year’s good support (national) political support of the JPI HDHL concept. It is important that the communication infrastructure and instruments developed during the past couple of years will be disseminated amongst the stakeholders in the ERA of nutrition and health. Further discussion within the Management Board of JPI HDHL is needed regarding a good balance of funding activities and funding instruments to serve the aims of JPI HDHL in a way that is both efficient and sustainable for the upcoming years. Items in this discussion should also cover how to build on the various Joint Actions, to bring the results a step further to implementation, and national alignment. In its Implementation Plan 2016-2018 JPI HDHL has the ambition to indicate for each Joint Action if it should be focussed on exploring, investing or aligning research – this division can be a first step to achieve a better balance both regarding the amount of funding needed as well as the type of funding instruments needed. JPI HDHL has submitted an application for a 2nd CSA to further support JPI HDHL in achieving its vision and to become a sustainable institution. National alignment is an important task within this 2nd CSA as well as in the next Implementation Plan of JPI HDHL. JPI HDHL needs to further invest in the collaboration with other initiatives and to do this following a more strategic approach e.g. to invest in those collaborations where concrete impact/results can be expected. Within drafting the strategy of collaboration – which will be a dedicated section of the Implementation Plan 2016-2018– it could be recommended to include the opportunities of collaboration on the level of the running research consortia.
Potential Impact:
1. Potential Impact
JPI HDHL is expected to change dietary patterns based on developments in food-, nutritional-, social- and health sciences, and to develop evidence-based recommendations and innovative product formats that will, together with concomitant changes in physical activity, have a major impact on improving public health, increasing the quality of life and prolonging productive life. The core principle of the JPI HDHL is to facilitate co-ordination between policy makers within the countries involved with a view to supporting collaboration between scientists to generate new scientific knowledge, share existing knowledge and expertise, and bring together important datasets in the areas of food, nutrition and health. The outcomes of the Joint Actions of JPI HDHL will create a strong knowledge base for policy within the JPI HDHL countries, the EU and beyond.
As indicated in the Horizon 2020 Work Programme 2014-2015, Societal Challenge 2, the Joint Programming Initiative ‘A Healthy Diet for A Healthy Life’ (JPI HDHL) is one of the Joint Programming Initiatives where progress has been made by the Member States in tackling one of Europe’s major societal challenges. JPI HDHL operates in the area of food, nutrition, health and physical activity for the prevention of diet-related diseases. During the HDHL CSA the solid base of the JPI HDHL was established including the launch of the Strategic Research Agenda, the first Implementation Plan and seven Joint Actions. JPI HDHL started to build on an extensive network with its stakeholders – from scientific community, to professionals, industry, policy makers and the consumer associations. All of these activities are critically important to develop the European Research Area in the area of Diet and Health.
The results of the different Joint Actions funded by the Member States of the JPI HDHL will help to develop knowledge and evidence-based support to key EU policy priorities in the area of nutrition and health. The strategy implemented by the JPI HDHL should influence public health and also the development and implementation of measures including food and health policies. This will be done by the Member States separately, but also in close collaboration with the European Commission in the anticipated ERA-NETs but also in other collaborating models. JPI HDHL will contribute to research and innovation with European added value in the area of nutrition and prevention of life-style diseases coherent with the major Societal Challenges 1 and 2 under Horizon 2020. JPI HDHL will ensure convergence with Horizon 2020 objectives, and the EU's priorities, with a scale and scope of action that should go well beyond what either the EU or Member States can achieve on their own. One of the examples is the current anticipated investment of the Member States in malnutrition. This investment is in line with the investment of the European Commission on the same topic. Although the current investment is relatively small, the conversation with the European Commission has started to explore possible ways to align this activity (and the researchers) with the research funded under the European Commission. It is expected that this will lead to a new network of researchers who can benefit from investments from both the European Commission and the Member States in this topic.
To ensure that the investments of JPI HDHL can be translated into real health improvements, JPI HDHL works towards an integrated multi-sectoral approach, embracing education, health care, agriculture, environment, food and drink industry, transport, advertising and commerce. This is essential to position food, nutrition and related public health policy and evidence from research sufficiently high on the political agenda so that the combined effort can be translated into real health improvements. Through the three governance bodies of JPI HDHL, namely the Management Board, the Scientific Advisory Board and the Stakeholder Advisory Board, and the Joint Actions funded by JPI HDHL, the JPI has direct access to an extensive network in the European Research Area of Nutrition and Health which forms a strong base for the establishment of the multi-sectoral approach and to contribute to the dissemination and exploitation of the results of JPI HDHL. Beyond this direct access to core actors within the European Research Area of Nutrition and Health, JPI HDHL has an ongoing collaboration with related initiatives like other JPIs, article 185 initiatives and ERA-NETS.
The preliminary evaluation of the output and outcomes shows that JPI HDHL has come a long way in working towards its goals and objectives. It is too early to draft conclusion on the impact of its scientific activities – though this evaluation provides some insights in the strength of certain elements and activities (Knowledge Hubs, communication activities, Joint Actions) and in challenges and barriers. The preliminary evaluation on output and outcomes showed that besides several more standard indicators e.g. the targeted main products/outcomes (e.g. validated biomarkers; open access research infrastructure, toolbox for development and evaluation of policies) from the Joint Actions, the additional economic value (e.g. amount of jobs, phd positions) and scientific indicators (publications), the increase in multi- or interdisciplinary research and knowledge transfer as result of different funding mechanisms is an important indicator to include in the monitoring of the Joint Actions. For example, in the preliminary evaluation both Knowledge Hub coordinators reported that the Knowledge Hub instrument - although still subject for improvement on several other aspects - seems to have a positive effect on bringing research groups together from various disciplines and that this collaboration results in collaboration in other research projects.
The overall opinion of the MB, SAB and SHAB is that JPI HDHL is working towards its objectives and that substantial progress has been made during the last phase of the project. Although the JPI HDHL has been supported by a CSA and JPI HDHL has applied for a second CSA, the member countries of JPI HDHL do invest not only in the funding of research activities but also in the activities that support the governance structure of JPI HDHL. Examples of these investments are the hosting of the Management Board meetings which is done on rotation base, in addition several countries have forwarded a funding agency to coordinate one or several Joint Actions and almost all full members have been willing to pay a fee to keep the secretariat running after the end of the CSA HDHL. These investments show the support and trust of the Member States in the JPI instrument. The willingness and ability of the Member Countries to launch four Joint Actions in one year time can be seen as another indication of this support and trust. First results of the efforts made in the past couple of year’s good support (national) political support of the JPI HDHL concept can be expected in the upcoming years. It is important that the communication infrastructure and instruments developed during the past couple of years will be disseminated amongst the stakeholders in the ERA of nutrition and health.
It is the hope of the JPI HDHL that joint programming in the field of nutrition, food, physical activity and health, with improved coordination of research should lead to a fully operational and coherent Western world Research Area on prevention of lifestyle and diet-related diseases with strengthened leadership and competitiveness of research. An integrated multi-sector approach, embracing education, health care, agriculture, environment, food and drink industry, transport, advertising and commerce will be essential to position food, nutrition and related public health policy and evidence from research sufficiently high on the political agenda so that the combined effort can be translated into real health improvements.
JPI HDHL operates in the research domains of food, nutrition, health and physical activity for the prevention of diet-related diseases. It is a unique public-public initiative that transcends these four areas of research. And it is the first initiative to begin the process of co-ordinating research in a holistic way in an effort to deliver solutions to this grand societal challenge. The JPI HDHL has made significant progress in co-ordinating research investments in a number of key areas over the last 3 years. Whilst much more has to be done to achieve its vision, the JPI HDHL has the skills, capacity, and critical mass through its substantial research funder networks; the research community supported through JPI HDHL Joint Actions; and its strategic partnerships with a broad range of key stakeholders; to become an important strategic platform with a critical role to play in this important area of research.
2. Main dissemination activities
Communication and dissemination is critical to the success and sustainability of the JPI HDHL. During the HDHL CSA a unique web platform integrating different components is established. A public website, a restricted area for the JPI HDHL members and advisory bodies (intranet), a MetaDataBase platform to collect and share information with users, an Electronic Submission System to manage different Joint Actions and a mobile application functionality were made available and integrated under the web domain: www.healthydietforhealthylife.eu. Furthermore a variety of PR promotion materials were developed (e.g. flyers, factsheets) and strategic documents were published and workshops and conferences have been organised. The evaluation shows that JPI HDHL achieved all the preset communication goals of the evaluation framework.
2.1 WEBSITE, FLASH NEWSLETTER AND SOCIAL MEDIA
During the HDHL CSA a unique web platform integrating different components was established including and a mobile application functionality. The following components of the web platform can be visit via www.healthydietforhealthylife.eu:
- A public website: on the website of JPI HDHL information is available about the vision and ambition of JPI HDHL, the people involved in JPI HDHL, the strategic documents of JPI HDHL, news and reports about the events and information on (upcoming) Joint Actions. Starting from mid 2014, JPI HDHL circulates every 4-6 weeks a flash newsletter with a summary of the news published on the website in that period. At the end of the CSA almost 1600 people have registered themselves to receive the newsletter and represent over 30 countries. The news letter also has shown to have a positive effect on the amount of visitors of the JPI HDHL website and the quality of these visits (amount of pages viewed, timed spend in the webdomain).
- A restricted area for the JPI HDHL members and advisory bodies (intranet): this section is used to provide access to the incrowed of JPI HDHL e.g. for templates of presentations/documents, supporting documents for meetings and presentations. The future ambition of the JPI is to enable the users of the intranet to work on shared documents, to make the intranet more interactive.
- A MetaDataBase platform to collect and share information with users: this functionality allows an interaction with the user of the MetaDataBase. The user can make a profile and add information about his/hers expertise, research projects or post a question to a specific other user or to a whole group. The MetaDataBase becomes more valuable when a significant amount of persons and organisations are registered. At the end of the CSA period over 1100 persons and 500 organisation have been registered – the connection between an obligatory registration in the MetaDataBase to enable researchers to apply through the Electronic Submission System has been important for the rise in registrations. In the end the scientific community can profit from the registrations as it allows to search for contacts on expertise, country and organisation and can be helpful in the establishment of new consortia for application.
- An Electronic Submission System to manage different Joint Actions. The CSA consortium of JPI HDHL developed an own electronic submission system which has been used with the calls of 5 Joint Actions. The system allows a digital submission of applications shows the relevant call documents and allows funders to download and review the submissions online.
Social Media
During the course of the CSA project the use of social media has been improved. JPI HDHL has a twitter account and a LinkedIn account. The JPI HDHL twitter account has over 300 followers – which is comparable with other JPIs active on twitter – and 324 tweets have been send from the account. Twitter has been used as a tool during the two big event organized in 2015 (EXPO 2015 Grand Debate and 3rd International Conference of the JPI HDHL) to collect questions and comments from the public following the events. A LinkedIn account has been opened in autumn 2014 with around 140 followers nowadays.
The results of the communication tools like social media and the newsletter have and will be monitored through monthly reports that show figures on use, reach and impact (e.g. visiting website through news item on twitter). These reports have been discussed at the Management Board meeting and have been shown to be a great tool to motivate member countries to increase for example the figures of visitors of the website from their country when these seem to be falling behind with their peer countries.
2.2 WORKSHOPS and CONFERENCES
During the HDHL CSA JPI HDHL organized several workshops and conferences. Some of the workshops have been very focused and aimed to provide input for one of the deliverables/products developed by the CSA HDHL and/or a mapping/scoping exercise for the Joint Actions. In this section however, the focus is on the description of those workshop and events where the focus was mainly on knowledge exchange and dissemination on the activities and ambitions of JPI HDHL.
2.2.1 International conference of JPI HDHL
During the course of the CSA three international conferences have been organised with an average of 200 participants per conference. The conferences have been organised in coherence with the launch of a strategic document of the JPI. During the first conference the Strategic Research Agenda was launched, during the second conference the first Implementation Plan of JPI HDHL 2014-2015 and at the third conference the publication of the update of the Strategic Research Agenda was available. The participants of these conferences were a mix of the different type of stakeholders that are active in the ERA of Nutrition and Health e.g. policy makers, researchers, health professionals, representatives from industry and nongovernmental organisations. The programme of the third international conference involved running Joint Actions of JPI HDHL presented their achievements and goals. The workshops focussed on a variety of themes that are important for JPI HDHL e.g. Nutrition Security, collaboration with the Industry and Datasharing.
