RestPoll: Restoring Pollinator habitats across European agricultural landscapes based on multi-actor participatory approaches

Research Ideas and Outcomes 11: e181727 doi: 10.3897/rio.11.e181727 Grant Proposal RestPoll: Restoring Pollinator habitats across European agricultural landscapes based on multiactor participatory approaches Alexandra-Maria Klein , Anda Adamsone-Fiskovica , Georgina Alins, Per Angelstam , Aurelie Belveze , Jordi Bosch , Tom Breeze , Richard F. Comont , Elise de Groot , Lynn Dicks , Anselm Rodrigo Dominguez , György Dudás , Lotta Fabricius Kristiansen , Mariia Fedoriak , Nicola Gallai , Michael Garratt , Mikelis Grivins , Christina Grozinger , Nigel Jenner , Georgios Kleftodimos , David Kleijn , Anikó Kovács-Hostyánszki , Bodo Krauss , Sara D. Leonhardt , Julia Osterman , Annie Ouin , Amy Plowman , Simon G. Potts , Claus Rasmussen , Laura Roquer-Beni , Daniele Rossi , Maj Rundlöf , Oliver Schweiger , Henrik G. Smith , Jane C. Stout , Louis Sutter , Martin Thorsøe , George Vlontzos , Dimitry Wintermantel , Nina Kranke , Amibeth Thompson ‡ University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany § Baltic Studies Centre, Riga, Latvia | Institute of Agrifood Research and Technology, Barcelona, Spain ¶ University of Inland Norway, Evenstand, Norway # ADASEA du Gers (ADASEA32), AUCH Cedex, France ¤ Center for Ecological Research and Forestry Applications, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Spain « University of Reading, Reading, United Kingdom » Bumblebee Conservation Trust, Stirling, United Kingdom ˄ HVR, Haag, Netherlands ˅ University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom ¦ Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Spain ˀ Bükk National Park, Répáshuta, Hungary ˁ Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Skara, Sweden ₵ Yuriy Fedkovych Chernivtsi National University, Chernivtsi, Ukraine ℓ École Nationale de Formation Agronomique (ENFA), Castanet-Tolosan, France ₰ Pennsylvania State University, University Park, United States of America ₱ AM Fresh UK, Alconbury, United Kingdom ₳ International Center for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies, Montpellier, France ₴ Wageningen University, Wageningen, Netherlands ₣ Lendület Ecosystem Services Research Group, Institute of Ecology and Botany, HUN-REN Centre for Ecological Rese, Budapest, Hungary ₮ Ministry of the Environment, Ministry of the Environment, Climate Protection and the Energy Sector Baden-Württemberg, Stuttgart, Germany ₦ Technical University of Munich, Freising, Germany ₭ University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden ₲ Toulouse Institute of Technology, Toulouse, France ‽ Aarhus University, Slagelse, Denmark ₩ Center for Ecological Research and Forestry Applications, Barcelona, Spain ₸ Confagricoltura, Rome, Italy ‡‡ Lund University, Lund, Sweden §§ Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research, Halle (Saale), Germany || Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland ¶¶ Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research, Agroscope, Conthey, Switzerland ‡ § | ¶ #¤ « » ˄ ˅ ¤,¦ ˀ ˁ ₵ ℓ« § ₰₱₳ ₴₣₮₦₭ ₲» « ‽ ₩,¦ ₸ ‡‡ §§ ‡‡ || ¶¶ ‽ ## ‡ ‡ ‡ © Klein A et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Reviewable v 1 ## University of Thessaly, Volos, Greece Corresponding author: Amibeth Thompson ([email protected]) Received: 08 Dec 2025 | Published: 24 Dec 2025 Citation: Klein A-M, Adamsone-Fiskovica A, Alins G, Angelstam P, Belveze A, Bosch J, Breeze T, Comont RF, de Groot E, Dicks L, Rodrigo Dominguez A, Dudás G, Fabricius Kristiansen L, Fedoriak M, Gallai N, Garratt M, Grivins M, Grozinger C, Jenner N, Kleftodimos G, Kleijn D, Kovács-Hostyánszki A, Krauss B, Leonhardt SD, Osterman J, Ouin A, Plowman A, Potts SG, Rasmussen C, Roquer-Beni L, Rossi D, Rundlöf M, Schweiger O, Smith HG, Stout JC, Sutter L, Thorsøe M, Vlontzos G, Wintermantel D, Kranke N, Thompson A (2025) RestPoll: Restoring Pollinator habitats across European agricultural landscapes based on multi-actor participatory approaches. Research Ideas and Outcomes 11: e181727. https://doi.org/10.3897/rio.11.e181727 Abstract RestPoll is a transdisciplinary project aiming to provide society with tools to reverse wild insect pollinator declines and to position Europe as a global leader in pollinator restoration and set the future agenda for pollinator restoration worldwide. The RestPoll consortium combines the expertise of natural and social scientists, as well as representatives of NGOs, businesses and ministries. RestPoll - together with stakeholders ranging from individual land managers to public authorities - co-designs, evaluates and refines measures and cross-sectoral approaches to restore pollinators and their services. Central to RestPoll is the establishment of a Europe-wide network of pollinator restoration case-study areas with Living Labs, which are unique hubs for