2.2.2 Conference for funding bodies
In addition JPI HDHL organised a conference for funding bodies in the area of nutrition and health with the aim to support and strengthen national alignment. The conference took place in Zurich (Switzerland) and participation was on invite only. The conference focused on existing and upcoming national research programmes related to the scope of the JPI HDHL and specifically on possibilities to develop mechanisms to measure the gains in efficiency in national funding by reducing fragmentation and financial challenges in relation to transnational funding. A first concrete outcome of the event is a set of posters on the national funding programmes and relation with the JPI of the different countries involved with JPI HDHL. These posters are available on the website of JPI HDHL in a specific country section of the website. Furthermore the participants were asked what they thought the take home message was for themselves to encourage national alignment and alignment with the CSA and what JPI HDHL could do to support alignment. In summary participants indicated that to support national alignment the JPI HDHL should: -collect best practices of national alignment; - analyse countries that have more or less the same structure in place; - support national workshops; have more marketing material about JPI HDHL; - organise more specific workshops and conferences. Furthermore collaboration with the GPC should be strengthened as the GPC can make a voice in the Member States and European Commission to support JPIs.
- Best Practices of national alignment
o Mapping the alignment activities in the various Member States to provide a best practice overview.
o Monitoring the alignment in Member States (asking Member States to describe national alignment activities). This might generate reflections and awareness and may increase commitment to alignment.
- Create national support for JPI HDHL
o Generating more political pressure on the federal governments (e.g. via GPC).
▪ Collaboration with the GPC.
o Success stories can be used as a basis to set up an alignment effort on a national level.
o Producing more targeted information material for potential new funding agencies.
- Support (national) intersectoral policy and collaboration
o The activities of the JPI HDHL should anticipated more on the ability to align national activities.
o Invite the ministry or other appropriate governing decision body to create one specific contact centre which can collect all the information on the running research projects in the Member States. This should be used for coordination of new programs.
o The JPI HDHL should be a platform to meet between food scientist and clinical (health) scientist, between industry and scientist.
o Joint call to request specific activities for better collaboration between food and health areas.
o Joint workshops to identify areas of common priorities in order to collaborate with industry, charities etc. and keeping in mind the different priorities.
- Others
o Performing more topic specific meetings and conferences.
o Mapping exercise on national expertise in the field.
o Demonstrate effectiveness and early wins in order to increase buy in nationaly. Prepare a cost-benefit analysis of Joint Programming; funding trough HDHL versus national funding in order to influence political system and senior management.
The input that JPI HDHL received through this workshop has been processed into the Implementation Plan 2016-2018 (not published yet at the moment of writing this report) and feed into the aims and tasks of the application for a second CSA for HDHL.
2.2.3 Events to stimulate inter- and transdisciplinary research and a more holistic approach on challenges in the era of nutrition and health
Furthermore three events have been organised by JPI HDHL in collaboration with other initiatives in order to stimulate inter- and transdisciplinary research and a more holistic approach on challenges in the era of nutrition and health.
One day event with related initiatives:
On the 20th of February 2014 the JPI HDHL organised a one day event with related initiatives (e.g. JPIs, ERA-net, article 185, ETPs etc). The network event served as a first step in a strategy on collaboration with related international initiatives. The results of the one day events have been summarised in a paper which is distributed among the participants of the event and is available on the JPI HDHL website. The paper contained concrete follow-up actions which have been adopted in the Implementation Plan 2014-2015 of JPI HDHL and many of them have resulted in further developments towards collaboration.
Grand Debate on Nutrition Security:
The theme of the EXPO 2015 Milan: Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life is a call to action. The European Commission has responded with a series of events looking at the role of research in Global Food and Nutrition Security. The European Commission launched a discussion paper at the start of the EXPO 2015: ‘The role of research in global food and nutrition security’ (7). This discussion paper considers those areas where European research can add most value. It highlights priorities for research, development and innovation on the theme of global food and nutrition security, and will serve as a major contribution to the EU legacy of EXPO2015 as it guides future policy actions. Events focussing on FNS were hosted in the European Commission’s pavilion, and an online survey is ongoing, providing an opportunity for input into the EC discussion paper, of which an update will be published in October 2015. In this context, the two JPIs “Agriculture, Food Security and Climate Change” (FACCE-JPI) and “A Healthy Diet for a Healthy Life” (JPI HDHL) organised a day-long event in the pavilion of the European Commission at EXPO 2015 Milan on “Nutrition Security – a whole system approach” at the 13th of May 2015. This grand debate focused on the impact of climate change on providing a sustainable food supply that has the nutritional requirements to ensure a healthy population. It brought together 10 international experts in the area of FNS. 100 high level participants joint the Grand Debate (fully booked) and the event was broadcasted through a live web streaming facility – the video of the event is embedded in the JPI HDHL website. A live webstreaming service has been provided and interaction through twitter has been offered and used to discuss questions from the online audience with the panel members. The objective of this event was to serve as the FACCE-JPI- HDHL contribution toward a European strategy on FNS and to identify priority joint actions that FACCE-JPI and JPI HDHL can develop collaboratively. The output of the event has been processed into a paper that will feed into the future strategic plans and activities of the JPIs, and has been submitted to the European Commission public consultation on “The role of research in global food and nutrition security. This paper has been published a month after the end of the CSA and was not an official deliverable of the CSA.
Workshop on ICT and the future of Nutrition and Health:
On the 27th of February 2015 JPI HDHL organised a joint workshop on ICT and the future of Nutrition and Health together with the article 185 AAL programme in Vienna at the BMWFW Palais Harrach. The aim of the workshop was to share knowledge on the area where JPI HDHL and AAL come together, to identify gaps and recommend future joints actions and opportunities for collaboration. Scientist and experts (also industry, especially SME) in the field of AAL and JPI HDHL explored together how ICT can co-create the future of Nutrition and Health e.g. tailored information on dietary intake and health parameter & personal advice through ICT tools. The attendees were asked to prioritize the points for collaboration activities identified by the sub-groups, which gave the following three high scored items:
1. Launching a joint call AAL-HDHL
2. How to make best use of the ‘big data’
a. Internet of food
b. How to derive personal messages out of data
3. Stimulate network between ICT and Nutrition/Health
These results have been reported to the governing boards of both initiatives for further discussion and consideration.
2.3 Promotion Materials
During the CSA HDHL a variety of PR promotion materials have been developed (e.g. flyers, factsheets) and strategic documents were published. The JPI HDHL has its own logo and colour scheme for its publications (red/yellow/green) and research pillars. Furthermore a format for the factsheets, powerpoint presentations and publications has been developed and is in use. Besides news items and more regular reports/summaries of workshops and events several professional documents have been published – in most cases also a limited amount in hard copy:
• The Strategic Research Agenda and the 2nd edition of the Strategic Research Agenda
• Implementation Plan 2014-2015
• A set of factsheets with general information on JPI HDHL and more detailed information on its Joint Actions.
• A magazine reporting on the 3rd international JPI HDHL conference held in Brussels on 19th June 2015 (summary of the speeches and workshops)
• 2 web stories on the 3rd International JPI HDHL Conference and the EXPO 2015 Grand Debate on Nutrition Security
• A brochure with a cover briefly presenting the main features and strategies of the JPI and 7 thematic factsheets.
• The call documents (announcements and guidelines for applicants) of 4 Joint Actions
• Regular updates on the ongoing pilot actions of the JPI HDHL
• 18 posters on national programmes, structure and research governance in the JPI HDHL countries
• 2 thematic posters on JPI HDHL in general and the foresight activity, respectively
• A video on the EXPO 2015 Grand Debate on Nutrition Security
• 11 flash newsletters
• An article has been published on an online international journal (EU Research) written by the JPI chair and the chairs of the Scientific and the Stakeholder Advisory Boards.
2.4 Representation of JPI HDHL in related initiatives
JPI HDHL has search actively for cooperation and exchange with other relevant European Initiatives in the area of food, nutrition and health. JPI HDHL had, for example, a formal role in advisory board of the FP7 project Eurodish. Furthermore JPI HDHL has been present at the mirror group meetings of ETP Food for Life and regulary provided the mirror group with an update of the developments within the JPI. JPI HDHL has been in a dialogue with SCAR regarding the subjects of mutual interested and also presented two times on the developments and ambitions at a SCAR meeting. In addition to these examples JPI HDHL has been invited to contribute to a total of more than 20 events organised by related initiatives, NGOs and the European Commission. For the list of the most important selection of these events, please see section 4.2 of the report. Furthermore the consortium of the CSA has actively participated in the activities organised by the FP7 project JPIs to Cowork in order to stimulate knowledge exchange amongst the existing ten JPIs.
List of Websites:
jpihdhl@zonmw.nl
The overall objective of the Coordination and Support Act (CSA) is to support the development and implementation of the Joint Programming Initiative ‘A Healthy Diet for a Healthy Life’ (JPI HDHL). The CSA will coordinate the activities within the Joint Programming Initiative and support the development of a strategic agenda for harmonized and structured research activities in the area of food, nutrition and health.
Vision of the JPI HDHL
In 2030, all citizens will have the motivation, ability and opportunity to consume a healthy diet from a variety of foods, have healthy levels of physical activity and the incidence of diet-related diseases will have decreased significantly.
Strategy
Joint programming of research in the field of nutrition, food and health will provide for coordination of research on the impact of diet and lifestyles on health, contribute significantly to the construction of a fully operational European Research Area on prevention of diet-related diseases and strengthening leadership and competitiveness on the research activities in this field.
Strategic Goal
The JPI HDHL provides a roadmap for harmonized and structured research efforts in the area of food, nutrition, health and physical activity and offers defined priorities to reach the goals as identified in the Vision Document of September 2010. The following three key interacting research areas were identified and are described in the Strategic.
Research Agenda:
1. DETERMINANTS OF DIET AND PHYSICAL ACTIVITY: ensuring the healthy choice is the
easy choice for all consumers.
2. DIET AND FOOD PRODUCTION: developing healthy, high-quality, safe and sustainable foods.
3. DIET-RELATED CHRONIC DISEASES: preventing diet-related, chronic diseases and increasing
the quality of life.
Achievements & Impact
During the period of the CSA HDHL, the governance structure of JPI HDHL was established, a Strategic Research Agenda and the first Implementation Plan were launched (and updated), a communication strategy, infrastructure and deriving tools were developed and procedures and guidelines have been published. Three international conferences, a conference for funding bodies, two high level events with related initiatives and a variety of workshops have been organised. The CSA delivered several strategic reports and guidelines e.g. a communication strategy, two reports on foresight activities, guidelines on financial procedures, peer review procedures and IPR, Open Access and Knowledge Sharing and an evaluation framework and two evaluation reports. The consortia of three Joint Actions are running and four Joint Actions have been prepared with support of the CSA (Task Forces) and are currently in the phase of reviewing the proposals.
JPI HDHL is expected to change dietary patterns based on developments in food-, nutritional-, social- and health sciences, and to develop evidence-based recommendations and innovative product formats that will, together with concomitant changes in physical activity, have a major impact on improving public health, increasing the quality of life and prolonging productive life. The core principle of the JPI HDHL is to facilitate co-ordination between policy makers within the countries involved with a view to supporting collaboration between scientists to generate new scientific knowledge, share existing knowledge and expertise, and bring together important datasets in the areas of food, nutrition and health. The outcomes of the Joint Actions of JPI HDHL will create a strong knowledge base for policy within the JPI HDHL countries, the EU and beyond.
As indicated in the Horizon 2020 Work Programme 2014-2015, Societal Challenge 2, the Joint Programming Initiative ‘A Healthy Diet for A Healthy Life’ (JPI HDHL) is one of the Joint Programming Initiatives where progress has been made by the Member States in tackling one of Europe’s major societal challenges. JPI HDHL operates in the area of food, nutrition, health and physical activity for the prevention of diet-related diseases. During the HDHL CSA the solid base of the JPI HDHL was established including the launch of the Strategic Research Agenda, the first Implementation Plan and seven Joint Actions. JPI HDHL started to build on an extensive network with its stakeholders – from scientific community, to professionals, industry, policy makers and the consumer associations. All of these activities are critically important to develop the European Research Area in the area of Diet and Health.
JPI HDHL operates in the research domains of food, nutrition, health and physical activity for the prevention of diet-related diseases. It is a unique public-public initiative that transcends these four areas of research. And it is the first initiative to begin the process of co-ordinating research in a holistic way in an effort to deliver solutions to this grand societal challenge. The JPI HDHL has made significant progress in co-ordinating research investments in a number of key areas over the last 3 years. Whilst much more has to be done to achieve its vision, the JPI HDHL has the skills, capacity, and critical mass through its substantial research funder networks; the research community supported through JPI HDHL Joint Actions; and its strategic partnerships with a broad range of key stakeholders; to become an important strategic platform with a critical role to play in this important area of research.
Project Context and Objectives:
The overall objective of the CSA is to coordinate and support the development and the implementation of the Joint Programming Initiative ‘A Healthy Diet for a Healthy Life’ (JPI HDHL).
1. Joint Programming
Although European national research programmes are among the best in the world, they are unable to tackle today’s large societal challenges individually. For this reason, in March 2008, the European Council called on the Commission and Member States to explore the potential of Joint Programming. The European Commission has suggested an enhanced cooperation in the R&D area in Europe to address major societal challenges.
Joint Programming is a new process combining a strategic framework, a bottom-up approach and high-level commitment from Member States. It builds on the experience gained from existing schemes coordinating national programmes. Joint programming is a voluntary, long-term, iterative process driven by EU Member States that seeks to make better and more efficient use of a major part of research efforts planned and organised on a national level, in order to provide the long-standing, stable research basis that is required to address grand societal challenges.
This so called JPI is a European process, by which Member States engage on a variable geometry basis in defining, developing and implementing a joint vision document with a common Strategic Research Agenda to address major societal challenges that no individual Member States is capable of handling independently. In other words, JPIs represents a voluntary partnership between Member States and Associated Countries of the European Union and aims to bring major benefits to particular sector of public and societal life. Although the JPI’s originally started as a collaboration between European countries, countries from outside Europe have become engaged as well in the past years. Canada is for instance involved in the four health related JPI’s (Healthy Diet for a healthy Life, Neurodegenerative Disease, More Years Better Lives and Antimicrobial Resistance).
The JPIs should be implemented, using a methodology similar to that used in the European Technology Platforms, which have been successfully developing common research strategies for the main industrial sectors, going through three stages:
• Developing a common vision for the Joint Programming Initiative;
• Defining a Strategic Research Agenda, specific objectives and related deadlines;
• Implementing the Strategic Research Agenda and monitoring results so as to ensure maximum impact.
JPIs specifically seek to identify areas or research activities that would benefit from joint actions: coordination, joint calls for proposals, pooling of resources or other novel means of integration and alignment, in order to reduce fragmentation and duplication and cover research gaps. As one of the objectives of the European Research Area, the aims of JPIs are, on one hand, to export and disseminate knowledge, innovation and interdisciplinary approaches to other parts of Europe and throughout the world and, on the other hand, to ensure the effective use of research outputs in order to foster and facilitate European competitiveness and policy making.
2. Societal Challenge A Healthy Diet for a Healthy Life
Health and Nutrition are such societal challenges. The promotion of healthy lifestyles with better diets and increased physical activity is of utmost importance for future public health, well-being and prosperity in Europe. Food production and human nutrition are embedded into rapidly changing scientific, economic and societal environments. These are characterised by an increasing demand for high quality foods for an ageing and growing world population and an increasing competition for resources such as land, water and crops for production of feed, food and raw materials used for fuels and industrial biotechnology. It can be expected that this will result across the EU in major changes in the availability of foods, and will lead to cost increases that will, secondarily also affect nutrition and health. Furthermore, the food and drink industry will need to comply with agreements on emissions reduction and biodiversity targets that promote a more resource-efficient, greener and more competitive European economy. Moreover, it has become increasingly clear that particularly poor diet, life-style choices and obesity are implicated as key determinants for many chronic diseases. Nutrition and physical activity strategies should aim to promote health and prevent nutrition deficiencies, inactivity and chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes and cancer.
According to the Kondratieff Cycle Theory, health is the key driver for Europe's growth and prosperity (www.kondratieffzyklen.de). Western world governments are struggling with the growing social and economic consequences of an alarming increase in obesity and diet-related diseases, including malnutrition, micronutrient deficiencies and food intolerances and allergies (Stratton RJ. ProcNutrSoc 2007) in subgroups of the population. Lack of sufficient physical activity and high energy intakes are the prime factors determining overweight and obesity development, and the growing incidence of diseases directly or indirectly linked to these lifestyle parameters. Increased affluence and urbanisation are contributing factors that result in lifestyles and daily routines which require less physical activity. At the same time, access to foods with high energy density is becoming more prevalent. It can be foreseen that without effective prevention of diet-related diseases and with an ageing population, health systems will be stretched to breaking point. Consequently, improving health by increasing energy expenditure, changing food choice patterns and providing more healthy diets are key priorities for most JPI HDHL countries in fighting obesity and diet-related chronic diseases amongst their populations.
If no positive action is taken, it is expected that diet- and lifestyle-related diseases will increase rapidly in the next decade and have a negative social and economic impact for many Member States. For this reason, the European Parliament adopted in September 2011 a resolution (P7_TA(2011)0390) on the European Union position and commitment in advance to the UN high-level meeting on the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases. Cardiovascular diseases and cancer are one of the leading causes of death in the Western world and obesity is the second main cause, after smoking, of developing cancer. Cardiovascular diseases have a major economic cost. For example, overall cardiovascular diseases is estimated to cost the European economy almost €196 billion a year. Of the total cost of cardiovascular diseases in Europe, around 54% is due to direct health care costs, 24% to productivity losses and 22% to the informal care of people with cardiovascular diseases (Nichols M, et al, 2012). There is evidence that improved lifestyles can reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes by 58% over four years. Population studies have shown that up to 80% of cases of coronary heart disease and up to 90% of cases of type 2 diabetes could potentially be avoided through changing lifestyle factors (WHO/FAO Expert Consultation on Diet, nutrition and the prevention of chronic diseases. WHO Technical Report Series, No. 916., 2003). Similarly about one-third of cancers could be avoided by eating healthy, maintaining normal weight and regularly exercising. Physical activity is seen as an equally important key modifiable factor contributing to the risk of obesity and associated diseases. Furthermore, sedentary behaviour is beginning to be seen as a separate important risk factor; it appears that being sedentary for large periods of the day may carry a separate risk that is not prevented by short periods of activity (Owen N et al, 2010). There is thus a pressing need to quantify physical activity and sedentary behaviour combined with research on food choice and dietary intake to gain full insight into energy balance and obesity in European populations. The EU Platform on Diet, Physical Activity and Health was set up in March 2005 to provide a forum for stakeholders at European level; the High-Level Group on Nutrition and Physical Activity strengthens the role of governments in counteracting overweight and obesity.
A balanced, adequate diet and appropriate levels of physical activity are major requirements for optimal health, physical development and performance. This requires a good understanding of the health benefits of foods and drinks (and the combinations there of), food choices, production technologies and activity patterns. Joint programming in the field of nutrition, food, exercise and health, with improved coordination of research should lead to a fully operational and coherent Western world Research Area on prevention of lifestyle and diet-related diseases with strengthened leadership and competitiveness of research (Commission staff working document. Brussels, 28.4.2010. SEC(2010)480). An integrated multi-sector approach, embracing education, health care, agriculture, environment, food and drink industry, transport, advertising and commerce will be essential to position food, nutrition and related public health policy and evidence from research sufficiently high on the political agenda so that the combined effort can be translated into real health improvements.
3. JPI A Healthy Diet for a Healthy Life
The JPI HDHL brings together 25 countries that collaborate together to align their research strategies in the area of nutrition and health. The full member countries are: Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Switzerland Spain, Turkey and the United Kingdom. The observer countries are Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Slovenia and Sweden.
The JPI HDHL member countries aim to provide a holistic approach to the development and implementation of a Strategic Research Agenda to understand the interplay of factors known to directly affect diet-related diseases, discover new relevant factors, mechanisms and strategies, as well as to contribute to the development of actions, policies, innovative products and diets, with the aim of drastically reducing the burden of diet-related diseases. The promotion of healthy lifestyles with better diets and increased physical activity is of utmost importance for future public health, well-being and prosperity. Therefore the JPI HDHL focuses on the health aspects related to food supply and dietary choices. Health aspects related to the food supply and dietary choices are closely linked to economics, and social and environmental determinants of consumer behaviour. Food production and human nutrition are embedded into rapidly changing scientific, economic and societal environments. These are characterised by an increasing demand for high quality foods for an ageing and growing world population, and an increasing competition for resources such as land, water and crops for production of feed, food and raw materials used for fuels and industrial biotechnology.
The countries involved in JPI HDHL agreed in 2010 on the following vision: “In 2030, all Europeans will have the motivation, ability and opportunity to consume a healthy diet from a variety of foods, have healthy levels of physical activity and the incidence of diet-related diseases will have decreased significantly.”
A stepwise approach ensures an efficient implementation of the JPI HDHL. The task of the CSA was to support the development and implementation of the JPI HDHL by the participating Member States, and to coordinate activities to do so. At the start of the JPI HDHL we envisioned a phased approach on Joint Programming in order to reach the objectives.
These phases were:
1. Define grand challenge
2. Develop a Vision paper & governance structure
3. Develop a Strategic Research Agenda
4. Harmonisation of Research Standards
5. Strategic Funding
6. Joint Activities
7. Synergy with the Common Strategic Framework
Based on the grand societal challenge a common vision paper was produced in 2010 by the participating Member States before the start of the JPI HDHL CSA.
At the end of the CSA HDHL 25 countries are involved with JPI HDHL as either full member (19) or observer (6) country. As of June 2015, the new vision of the JPI is that: “by 2030 all citizens will have the motivation, ability and opportunity to consume a healthy diet from a variety of foods and to have healthy levels of physical activity, and that the incidence of diet-related diseases will have decreased significantly”. This change of the vision is coherent to the development within the JPI to also welcome third countries as full members within the JPI which already resulted in Canada and New Zealand as very dedicated full member countries of JPI HDHL.
4. HDHL CSA
The CSA coordinated the activities within the Joint Programming Initiative and support the development of a Strategic Research Agenda for harmonised and structured research activities in the area of food, nutrition and health. The main tasks of the CSA were to develop a Strategic Research Agenda; to establish and support the governance structure of JPI HDHL; and to coordinate the activities of the governance structure including the development of tools and guidelines to support these activities.
The general objectives of the CSA of JPI HDHL were:
1. To monitor and report on progress of the JPI HDHL
2. To coordinate and support the activities of the Management Board, Scientific Advisory
Board, Stakeholders Advisory Board and Taskforces
3. To develop the Strategic Research Agenda
4. To implement the framework conditions based on the GPC recommendations
5. To set up a communication and dissemination platform for funding agencies, researchers, industry and other stakeholders.
The CSA consisted out of five Work Packages (WPs).
WP1 focussed on the coordination and management of the CSA including administrative and financial tasks, project management tasks and updates on relevant activities of the CSA to the European Commission.
WP2 was the umbrella WP for the secretariats of the different governance bodies of the JPI HDHL. In this WP a secretariat was set up and run for the Management Board, the Scientific Advisory Board, Stakeholder Advisory Board and the different Task Forces that were established during the course of the CSA. The objectives of the secretariats were to perform key support tasks such as the organisation of meetings and preparation of documents.
WP3 had the objective to translate the vision paper into a Strategic Research Agenda, entailing specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-based (SMART) short, medium- to long-term research needs and objectives in the area of diet, physical activity and health and prevention of lifestyle and diet-related diseases. In this WP there was also an objective included to update the Strategic Research Agenda towards the end of the CSA period.