experimentation, demonstration and mutual learning at various spatial scales (field, farm, landscape, European scales), in landscapes dominated by intensively managed crops or grasslands. The RestPoll consortium explores, tests, evaluates and refines cross-sectoral pollinator restoration approaches to conserve biodiversity and to benefit nature and society. Our holistic approach also aims to engage in participatory planning and the development of new business models along the food value chain by engaging through newly-developed participatory approaches at diverse social, ecological and political scales. Learning outcomes are communicated to a diverse range of regional and European partners and collaborators, which allows for making a lasting impact beyond the end of the project. Keywords pollinator, pollination, restoration, agricultural landscapes, co-design, multi-actor, Living Labs, Europe 2Klein A et al Proposal Information This grant proposal was submitted as part of the HORIZON EUROPE Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment programme call HORIZON-CL6-2022BIODIV-02-two-stage on “Maintaining and restoring pollinators and pollination services in European agricultural landscape". The proposal was successfully funded as a HORIZON Innovation Action. The project runs from 1 October 2023 until 30 September 2027. Grant agreement: 101082102. DOI 10.3030/101082102. List of participants University of Freiburg (UFR, coordinator); Technical University of Munich (TUM); Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ); International Center for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies (CIHEAM-IAMM); Ecole Nationale Superieure de Formation de l'Enseignement Agricole (ENSFEA); Yuriy Fedkovych Chernivtsi National University (CYFNU); Lund University (ULUND); Aahrus University (AU); Center for Ecological Research and Forestry Applications (CREAF-CERCA); University of Thessaly (UTH); Hungarian Research Network Centre for Ecological Research (HUN-REN CER); Trinity College Dublin (TCD); Toulouse Institute of Technology (INPT); French National Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment (INRAE); Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences (INN); Baltic Studies Centre (BSC); Institute of Agrifood Research and Technology (IRTA-CERCA); Wageningen University & Research (WU); Confederazione Generale dell Agricoltura Italiana (Confagricoltura); Bükk National Park (BNPI); Association de Developpement d'Amenagement et de Services en Environment et en Agriculture du Gers (ADASEA32); Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU); HVR; Pennsylvania State University; Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research (Agroscope); University of Cambridge (UCAM); University of Reading (UREAD); Bumblebee Conservation Trust (BBCT); Avalon Limited (now part of AM Fresh); Innocent Ltd.; Ministerium für Ländlichen Raum, Enährung und Verbraucherschutz Baden-Württemberg (MLR-BW); Ministry of the Environment, Ministry of the Environment, Climate Protection and the Energy Sector Baden-Württemberg (UM-BW). Excellence Objectives and ambition The ambition of our proposed pan-European project RestPoll is to contribute to a substantial and permanent restoration of more pollinator-friendly habitats and enhance connectivity of wild pollinator habitats in Europe. The focus is on strengthening society-wide awareness of, and capability to reverse, wild pollinator decline and stabilise pollination services and their societal benefits. Agricultural land use, covering by far the largest proportion of terrestrial land modified by human activities, is RestPoll: Restoring Pollinator habitats across European agricultural landscapes ... 3 crucial for feeding humanity and the decisions on how farmers manage their land are a major driver for biodiversity change. Pollinators are a fundamental part of both farmed and semi-natural habitats of the agricultural landscape and can act as flagships for wider ecosystem restoration (Klein et al. 2007, Cariveau et al. 2020). Nearly 80% of wild plants in Europe benefit from a range of pollinator taxa (Ollerton et al. 2011, Rodger et al. 2021). RestPoll synthesises existing knowledge of restoration for pollinator habitats from environmental and socio-economic sciences and practice, develop and apply new participatory approaches and involve multiple actors at diverse social, ecological and political scales to enable sustainable transformation of European farmed cultural landscapes in harmony with nature. Building on context-relevant understanding of which restoration measures benefit pollinators at different scales - generated by using a coordinated network of case studies - we use validated approaches for pollinator and pollination service monitoring. We monitor pollinators in existing restored and non-restored sites and develop innovative restoration and policy measures from regional to European