WP4 included a variety of tasks related to the implementation of the framework conditions based on the GPC recommendations. These tasked included the development of procedures and guidelines for financial and peer review procedures as well as for Intellectual Property Rights, Open Access and Knowledge Sharing. In addition Foresight activities and the evaluation of the JPI were objectives within this WP.
The development and implementation of a communication and dissemination strategy and infrastructure was dedicated to WP5.
The WPs were designed in a way that they have well defined tasks; however some cross links between the WPs exist. WP1 had the objective to coordinate the activities of the different WPs and to make sure that connections between the WPs were made. For example WP3 which focuses on de the development and update of the Strategic Research Agenda needs input from the secretariat of the Scientific Advisory Board, the Stakeholder Advisory Board and the Management Board as well as from WP4 regarding the output from the performed foresight activities. And WP 5 provided support to all other WP to exchange information on their activities with all parties involved, though WP 5 depended on the input from the other WP to feed the communication platforms.
Project Results:
The JPI began its discussions in 2010 with a small group of countries. Since then it has grown to 25 countries, with representatives from Ministries of Agriculture, Food, Health and Research & Science. The vision, the Strategic Research Agenda and the first Implementation Plan (2014-2015) were three key milestones of the JPI which set the scene for countries work together. Relationships between the different countries of the Management Board have been strengthened considerably over time through:
• the co-ordination of funding activities; consortia of three Joint Actions were funded and the calls of four additional Joint Actions were launched;
• detailed and insightful discussions on issues such as foresight, IPR, communication;
• team building activities organized by countries hosting meetings;
• the organization of international conferences;
• the willingness to learn from each other about the development of funding programmes;
• the desire to make strategic and important investments to build capability, capacity and critical mass in areas of research within the scope of the JPI.
This has led to a more structured and coherent approach which has resulted in a number of significant achievements highlighted below including strategic partnerships with key stakeholders such as the European Commission. The CSA HDHL has supported JPI HDHL in its development. It played a key role in the establishment and support of the governance structure of the JPI, the development of the strategic documents e.g. the Strategic Research Agenda and the Implementation Plan 2014-2015, establishing a communication strategy and infrastructure.
During the period of the CSA HDHL, the governance structure of JPI HDHL was established, a Strategic Research Agenda and the first Implementation Plan were launched, a communication strategy and deriving tools were developed and procedures and guidelines have been published.
All of these activities are critically important to develop the European Research Area in the area of Diet and Health.
1. Strategic Research Agenda
The Strategic Research Agenda has been launched during the first international conference of JPI HDHL in June 2012. The agenda builds on the vision paper adopted by all JPI HDHL member countries previous to the start of the CSA HDHL. The Strategic Research Agenda is structured along the lines of establishing networks and standardising new and existing data and making these databases accessible, followed by joint research programmes. The following three key interacting research areas named ‘pillars’ were identified and are described in the Strategic Research Agenda. Horizontal issues to achieve the primary goal for 2020, a full integration of the research areas and the establishment of a European Nutrition and Food Research Institute, are formulated in the last chapter.
A. DETERMINANTS OF DIET AND PHYSICAL ACTIVITY: ensuring the healthy choice is the easy choice for all consumers. The challenge is to understand the most effective ways for improving public health through interventions targeting motivation, ability and opportunity to adopt and maintain healthy dietary and physical activity behaviours.
The consumption of food is clearly associated with pleasure, culture and symbolism, with further influences on food choice from economic factors and consumer preference. To ensure the healthy choice is the easy choice for all consumers, the research challenge is therefore to understand dietary and food behaviours which impact health. Furthermore, studies on the extent to which people from different ethnic backgrounds engage in health promoting physical activity will generate insight into how the social and physical environments influence these behaviours - leading to a rise in consumer understanding of healthy foods, healthy diets and healthy physical activity patterns and underpinning consumer efforts to control body weight. The main focus of this research area is on diet and food choice – but, because most diet-related chronic diseases are related to diet and physical activity, physical activity in relation to diet and food choice will also be explored.
B. DIET AND FOOD PRODUCTION: developing healthy, high-quality, safe and sustainable foods. The challenge is to stimulate the European consumers to select foods that fit into a healthy diet and to stimulate the food industry to produce healthier, high-quality foods in a safe, sustainable and affordable way.
Diet and food production are facing differing challenges. The concept of food quality has changed significantly, with increased emphasis on affordability, convenience and well-being in addition to safety and quality. In addition, changes in society and demographic trends will impact on the choice of foods, the ways in which food will be prepared and the places where it will be consumed. Moreover, new research is increasingly showing that the risks, benefits and nutritional requirements may vary between different population groups, and even between individuals, on the basis of their genetics. Better understanding of these determinants and requirements is necessary so that dietary advice can be more focused on the needs of particular consumer groups and can even lead to development of specialised foods and services for specific groups of consumers. Besides, foods optimised for their health impact are an important driver both for healthier food and functional food development. The two major bottlenecks are the characterization of the food intakes and the measurement of changes in health status. To characterise food intakes, good intake biomarkers reflecting foods and food components, are largely lacking and must be developed to address the characterization of food intakes. Health promotion via foods requires research to identify key bioactive components in foods, to understand how they are handled in the organism and their mode of action. Therefore, it is essential to obtain in-depth knowledge of the nutritional and functional characteristics of foods and diets, and validated measures of exposures. Therefore, the agriculture and food industries will need to adapt and incorporate modern nutritional and production philosophies, such as lean and agile manufacturing of foods with lower content of saturated fat, sugar and salt, as those which have proved to be successful in other market sectors and which allow producers to remain at the forefront of market innovation. Overall, attention must be paid to the entire process and production line so as to optimise each of the individual elements. In addition, further research is required on the collective impact of economic and environmental factors on the production levels and market prices of health-promoting foods including fruit, vegetables and seafood.
C. DIET-RELATED CHRONIC DISEASES: preventing diet-related, chronic diseases and increasing the quality of life. The challenge is to prevent or delay the onset of diet-related chronic diseases by gaining a better understanding of the impact of nutrition and lifestyle on human health and diseases.
Although epidemiological studies suggest an association of food categories (e.g. meat, fruit and vegetables) and individual dietary constituents (e.g. fibres, vitamins and trace elements) with human health, randomised controlled trials with, for example, vitamin supplements have in many cases failed to show beneficial effects. This may be due to the heterogeneity of the populations studied (including genotypes) and, therefore, future studies should take this into account. Although genome-wide association studies have yielded a wealth of information on human genetic heterogeneity and risk alleles, it has become obvious that information on dietary exposure and phenotype is insufficient for defining causal relationships. A better understanding of how diet contributes to health and to the health disease trajectory on the basis of a given genetic makeup will require large scale cohort studies with a much better definition of the volunteer's phenotype and dietary exposures. Moreover, poor nutrition, imbalanced energy intake and insufficient physical activity can all lead to changes in gene expression and epigenetic alterations that cause sustained impairments, for example, in immune responses and increased susceptibility to disease. Advanced technologies allow the effects of diets to be studied on each level along the flow of biological information from the genome to the transcriptome, proteome and metabolome and, thus, the human phenotype. In addition, almost all chronic diseases are negatively affected by low grade inflammation which derives from metabolic perturbations. Understanding how diet (and the composition of the diet) can interfere with these mechanisms is of key importance for effective food-derived strategies in prevention, such as ‘personalised nutrition’. Access to these strategies for all population groups should be taken into account. Maternal diet and infant nutrition are important determinants that, by imprinting and epigenetic effects, can cause disease predisposition. To prevent or delay the onset of diet-related chronic diseases, a better understanding of the impact of nutrition and lifestyle across Europe on human health and diseases is needed. It is necessary to pool existing national data and knowledge and define new research requirements to improve our capacity to understand the qualitative and quantitative links between diet, nutritional phenotype (e.g. obesity) and risk factors for diet-related chronic diseases. This includes the need for proper and predictive biomarkers (based on novel life science technologies) that characterise the trajectory from health to disease in the context of dietary intake and phenotypic changes. This may be achieved by the re-analysis of existing dietary intervention studies and the execution of newly-designed studies. Individual organs display different susceptibilities and the effects of dietary factors and lifestyle, including a too high food intake and low grade inflammation, need to be explored with respect to new treatment options or adjuvant approaches for (organ-specific) health improvements.
For each of these research areas, primary initiatives and research challenges are described for the short, medium and long term.
1.1 The 2nd edition of the Strategic Research Agenda
June 2015 a 2nd edition of the Strategic Research Agenda has been published. The 2nd edition of the Strategic Research Agenda is based on input derived from the Foresight Activities of JPI HDHL (see WP4), a questionnaire completed by the Scientific and Stakeholder Advisory Boards and in-depth discussion with the Scientific Advisory Board and the Stakeholder Advisory Boards. Based on these activities it became clear that it would be too early to consider a thorough update/ rewriting of the Strategic Research Agenda, though that there were improvements needed which could be processed by making a 2nd edition of the current Strategic Research Agenda – without changing the main aims and/or structure of the document.
The structure of the three pillars and the short, medium and long term description of the research challenges have not been changed. For each pillar however some editions have been made were the process on the update of Strategic Research Agenda indicated major gaps. For pillar one the developments of innovations in the area of ICT, multimedia and web-based technologies and common methods to evaluate policy interventions have been added. For pillar two research challenges related to the supply side of the food sector as well as food safety related to food intolerance have been included in the research challenges of this section of the agenda. In pillar three the underlying mechanisms of food allergies, malnutrition related to food choices/food composition/obesity and personalised nutrition were included. Furthermore – besides an update of the context of the Strategic Research Agenda and JPI HDHL – some overarching changes were implemented in the second edition. It goes beyond the purpose of this report to describe the changes in details, though some of the more major changes are:
- The vision of the JPI HDHL has been updated to ooze a global perspective by changing ‘European citizens’ into ‘all citizens’.
- The description of the public health issues and the role of public health in relation to the societal challenge have been improved.
- The food system as a whole (context), the agriculture (sector) and farmers (stakeholder) have been included in the context description of the societal challenge of JPI HDHL.
- The connection between the different pillars has been underlined.
1.1.1 Foresight report JPI HDHL
The Foresight team of the Coordination and Support Act – part of WP 4 – delivered two reports on Foresight Activities.
The first report includes the mapping of already performed foresight studies within the thematic scope of JPI HDHL and published the Final report on Foresight Activities. It summarizes the analysis of 36 publications on existing foresight activities in the area of food, diet and health, on a national, international and global level. The analysed reports bring together strategic intelligence and insights from a wide range of areas and disciplines – from environmental to societal and social issues as well as medical, economic and regulatory aspects, reflecting the complex nature of the area of diet, food, nutrition and health. Almost all of the analysed projects refer to certain and specific aspects within this complexity – for example many studies are focusing on agriculture and food production, others on health or the increase of lifestyle-related chronic diseases. Based on the analysis, major trends and drivers have been identified that were considered to have a significant impact of shaping the future of nutrition, diet, health and physical activity. According to their content-related connections these have been grouped into 8 “Core Drivers” whose current status and anticipated developments are described in the report. These are:
1. Growing Food Demand
2. Climate Change and Resource Depletion
3. Food Provenance
4. Changing Lifestyles
5. Health and Wellbeing
6. Innovation in the Food Sector
7. Innovation in Research / Health sector
8. Governmental Intervention / Regulatory Framework
Given their complexity and interdisciplinarity, core drivers closely interrelate with each other, while in some cases, they are partly contradictory. The discrimination of the core drivers is nevertheless considered as an input for further discussions on the future challenges and priorities for research and policy. Based on the mapping it can be concluded that a relatively large number of foresight activities with relevance to the scope of the JPI HDHL have already been performed. Most of them are based on a defined foresight process using different methods (literature scanning, horizon scanning, scenario workshops, or surveys). On the international level most of these reports have been published within the last 3-5 years, however, in some cases on the national level only more dated reports are available. The reports are addressing a wide range of relevant aspects, reflecting that the area of food, nutrition and health itself is a highly complex issue, and its possible future developments are influenced by a vast variety of trends and drivers. However, also in the foresight reports the traditional separation between “food” and “nutrition” persists, making it harder to consider all relevant aspects and their interrelations when thinking about future developments and challenges in the food and health area. On the other hand, the strong interrelations between the core drivers that appeared during our analysis emphasize even more the importance to take a holistic view on diet, nutrition and health and the ways they should be addressed and approached.
The second phase of the foresight activities consisted of a participatory foresight workshop, during which the core drivers – that derived from the mapping activity - were further developed into key future challenges, resulting in identification of thematic areas for research activities. This report was due end of February 2015. The recommendations were as follows (more to be found in the Report. D4.6):
• Increase interconnectivity and multidisciplinarity
• Lay emphasis on communication
• Stronger links between new technologies for health care and health services
• Focus on the effects and impacts of policy measures addressing healthy diet and lifestyle
• Impact of food industry
By summarizing the main conclusions and the most significant future developments, the two foresight reports provides a start-of-the-art description of the most siginificant developments in the area of food, nutrition and health. The objective of the Foresight Activities is to assist the Management Board of the JPI HDHL in identifying the long-term challenges and opportunities in research and innovation in the thematic area relevant for the JPI HDHL, taking into account also the wider socio-economic context. The outcome of the foresight activities has been taken into account in the process of the update of the Strategic Research Agenda of the JPI HDHL. Its provides an evidence-based input for its update to ensure that the strategic direction of research activities still respond and anticipate current and upcoming challenges in the complex area of food, nutrition, health and physical activity. Besides its role in the update of the Strategic Research Agenda, the report on foresight activities will also be taken into account in the drafting of the Implementation Plan 2016-2018 as some of the output relate to the operational level of the scoping and implementation of joint activities.
2. Implementation Plan
The Strategic Research Agenda is a high level document which sets out the strategic areas JPI HDHL will act on to align and add value in the ERA landscape. To deliver on the vision and strategic goals of the JPI HDHL, JPI HDHL launches an Implementation Plan every 2 to 3 years in which the actions and activities that the JPI HDHL will carry out in the next years are presented. In March 2014 the first Implementation Plan, covering the year 2014-2015 has been published. The period between the launch of the Strategic Research Agenda (June 2012) and the launch of the first Implementation Plan (March 2014) has been named the ‘pre-implementation phase’. During this pre-implementation phase the JPI HDHL worked on its procedures in parallel with the design and implementation of three Joint Actions – one for each pillar.
The Implementation Plan 2014 – 2015 (and its successors) aims to translate key research challenges into Joint Actions and describes the topics which will be covered in the upcoming period. The implementation of the Strategic Research Agenda, however, goes beyond the establishment of Joint Actions. Another crucial element of the Joint Programming Process is the alignment of national and European research programmes and strategies within a Strategic Research Agenda, in order to achieve a European Research Area and to avoid fragmentation and duplication. JPIs play an important role in achieving alignment by bringing together programme owners, funding bodies and policy makers from both national and European level. A significant amount of research activity relevant to nutrition and health is taking place within the participating countries of the JPI HDHL. Alignment of these activities with the goals of the JPI HDHL will increase the impact of the individual efforts of the involved countries to resolve the global societal challenge addressed by the JPI HDHL. At the national level often multiple funding bodies are involved in the area of nutrition and health, which may have different pay masters (e.g. ministries, private funds, charities) and mandates. Therefore, national tuning and collaboration within the participating countries of the JPI HDHL is of great importance for countries to be able to align with the JPI HDHL. Moreover,alignment and collaboration with the substantial number of European and global initiatives with similar/related objectives of the JPI HDHL is crucial. Examples include European Technology Platforms (ETPs), European Innovation Platforms (EIPs), ERA-NETs and Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KIC) derived from the European Commission’s FP7 and Horizon 2020 programmes. Besides the JPI HDHL, nine other JPIs have been established, each addressing a different societal challenge. JPI HDHL can benefit from collaborating with these JPIs at a strategic level (e.g. sharing best practices) and at the level of Joint Actions (e.g. in areas of mutal interest). For example, the FACCE-JPI is an important partner for collaboration, as together, the JPI HDHL and JPI FACCE cover the whole food and health system. In addition, other JPIs have interests in common with JPI HDHL, such as JP Neurodegenerative Diseases in research regarding nutrition and cognitive function. Finally, collaboration with the European Commission is essential for the implementation of the Strategic Research Agenda to be able to differentiate between research topics that could profit from a place within the Framework Programmes of the European Commission and topics which could be more efficiently addressed by a Joint Action of the JPI. To conclude, the strategy and actions of JPI HDHL to encourage national and international alignment with the Strategic Research Agenda are an important part of the Implementation Plans of the JPI.
3. Joint Actions
One of the objectives of the JPI is to make arrangements for funding agencies to improve the possibilities of cross border research through Joint Actions or Activities in research. Essential is that the Joint Actions are complementary to European funding of research projects through FP7 and/or Horizon 2020. There are many different kinds of joint activities that can contribute to increased European collaboration in the field of health, diet and the prevention of diet related diseases. Instruments to achieve this include: Joint calls for research proposals, exchange programmes for researchers, sharing of data, set up European research infrastructures, etc.
The CSA of JPI HDHL has supported Task Forces (TFs) of national experts and funding agencies on specific areas for Joint Actions. These Tast Forces have a clear mandate from the Management Board of the JPI to develop methods of research collaboration on specific theme.
3.1 Joint Actions Pre-implementation phase
The implementation of the Strategic Research Agenda started with the design of three Joint Actions – one for each pillar of the agenda. The selection of the topics, design of the calls, the funding procedure and the start of the research projects took place during the course of the three reporting periods of the JPI. The Joint Actions can be seen as a spinoff of the JPI HDHL and the supporting CSA project. Although the support of call and monitoring secretariat of the Joint Actions is not included in the CSA project some of the tasks within the CSA are directly related to the Joint Actions– for example the secretariat of Task Forces (preparation phase of a Joint Action) and the development of IPR, peer review and financial procedures; the communication Work Package provided tools for stakeholders consultation (the workshops on mapping the research domains of the Joint Actions and consult the research community) and collection of networking and research proposals (online Electronic Submission System).
During the first CSA JPI HDHL funded three Joint Actions – one for each of the three pillars.
▪ Knowledge Hub on the Determinants of Diet and Physical Activity (DEDIPAC KH)
o DEDIPAC KH (€17m invested) is the first pilot action to contribute to the Determinants of Diet and Physical Activity pillar of the Strategic Research Agenda of the JPI HDHL. The knowledge hub is composed of/gathers 51 research groups from 13 different countries (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Spain, The Netherlands and The United Kingdom). The objective as formulated in the Strategic Research Agenda is "to understand the determinants, at both the individual and group levels, regarding dietary, physical activity and sedentary behaviours using a broad multidisciplinary approach, including biological, ecological, psychological, sociological, economic and other socio-economic perspectives, and their interrelationships and to translate this knowledge into a more effective promotion of a healthy diet and physical activity." This first Joint Action of JPI HDHL is to contribute to that overall objective of the Strategic Research Agenda, and aims to do so by preparing, developing and realizing a knowledge hub –i.e. a network and infrastructure – for future monitoring, research and translation of research to policy and practice regarding determinants of dietary, physical activity and sedentary behaviours. The main concrete products of DEDIPAC will be a web-based, open access toolbox of best-practice and state-of-the-art research methodologies in order to aim for better harmonisation and comparability between European countries and a Pan-European toolbox for development, evaluation and implementation of public policies and multilevel interventions related to dietary, physical activity and sedentary behaviours.
▪ European Nutritional Phenotype Assessment Data Sharing Initiative (ENPADASI)
o ENPADASI consists of a consortium of 51 research groups from 9 countries (Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands) (€1.6m cash; €2.0m in kind invested). The main objective of ENPADASI is to deliver an open access research infrastructure that will contain data from a wide variety of nutritional studies, ranging from mechanistic/interventions to epidemiological studies including a multitude of phenotypic outcomes that will facilitate combined analyses in the future. The main concrete products of ENPADASI is the delivery of an open access research infrastructure (contain data from wide variety of nutritional studies to facilitate combined analyses in the future) and training modules to stimulate the use and further development of the infrastructure.
▪ BIOMARKERS in NUTRITION AND HEALTH
o The main objective of the Biomarkers in Nutrition and Health Joint Action is to support interdisciplinary research and innovative approaches for the validation of biomarkers and the investigation of intake/exposure and nutritional status of biomarkers within this scientific area. It supports research consortia that aim to define and harmonise the methodology necessary to prove the nutritional effects in the development of foods.
▪ FOODBALL (€4.95m invested)
• The FOODBALL consortium includes 22 partners from 11 countries (Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Spain, Switzerland and the Netherlands). A partner from New Zealand is an observer in the project. The project includes a systematic exploration and validation of biomarkers to obtain a good coverage of the food intake in different population groups within Europe by applying metabolomics to discover biomarkers and exploring use of easier sampling techniques and body fluids. The consortium will also revise the current dietary biomarker classification and develop a validation scoring system to select new biomarkers and explore their biological effects using biomarkers of intake.
▪ MIRDIET (€0.5m invested)
• The MIRDIET consortium includes research institutes from France, Switzerland and the Netherlands. The project aims to identify differential responses of specific circulating microRNAs that occur during carefully assessed dietary interventions in individuals with various metabolic status. Studies will be based on adipose tissue miRNome studies by comparing hypo- and hyper caloric dietary interventions or intervention studies focused on dietary polyphenols, protein content or glycaemic index. The biomarker potential of microRNA signature will be validated at the circulating level using blood samples from both same and unrelated dietary interventions.
It is too early to make conclusions about the output and outcomes of the running Joint Actions. However it is interesting to follow the Joint Actions not only on the amount of papers and products that will be developed and the economic value e.g. new jobs, but also on their impact on new alliances between researchers of different disciplines and countries e.g. the effect on increased multidisciplinary research and international collaboration. It is promising to see the involvement of the running Joint Actions with regard to knowledge sharing activities, for example when looking to the workshops/conferences with (planned) active involvement of the Joint Actions in a quite early stage of the projects.
3.2 Joint Actions Implementation Plan 2014-2015
In the Implementation Plan 2014 five topics for the following Joint Actions of the JPI HDHL are listed:
1. Effectiveness of existing policies for lifestyle interventions
2. Intestinal microbiomics
3. Food models and food processing
4. Nutrition and cognitive function
5. Identification, prevention and treatment of malnutrition
At the beginning of 2015, JPI HDHL launched the calls for 4 new Joint Actions. The Management Board decided to postpone the implementation of a fifth Joint Action, namely the Joint Action on Effectiveness of existing policies for lifestyle interventions to enable a good connection with the first outcomes of the DEDIPAC Knowledge Hub. A project agency of the BMBF, DLR in Germany will lead the consortium of countries participating in this Joint Action and it is expected that the call will be launched in 2016.
- The Joint Action “Nutrition and Cognitive Function” (NutriCog) aims at promoting research activities that address the interrelation of diet and cognitive function. This knowledge will lay the basis for dietary preventive strategies and recommendations to guide individuals and populations towards health promoting dietary habits. Ten countries participate. Available funding is €7.5m cash and €1.7m in kind. The funding decision is expected to be made at the end of 2015. The call secretariat is coordinated by DLR based in Germany.
- The overall vision of the Joint Action on Intestinal Microbiomics (Microbiomics) is to develop dietary interventions or guidance for modulation of the intestinal microbiome to promote health and/or prevent the development of non-communicable chronic diseases. The program should generate new knowledge to support health maintenance and/or new treatments. Twelve countries participate. Available funding is €8m. The funding decision is expected to be made at the end of 2015. The call secretariat is coordinated by ZonMw, based in the Netherlands.
- The main objective of the Joint Action "Food Processing for Health" (Food Processing) is to support multidisciplinary transnational research consortia using innovative and scientific approaches to investigate the preservation and/or the enhancement of health promoting properties of food as a result of food processing. Eight countries participate. Available funding is €4.5m. The funding decision is expected to be made at the end of 2015. The call secretariat is coordinated by the ministry of Agriculture of Ireland.
- The main objective of the Joint Action "Malnutrition in the Elderly Knowledge Hub" (Malnutrition) is to support transnational networking activities on the definition of malnutrition in the elderly and the integration and harmonisation of currently available valid and reliable screening instruments to enable identification of groups of elderly people that will benefit from nutrition interventions in different settings (e.g. home care, nursing homes, hospitals) and countries. Seven countries participate. Available funding is €1.2m. The funding decision is expected to be made at the end of 2015. The call secretariat is coordinated by ZonMw, based in the Netherlands.
The JPI HDHL will also apply for an ERA-NET on Biomarkers for Nutrition and Health in 2015 to follow up on the Joint Action on BioNH which was implemented in 2014. This ERA-NET (ERA-HDHL) will also support additional Joint Actions (referred to as Joint Funding Actions), of which some might be the follow-up of the Joint Actions describe above. With these activities established and in progress the countries that participate in the JPI HDHL have already committed €25m in the first three Joint Actions and are able to commit at least €31m in the new Joint Actions as well as the envisioned ERA-NET. These budgets are without taking into account the funding/finances brought in by the applicants – which in the case of for example the running research consortia of the BioNH Joint Actions have been shown to be significant (approximately 3 million on top of the call budget of 5.5 million).
The next challenge for JPI HDHL is to connect the Joint Actions (make cross links) and to build on the Joint Actions. Furthermore possible synergy with objectives and funded research by the European Commission e.g. in H2020, especially Societal Challenge 1 and Societal Challenge 2 and JPI HDHL related DGs amongst which DG Santé and DG Agri as well as possible synergy and collaboration with other JPIs and related initiatives will be explored. Future joint programming agendas are envisaged to be developed within a (virtual) European Nutrition and Food Research Institute. The research needs to be framed by effective strategies for joined research, including new infrastructures but also by development and innovation activities. Efficient communication within the JPI but also in dissemination to all stakeholders is most crucial for success.
3.3 Guidelines to support the drafting and implementation of Joint Actions
The HDHL CSA has delivered three guidelines for JPI HDHL to support the set up and implementation of its Joint Actions. The guidelines focus on Intellectual Property Rights and Knowledge transfer; financial procedures and peer review procedures. These guidelines connect with the “Developing Voluntary Guidelines on Framework Conditions for Joint Programming in Research” set by the High Level Group of Joint Programming (GPC).
3.3.1 Guideline on Intellectual property rights (IPR), Open Access and Knowledge Sharing
For the JPI HDHL knowledge sharing, including open access of research outputs, of the various Joint Actions is of crucial importance to address its societal challenge. JPI HDHL coordinates research on the impact of diet and lifestyles on health, significantly contributing to the construction of a fully operational European Research Area for the prevention of diet-related diseases and strengthening the leadership and competitiveness of research activities in this field. The impact of the JPI HDHL will, to a large extent, depend on the effectiveness of communication and on the transfer of knowledge and technology to all stakeholders. During the CSA period a dedicated team operating under the umbrella of WP provide an overview of pre-existing expertise, as well as those accumulated during the CSA running time to the JPI HDHL on Intellectual property rights (IPR), Open Access and Knowledge Sharing. This has been an ongoing activity for the duration of the HDHL-CSA. JPI HDHL has – based on this activities – published a first guideline on Dissemination and Exploitation of Research Results – the Quick Guide. This document has been updated in the summer 2015 into the GUIDELINE FOR INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS, OPEN ACCESS AND KNOWLEDGE SHARING – deliverable 4.8 Second update of the report on the State of Art of IPR for JPIs. This guideline includes important information and recommendations on communication, dissemination and exploitation both to prepare an application in the frame of JPI HDHL as well as when in the phase to start up and run a research consortium that has received funding within the frame of JPI HDHL. The guideline includes some basic rules and expectation of JPI HDHL on communication and knowledge sharing as well as general information & recommendations regarding Open Access, Open Data as well as on IPR issues.
3.3.2 Guideline to support the peer review procedures
Peer review procedures play a central role when funding organisations decide on allocating funds to specific research projects. The CSA HDHL has developed common and agreed rules and procedures for the Peer Review Procedures for the JPI HDHL Joint Actions. The JPI HDHL launched several Joint Actions in 2014 and in 2015. The peer review procedure was a central part of the implementation of the Joint Actions. The procedure was further developed and applied taking experience from JPI HDHL members made with other European activities like ERA NETs into account. After the implementation of the first three Joint Actions, a workshop was organized in January 2015 to identify strong and weak points of the procedure. Members of the Management Board, members of the Task Forces preparing the Joint Actions, reviewers, applicants of the Joint Actions and representatives of other JPI's participated in that workshop in order to discuss the experiences with the peer review procedures. The results of the workshop were: When setting up a Joint Action, a general discussion and decision on several aspects is needed among the respective members/ committees due to its relevance for the peer review procedures. These aspects are: Decision on funding instrument (Knowledge Hub, transnational collaborative research project, etc); Submission process (EoIs, pre-proposal, full proposal); Evaluation process (one- or two step procedure, timeline); Evaluation criteria (specifically the scoring system); Written statements & panel meeting (if necessary due to the number of proposals additional written statements); Experts (number, who?); Panel Meeting with/ without hearing or interview. In case of a two step procedure: how many proposals should enter the full proposal stage? Communication of - especially negative - results to the applicants. Some specifics should be discussed in more detail (e.g. the scoring system for evaluation of the different aspects of a proposals). The already existing documents within JPI HDHL build a good basis for future Joint Actions. However, the particular documents as well as the exact details need always some adjustments. In general the processes and procedures used in JPI HDHL are in line with the description and guidelines given in the “Voluntary Guidelines on Framework Conditions for Joint Programming in Research 2010”. All details are part of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) which is signed by the involved funding parties in advance to publication of the call documents of a Joint Action. The output of the workshop was processed into a report on peer review procedures for Joint Action of JPI HDHL. This will be used for preparing new activities in the future.
3.3.3 Guideline on financial procedures
One aim of the CSA was to develop a common financial instrument for funding cross border research including the examination or development of funding instruments e.g. by putting together financial procedures, based on the requirements of the national regulations, the experiences made in other initiatives and the consideration in Developing Voluntary Guidelines on Framework Conditions for Joint Programming in Research. The overall experiences of the JPI members as well as the “Voluntary Guidelines on Framework Conditions for Joint Programming in Research 2010” were taken into account. The voluntary guidelines were developed by the Member States. They provide a toolbox for cross border research based on either real common or virtual common pot (http://ec.europa.eu/research/era/joint-programming-documents_en.html(odnośnik otworzy się w nowym oknie)). Results from EU – projects like “JPIs To Co Work” (http://www.jpis2cowork.eu/(odnośnik otworzy się w nowym oknie)) and others were also considered when developing the financial instruments. Several Joint Actions were implemented in 2014 and 2015 by the members of the Joint Programming Initiative based on the approach of “variable geometry”. Advantages and disadvantages of a real and a virtual common pot are described in the toolbox for funding modes which has been made available by Netwatch/ ERA LEARN 2. Furthermore the ERA-Net Plus scheme designated as “mixed-mode” is mentioned within the available documents of Netwatch/ ERA LEARN. “Mixed mode” is understood as the national budget allocated for a call is matched by EU money (33% top up funding via EU framework programme). This approach is continued in Horizon 2020 by the ERA Net co-fund instrument and will be used by JPI HDHL in the future.
Countries involved in the Joint Actions decided to which extend and with how much budget they participate in the respective activity. A workshop was performed to reflect on the implemented Joint Actions, the procedures, the financial and the funding instruments used. A discussion among the participants was conducted, also elaborating on funding instruments not used by JPI HDHL at the time being. Within JPI HDHL we distinguish between the financial and the funding instruments applied. The term funding instrument refers to the type of the funded activities like transnational collaborative research projects or a knowledge hub. Financial instrument relates to applying a real or a virtual common pot or in case of using ERA Net cofund for implementing a Joint Action a mix of a virtual common pot (by the involved funding countries/ organisations) and a real common pot (top up funding provided by EU). The financial instruments seem to be somewhat limited to a virtual, real common pot or a mix of it. In contrast funding instruments could be manifold. In general the virtual common pot model is established within JPI HDHL. Among the members of JPI HDHL no need for a common pot has been identified. Concerning funding instruments it is very likely that JPI HDHL will make use of other instruments than knowledge hubs and transnational collaborative research projects in future taking into account the aims and the best suitable funding instrument. In addition to that the focus of this task was extended and include the funding of the costs related to the call secretariat (staff call secretariat; reimbursement of Peer Reviewers) as this seem to be an area where there is a knowledge gap and more knowledge on this issue can help the future Joint Actions to progress more easily. A survey was performed. The issue of sustainability of the JPI HDHL was also addressed. Based on the outcome of the survey approximately half of the JPI HDHL members will contribute budget to run the supporting JPI HDHL structure until a decision on a proposed second CSA had been taken. The output of the workshop was processed into a report on financial procedures of JPI HDHL. This will be used for preparing new activities in the future and the upcoming implementation plan.
4. Web Platform
During the HDHL CSA a unique web platform integrating different components was established. A public website, a restricted area for the JPI HDHL members and advisory bodies (intranet), a Meta Data Base platform to collect and share information with users, an Electronic Submission System to manage different Joint Actions and a mobile application functionality were made available and integrated under the web domain: www.healthydietforhealthylife.eu.
4.1 The Electronic Submission System
The Electronic Submission System allows both the electronic preparation and submission of applications aswell as the electronic check on eligibility by the funders. During the course of the CSA three different formats have been developed and tuned to be suitable for managing different type of calls e.g. one and two step calls for research projects aswell as calls for Knowledge Hubs. The formats have been used for three out of four of the calls launched early 2015. The Electronic Submission System has been structured to be linked to the MetaDataBase making it possible the transfer of information (profile data) between the two parts of the system. In the Electronic Submission System also all reference documents of the calls have been provided to applicants. Furthermore, the Electronic Submission System made a restricted area available to the call secretariat and the funders to make the eligibility check and share comments to facilitate the selection of applications for further steps. Some tools have been developed to generate overviews on the data of the different applications submitted (e.g. main applicant; countries involved; budget per country, etc.).
The link between the MetaDataBase and the Electronic Submission System has encouraged people to use the database for sharing information and start creating a HDHL community making it possible to access different services with a unique account. Applicants have to register in the database to access the electronic submission system, but also other tools like the forum and posting area. The tool for mapping of research capacity (profiles of researchers, organisations and infrastructures and description of activities) in the JPI HDHL domains has been widely used and better linked to the Electronic Submission System to exchange information. 1119 user’s profiles and 523 organization’s profiles are accessibile to registered users to exchange information. Statistics tools have allowed to monitor the use of the MetaDataBase and address interventions to improve efficiency.
4.2 The Metadatabase
An interactive platform – Metadatabase – has been developed as part of the web platform of JPI HDHL. The Metadatabase supports a bottom-up approach to interact with the users/visitors of the website. It enables scientists and other stakeholder to register themselves and to deposit their profiles and enter information on networks, programmes, research projects and specific research results. Registered users can also contact each other and there is a search function to search on e.g. expertise and country. At the end of the CSA over 1100 profiles have been registered and more than 500 organisations. The interactive platform also contains a forum area where posting information and the launch of consultations (e.g. questionnaires) on specific topics will be possible. The forum function has been used during the CSA project by the ENPADASI knowledge hub consortium to prepare their application. The questionnaire functionality has been used for the questionnaire on Intellectual Property Rights, Open Access and Knowledge Sharing. Statistical outputs from analysis of collected information on specific issues can be made. In the upcoming period the functionalities from the MetaDataBase will be further developed and implemented in the operational activities of JPI HDHL.
5. Governing bodies of JPI HDHL
Three permanent governing bodies have been established during the CSA HDHL following the vision paper made by the Management Board of JPI HDHL previous to the start of the CSA HDHL. The Management Board is the central decision making body of the JPI HDHL. It consists of a maximum of two representatives of the full member countries and the representatives need to have a mandate to represent their country. JPI HDHL also allowes observer countries to participate in the Management Board meetings – though without voting rights and without full disclosure of all the meeting documentation. For the day-to-day management of the JPI and interaction with the project manager and other representatives of the CSA consortium a Steering Committee has been established. The Steering Committee consists of the chair, vice-chair and two elected members of the Management Board. The Steering Committee is involved in the design of the agenda and meeting strategy and the plays a more active role in the development of strategic documents and the representation of JPI HDHL at meetings and events. The Management Board received advice by two advisory bodies, a Stakeholder and a Scientific Advisory Board. Both contain 15 members with more or less an equal distribition among the three pillars of the Strategic Research Agenda. Members of the Scientific Advisory Board join the body on a personal title wheras the Stakeholder Advisory Board contains out of representatives of organsiations. All bodies have a Terms of Reference which is developed with support of the CSA HDHL which descripes the role and rules of the different bodies within the JPI. The process evaluation (see next section for more details) has been a usefull tool to assess the functioning of the different bodies and the interaction between the bodies aswell as their perception on the performance of the JPI. Especially the interaction between the different bodies of the JPI aswell as the destinction between the role of the Scientific Advisory Board and the Stakeholder Advisory Board have and stay points of attention, though the evalations showed significant progress have been made regarding these points.
In addition to the permanent governing bodies the CSA of JPI HDHL has also supported several Task Forces, mainly focussed on the developement and implementation of Joint Actions. The Task Forces differ from the permanent advisory bodies as they perform activities on a more operational level which can be compared more or less with the activitise of an ERA-Net (cofund). With the extention of the amount of Joint Actions the challenge will be to keep the different Task Forces connected with the strategy and ambitions of the core bodies of the JPI.
Evaluation Framework and reports
Evaluation is one of the ‘Framework conditions’ described by the High Level Group for Joint Programming (GPC) as essential for the effective development and implementation of Joint Programming in research (GPC, Voluntary Guidelines on Framework Conditions for Joint Programming in Research 2010). The evaluation of the JPI HDHL is described in “A Healthy Diet for a Healthy Life – Coordination Action”, Work package 4, Task 4.3. The evaluation includes both a midterm and an end evaluation. The objectives of the evaluation are as follows:
- Evaluation of the process of joint programming, its efficiency and benefits
- Development of indicators for the evaluation of the quality of research
- Development of indicators for the evaluation of the sustainability of networks and results
- Share experience of the process with other JPI’s
Based on the work-document ‘Exploring collaboration for the evaluation of joint programming initiatives’ made by collaboration between multiple JPIS, a framework was developed to evaluate the JPI HDHL. The JPI HDHL Evaluation Framework is based on the three functions of JPIs:
- Governing research policy making
- Governing research performance
- Responsiveness to societal needs and innovation
These three functions are the dimensions of the Evaluation Framework. Each of the three dimensions is associated with different goals of the JPI HDHL and the evaluation of the JPI HDHL targets these goals. Within the period of the HDHL CSA two evaluations have been executed that mainly focussed on the process indicators of the performance of JPI HDHL e.g. how the governing bodies function and how they interact with each other, the perception of the governing bodies regarding the activities that JPI HDHL is performing. At the end of the HDHL CSA an evaluation took place that focussed more on the first output & outcomes of JPI HDHL.
The preliminary evaluation of the output and outcomes shows that JPI HDHL has come a long way in working towards its goals and objectives. It is too early to draft conclusion on the impact of its scientific activities – though this evaluation provides some insights in the strength of certain elements and activities (Knowledge Hubs, communication activities, Joint Actions) and in challenges and barriers. The overall opinion of the Management Board is that JPI HDHL is working towards its objectives and that substantial progress has been made during the last phase of the project. First results – which can be expected in the upcoming years - of the efforts made in the past couple of year’s good support (national) political support of the JPI HDHL concept. It is important that the communication infrastructure and instruments developed during the past couple of years will be disseminated amongst the stakeholders in the ERA of nutrition and health. Further discussion within the Management Board of JPI HDHL is needed regarding a good balance of funding activities and funding instruments to serve the aims of JPI HDHL in a way that is both efficient and sustainable for the upcoming years. Items in this discussion should also cover how to build on the various Joint Actions, to bring the results a step further to implementation, and national alignment. In its Implementation Plan 2016-2018 JPI HDHL has the ambition to indicate for each Joint Action if it should be focussed on exploring, investing or aligning research – this division can be a first step to achieve a better balance both regarding the amount of funding needed as well as the type of funding instruments needed. JPI HDHL has submitted an application for a 2nd CSA to further support JPI HDHL in achieving its vision and to become a sustainable institution. National alignment is an important task within this 2nd CSA as well as in the next Implementation Plan of JPI HDHL. JPI HDHL needs to further invest in the collaboration with other initiatives and to do this following a more strategic approach e.g. to invest in those collaborations where concrete impact/results can be expected. Within drafting the strategy of collaboration – which will be a dedicated section of the Implementation Plan 2016-2018– it could be recommended to include the opportunities of collaboration on the level of the running research consortia.
Potential Impact:
1. Potential Impact
JPI HDHL is expected to change dietary patterns based on developments in food-, nutritional-, social- and health sciences, and to develop evidence-based recommendations and innovative product formats that will, together with concomitant changes in physical activity, have a major impact on improving public health, increasing the quality of life and prolonging productive life. The core principle of the JPI HDHL is to facilitate co-ordination between policy makers within the countries involved with a view to supporting collaboration between scientists to generate new scientific knowledge, share existing knowledge and expertise, and bring together important datasets in the areas of food, nutrition and health. The outcomes of the Joint Actions of JPI HDHL will create a strong knowledge base for policy within the JPI HDHL countries, the EU and beyond.
As indicated in the Horizon 2020 Work Programme 2014-2015, Societal Challenge 2, the Joint Programming Initiative ‘A Healthy Diet for A Healthy Life’ (JPI HDHL) is one of the Joint Programming Initiatives where progress has been made by the Member States in tackling one of Europe’s major societal challenges. JPI HDHL operates in the area of food, nutrition, health and physical activity for the prevention of diet-related diseases. During the HDHL CSA the solid base of the JPI HDHL was established including the launch of the Strategic Research Agenda, the first Implementation Plan and seven Joint Actions. JPI HDHL started to build on an extensive network with its stakeholders – from scientific community, to professionals, industry, policy makers and the consumer associations. All of these activities are critically important to develop the European Research Area in the area of Diet and Health.
The results of the different Joint Actions funded by the Member States of the JPI HDHL will help to develop knowledge and evidence-based support to key EU policy priorities in the area of nutrition and health. The strategy implemented by the JPI HDHL should influence public health and also the development and implementation of measures including food and health policies. This will be done by the Member States separately, but also in close collaboration with the European Commission in the anticipated ERA-NETs but also in other collaborating models. JPI HDHL will contribute to research and innovation with European added value in the area of nutrition and prevention of life-style diseases coherent with the major Societal Challenges 1 and 2 under Horizon 2020. JPI HDHL will ensure convergence with Horizon 2020 objectives, and the EU's priorities, with a scale and scope of action that should go well beyond what either the EU or Member States can achieve on their own. One of the examples is the current anticipated investment of the Member States in malnutrition. This investment is in line with the investment of the European Commission on the same topic. Although the current investment is relatively small, the conversation with the European Commission has started to explore possible ways to align this activity (and the researchers) with the research funded under the European Commission. It is expected that this will lead to a new network of researchers who can benefit from investments from both the European Commission and the Member States in this topic.
To ensure that the investments of JPI HDHL can be translated into real health improvements, JPI HDHL works towards an integrated multi-sectoral approach, embracing education, health care, agriculture, environment, food and drink industry, transport, advertising and commerce. This is essential to position food, nutrition and related public health policy and evidence from research sufficiently high on the political agenda so that the combined effort can be translated into real health improvements. Through the three governance bodies of JPI HDHL, namely the Management Board, the Scientific Advisory Board and the Stakeholder Advisory Board, and the Joint Actions funded by JPI HDHL, the JPI has direct access to an extensive network in the European Research Area of Nutrition and Health which forms a strong base for the establishment of the multi-sectoral approach and to contribute to the dissemination and exploitation of the results of JPI HDHL. Beyond this direct access to core actors within the European Research Area of Nutrition and Health, JPI HDHL has an ongoing collaboration with related initiatives like other JPIs, article 185 initiatives and ERA-NETS.
The preliminary evaluation of the output and outcomes shows that JPI HDHL has come a long way in working towards its goals and objectives. It is too early to draft conclusion on the impact of its scientific activities – though this evaluation provides some insights in the strength of certain elements and activities (Knowledge Hubs, communication activities, Joint Actions) and in challenges and barriers. The preliminary evaluation on output and outcomes showed that besides several more standard indicators e.g. the targeted main products/outcomes (e.g. validated biomarkers; open access research infrastructure, toolbox for development and evaluation of policies) from the Joint Actions, the additional economic value (e.g. amount of jobs, phd positions) and scientific indicators (publications), the increase in multi- or interdisciplinary research and knowledge transfer as result of different funding mechanisms is an important indicator to include in the monitoring of the Joint Actions. For example, in the preliminary evaluation both Knowledge Hub coordinators reported that the Knowledge Hub instrument - although still subject for improvement on several other aspects - seems to have a positive effect on bringing research groups together from various disciplines and that this collaboration results in collaboration in other research projects.
The overall opinion of the MB, SAB and SHAB is that JPI HDHL is working towards its objectives and that substantial progress has been made during the last phase of the project. Although the JPI HDHL has been supported by a CSA and JPI HDHL has applied for a second CSA, the member countries of JPI HDHL do invest not only in the funding of research activities but also in the activities that support the governance structure of JPI HDHL. Examples of these investments are the hosting of the Management Board meetings which is done on rotation base, in addition several countries have forwarded a funding agency to coordinate one or several Joint Actions and almost all full members have been willing to pay a fee to keep the secretariat running after the end of the CSA HDHL. These investments show the support and trust of the Member States in the JPI instrument. The willingness and ability of the Member Countries to launch four Joint Actions in one year time can be seen as another indication of this support and trust. First results of the efforts made in the past couple of year’s good support (national) political support of the JPI HDHL concept can be expected in the upcoming years. It is important that the communication infrastructure and instruments developed during the past couple of years will be disseminated amongst the stakeholders in the ERA of nutrition and health.
It is the hope of the JPI HDHL that joint programming in the field of nutrition, food, physical activity and health, with improved coordination of research should lead to a fully operational and coherent Western world Research Area on prevention of lifestyle and diet-related diseases with strengthened leadership and competitiveness of research. An integrated multi-sector approach, embracing education, health care, agriculture, environment, food and drink industry, transport, advertising and commerce will be essential to position food, nutrition and related public health policy and evidence from research sufficiently high on the political agenda so that the combined effort can be translated into real health improvements.
JPI HDHL operates in the research domains of food, nutrition, health and physical activity for the prevention of diet-related diseases. It is a unique public-public initiative that transcends these four areas of research. And it is the first initiative to begin the process of co-ordinating research in a holistic way in an effort to deliver solutions to this grand societal challenge. The JPI HDHL has made significant progress in co-ordinating research investments in a number of key areas over the last 3 years. Whilst much more has to be done to achieve its vision, the JPI HDHL has the skills, capacity, and critical mass through its substantial research funder networks; the research community supported through JPI HDHL Joint Actions; and its strategic partnerships with a broad range of key stakeholders; to become an important strategic platform with a critical role to play in this important area of research.
2. Main dissemination activities
Communication and dissemination is critical to the success and sustainability of the JPI HDHL. During the HDHL CSA a unique web platform integrating different components is established. A public website, a restricted area for the JPI HDHL members and advisory bodies (intranet), a MetaDataBase platform to collect and share information with users, an Electronic Submission System to manage different Joint Actions and a mobile application functionality were made available and integrated under the web domain: www.healthydietforhealthylife.eu. Furthermore a variety of PR promotion materials were developed (e.g. flyers, factsheets) and strategic documents were published and workshops and conferences have been organised. The evaluation shows that JPI HDHL achieved all the preset communication goals of the evaluation framework.
2.1 WEBSITE, FLASH NEWSLETTER AND SOCIAL MEDIA
During the HDHL CSA a unique web platform integrating different components was established including and a mobile application functionality. The following components of the web platform can be visit via www.healthydietforhealthylife.eu:
- A public website: on the website of JPI HDHL information is available about the vision and ambition of JPI HDHL, the people involved in JPI HDHL, the strategic documents of JPI HDHL, news and reports about the events and information on (upcoming) Joint Actions. Starting from mid 2014, JPI HDHL circulates every 4-6 weeks a flash newsletter with a summary of the news published on the website in that period. At the end of the CSA almost 1600 people have registered themselves to receive the newsletter and represent over 30 countries. The news letter also has shown to have a positive effect on the amount of visitors of the JPI HDHL website and the quality of these visits (amount of pages viewed, timed spend in the webdomain).
- A restricted area for the JPI HDHL members and advisory bodies (intranet): this section is used to provide access to the incrowed of JPI HDHL e.g. for templates of presentations/documents, supporting documents for meetings and presentations. The future ambition of the JPI is to enable the users of the intranet to work on shared documents, to make the intranet more interactive.
- A MetaDataBase platform to collect and share information with users: this functionality allows an interaction with the user of the MetaDataBase. The user can make a profile and add information about his/hers expertise, research projects or post a question to a specific other user or to a whole group. The MetaDataBase becomes more valuable when a significant amount of persons and organisations are registered. At the end of the CSA period over 1100 persons and 500 organisation have been registered – the connection between an obligatory registration in the MetaDataBase to enable researchers to apply through the Electronic Submission System has been important for the rise in registrations. In the end the scientific community can profit from the registrations as it allows to search for contacts on expertise, country and organisation and can be helpful in the establishment of new consortia for application.
- An Electronic Submission System to manage different Joint Actions. The CSA consortium of JPI HDHL developed an own electronic submission system which has been used with the calls of 5 Joint Actions. The system allows a digital submission of applications shows the relevant call documents and allows funders to download and review the submissions online.
Social Media
During the course of the CSA project the use of social media has been improved. JPI HDHL has a twitter account and a LinkedIn account. The JPI HDHL twitter account has over 300 followers – which is comparable with other JPIs active on twitter – and 324 tweets have been send from the account. Twitter has been used as a tool during the two big event organized in 2015 (EXPO 2015 Grand Debate and 3rd International Conference of the JPI HDHL) to collect questions and comments from the public following the events. A LinkedIn account has been opened in autumn 2014 with around 140 followers nowadays.
The results of the communication tools like social media and the newsletter have and will be monitored through monthly reports that show figures on use, reach and impact (e.g. visiting website through news item on twitter). These reports have been discussed at the Management Board meeting and have been shown to be a great tool to motivate member countries to increase for example the figures of visitors of the website from their country when these seem to be falling behind with their peer countries.
2.2 WORKSHOPS and CONFERENCES
During the HDHL CSA JPI HDHL organized several workshops and conferences. Some of the workshops have been very focused and aimed to provide input for one of the deliverables/products developed by the CSA HDHL and/or a mapping/scoping exercise for the Joint Actions. In this section however, the focus is on the description of those workshop and events where the focus was mainly on knowledge exchange and dissemination on the activities and ambitions of JPI HDHL.
2.2.1 International conference of JPI HDHL
During the course of the CSA three international conferences have been organised with an average of 200 participants per conference. The conferences have been organised in coherence with the launch of a strategic document of the JPI. During the first conference the Strategic Research Agenda was launched, during the second conference the first Implementation Plan of JPI HDHL 2014-2015 and at the third conference the publication of the update of the Strategic Research Agenda was available. The participants of these conferences were a mix of the different type of stakeholders that are active in the ERA of Nutrition and Health e.g. policy makers, researchers, health professionals, representatives from industry and nongovernmental organisations. The programme of the third international conference involved running Joint Actions of JPI HDHL presented their achievements and goals. The workshops focussed on a variety of themes that are important for JPI HDHL e.g. Nutrition Security, collaboration with the Industry and Datasharing.
2.2.2 Conference for funding bodies
In addition JPI HDHL organised a conference for funding bodies in the area of nutrition and health with the aim to support and strengthen national alignment. The conference took place in Zurich (Switzerland) and participation was on invite only. The conference focused on existing and upcoming national research programmes related to the scope of the JPI HDHL and specifically on possibilities to develop mechanisms to measure the gains in efficiency in national funding by reducing fragmentation and financial challenges in relation to transnational funding. A first concrete outcome of the event is a set of posters on the national funding programmes and relation with the JPI of the different countries involved with JPI HDHL. These posters are available on the website of JPI HDHL in a specific country section of the website. Furthermore the participants were asked what they thought the take home message was for themselves to encourage national alignment and alignment with the CSA and what JPI HDHL could do to support alignment. In summary participants indicated that to support national alignment the JPI HDHL should: -collect best practices of national alignment; - analyse countries that have more or less the same structure in place; - support national workshops; have more marketing material about JPI HDHL; - organise more specific workshops and conferences. Furthermore collaboration with the GPC should be strengthened as the GPC can make a voice in the Member States and European Commission to support JPIs.
- Best Practices of national alignment
o Mapping the alignment activities in the various Member States to provide a best practice overview.
o Monitoring the alignment in Member States (asking Member States to describe national alignment activities). This might generate reflections and awareness and may increase commitment to alignment.
- Create national support for JPI HDHL
o Generating more political pressure on the federal governments (e.g. via GPC).
▪ Collaboration with the GPC.
o Success stories can be used as a basis to set up an alignment effort on a national level.
o Producing more targeted information material for potential new funding agencies.
- Support (national) intersectoral policy and collaboration
o The activities of the JPI HDHL should anticipated more on the ability to align national activities.
o Invite the ministry or other appropriate governing decision body to create one specific contact centre which can collect all the information on the running research projects in the Member States. This should be used for coordination of new programs.
o The JPI HDHL should be a platform to meet between food scientist and clinical (health) scientist, between industry and scientist.
o Joint call to request specific activities for better collaboration between food and health areas.
o Joint workshops to identify areas of common priorities in order to collaborate with industry, charities etc. and keeping in mind the different priorities.
- Others
o Performing more topic specific meetings and conferences.
o Mapping exercise on national expertise in the field.
o Demonstrate effectiveness and early wins in order to increase buy in nationaly. Prepare a cost-benefit analysis of Joint Programming; funding trough HDHL versus national funding in order to influence political system and senior management.
The input that JPI HDHL received through this workshop has been processed into the Implementation Plan 2016-2018 (not published yet at the moment of writing this report) and feed into the aims and tasks of the application for a second CSA for HDHL.
2.2.3 Events to stimulate inter- and transdisciplinary research and a more holistic approach on challenges in the era of nutrition and health
Furthermore three events have been organised by JPI HDHL in collaboration with other initiatives in order to stimulate inter- and transdisciplinary research and a more holistic approach on challenges in the era of nutrition and health.
One day event with related initiatives:
On the 20th of February 2014 the JPI HDHL organised a one day event with related initiatives (e.g. JPIs, ERA-net, article 185, ETPs etc). The network event served as a first step in a strategy on collaboration with related international initiatives. The results of the one day events have been summarised in a paper which is distributed among the participants of the event and is available on the JPI HDHL website. The paper contained concrete follow-up actions which have been adopted in the Implementation Plan 2014-2015 of JPI HDHL and many of them have resulted in further developments towards collaboration.
Grand Debate on Nutrition Security:
The theme of the EXPO 2015 Milan: Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life is a call to action. The European Commission has responded with a series of events looking at the role of research in Global Food and Nutrition Security. The European Commission launched a discussion paper at the start of the EXPO 2015: ‘The role of research in global food and nutrition security’ (7). This discussion paper considers those areas where European research can add most value. It highlights priorities for research, development and innovation on the theme of global food and nutrition security, and will serve as a major contribution to the EU legacy of EXPO2015 as it guides future policy actions. Events focussing on FNS were hosted in the European Commission’s pavilion, and an online survey is ongoing, providing an opportunity for input into the EC discussion paper, of which an update will be published in October 2015. In this context, the two JPIs “Agriculture, Food Security and Climate Change” (FACCE-JPI) and “A Healthy Diet for a Healthy Life” (JPI HDHL) organised a day-long event in the pavilion of the European Commission at EXPO 2015 Milan on “Nutrition Security – a whole system approach” at the 13th of May 2015. This grand debate focused on the impact of climate change on providing a sustainable food supply that has the nutritional requirements to ensure a healthy population. It brought together 10 international experts in the area of FNS. 100 high level participants joint the Grand Debate (fully booked) and the event was broadcasted through a live web streaming facility – the video of the event is embedded in the JPI HDHL website. A live webstreaming service has been provided and interaction through twitter has been offered and used to discuss questions from the online audience with the panel members. The objective of this event was to serve as the FACCE-JPI- HDHL contribution toward a European strategy on FNS and to identify priority joint actions that FACCE-JPI and JPI HDHL can develop collaboratively. The output of the event has been processed into a paper that will feed into the future strategic plans and activities of the JPIs, and has been submitted to the European Commission public consultation on “The role of research in global food and nutrition security. This paper has been published a month after the end of the CSA and was not an official deliverable of the CSA.
Workshop on ICT and the future of Nutrition and Health:
On the 27th of February 2015 JPI HDHL organised a joint workshop on ICT and the future of Nutrition and Health together with the article 185 AAL programme in Vienna at the BMWFW Palais Harrach. The aim of the workshop was to share knowledge on the area where JPI HDHL and AAL come together, to identify gaps and recommend future joints actions and opportunities for collaboration. Scientist and experts (also industry, especially SME) in the field of AAL and JPI HDHL explored together how ICT can co-create the future of Nutrition and Health e.g. tailored information on dietary intake and health parameter & personal advice through ICT tools. The attendees were asked to prioritize the points for collaboration activities identified by the sub-groups, which gave the following three high scored items:
1. Launching a joint call AAL-HDHL
2. How to make best use of the ‘big data’
a. Internet of food
b. How to derive personal messages out of data
3. Stimulate network between ICT and Nutrition/Health
These results have been reported to the governing boards of both initiatives for further discussion and consideration.
2.3 Promotion Materials
During the CSA HDHL a variety of PR promotion materials have been developed (e.g. flyers, factsheets) and strategic documents were published. The JPI HDHL has its own logo and colour scheme for its publications (red/yellow/green) and research pillars. Furthermore a format for the factsheets, powerpoint presentations and publications has been developed and is in use. Besides news items and more regular reports/summaries of workshops and events several professional documents have been published – in most cases also a limited amount in hard copy:
• The Strategic Research Agenda and the 2nd edition of the Strategic Research Agenda
• Implementation Plan 2014-2015
• A set of factsheets with general information on JPI HDHL and more detailed information on its Joint Actions.
• A magazine reporting on the 3rd international JPI HDHL conference held in Brussels on 19th June 2015 (summary of the speeches and workshops)
• 2 web stories on the 3rd International JPI HDHL Conference and the EXPO 2015 Grand Debate on Nutrition Security
• A brochure with a cover briefly presenting the main features and strategies of the JPI and 7 thematic factsheets.
• The call documents (announcements and guidelines for applicants) of 4 Joint Actions
• Regular updates on the ongoing pilot actions of the JPI HDHL
• 18 posters on national programmes, structure and research governance in the JPI HDHL countries
• 2 thematic posters on JPI HDHL in general and the foresight activity, respectively
• A video on the EXPO 2015 Grand Debate on Nutrition Security
• 11 flash newsletters
• An article has been published on an online international journal (EU Research) written by the JPI chair and the chairs of the Scientific and the Stakeholder Advisory Boards.
2.4 Representation of JPI HDHL in related initiatives
JPI HDHL has search actively for cooperation and exchange with other relevant European Initiatives in the area of food, nutrition and health. JPI HDHL had, for example, a formal role in advisory board of the FP7 project Eurodish. Furthermore JPI HDHL has been present at the mirror group meetings of ETP Food for Life and regulary provided the mirror group with an update of the developments within the JPI. JPI HDHL has been in a dialogue with SCAR regarding the subjects of mutual interested and also presented two times on the developments and ambitions at a SCAR meeting. In addition to these examples JPI HDHL has been invited to contribute to a total of more than 20 events organised by related initiatives, NGOs and the European Commission. For the list of the most important selection of these events, please see section 4.2 of the report. Furthermore the consortium of the CSA has actively participated in the activities organised by the FP7 project JPIs to Cowork in order to stimulate knowledge exchange amongst the existing ten JPIs.
List of Websites:
jpihdhl@zonmw.nl