scale. Part of our output is a portfolio of guidance and tools, which assimilate these top-down (incentive-, payment-, policydriven) and bottom-up approaches to the management and monitoring of wild pollinators and their habitats. Our restoration guidance comprises of a toolbox, able to assess the ecological and socio-economic values of specific pollinator restoration measures in different management and policy landscapes. By quantifying multiple co-benefits of pollinator restoration for biodiversity and ecosystems and for human society in terms of economies, health and well-being, RestPoll engages in and accompanies societal transformation for diverse and sustainable agricultural landscapes. RestPoll uses a multiactor approach involving participation across communities of different socio-cultural backgrounds and agricultural landscapes representing the range of bio-climatic regions in Europe. The RestPoll consortium consists of an experienced team of junior and senior experts from different scientific disciplines in natural (biology, ecology) and social sciences (economics, sociology, political science) or cross-disciplines (landscape ecology, socioecological systems research) and stakeholder groups ranging from NGOs, ministries, national parks to businesses and agricultural advisory services. RestPoll works within seven integrated work packages (WPs) towards the following six specific objectives: 1. Create a network of pollinator habitat restoration initiatives and Living Labs : RestPoll identified 17 case study areas (CSAs) in agricultural landscapes in 14 European countries. These cover multiple restoration measures to conserve biodiversity in general and wild pollinators in particular, which consist of a mixture of existing agri-environmental schemes and novel, prospective schemes. such as payments for pollination/ecosystem services. Restoration activities in the CSAs were partly already set in place by stakeholders in cooperation with RestPoll researchers or vice versa before the start of the project. In a joint participatory approach, restored and control sites are further selected at the start of the project from the different areas, aiming for the most optimal design to achieve successful pollinator restoration outcomes across European agricultural landscapes and to test the value of co-designing restoration measures. Across these 4Klein A et al CSAs, we also establish a European network of Living Labs for participatory demonstration and learning and for assessing both bottom-up (management-driven) and top-down (policy-driven) pollinator restoration measures to identify effective methods to facilitate engagement with public and private organisations, along with civil society, to accelerate the transformation towards pollinator-friendly agricultural landscapes in line with societal needs in Europe (WP1, WP4). 2. Validate context-dependence and synergistic effects of multiple pollinator restoration measures: Based on synthesising current knowledge and detailed monitoring in CSAs, RestPoll validates the effectiveness and synergistic effects of multiple restoration measures currently in place or recently established at field, farm, landscape, national and European scales for providing key complementary resources, such as nesting habitat, forage resources across life-stages and seasons for pollinators and to sustainably increase pollinator populations and pollination services (WP1, WP2). 3. Demonstrate how to strengthen benefits and co-benefits of pollinator restoration for nature and people: By exploring the links between pollinators, plants and other elements of biodiversity to human well-being in agricultural CSAs, RestPoll quantifies the direct and indirect co-benefits of pollinator and pollination restoration for provisioning ecosystem services, such as crop production, human nutrition, health and cultural or aesthetic values, such as the beauty of landscapes and human well-being in general (WP2, WP3). 4. Support the development of pollinator-friendly policies and market conditions : RestPoll provides conditions for implementing and adapting measures to restore pollinators and pollination services into European policies and beyond. This includes evaluations of policies including barriers and negative incentives, alternative uses of the land under restoration, as well as risks, costs and benefits of restoration options and alternative land uses. Governance of restoration incentives, including financing and simplified bureaucracies are evaluated across CSAs, regions and countries (WP3, WP4). 5. Test co-designed transferable tools for adaptive pollinator restoration : By developing a Pollinator Restoration Toolbox, which will be available to users at local, national and European levels, the RestPoll consortium reinforces the status of Europe as a global leader in adaptive pollinator management, including rapid assessment evaluations, for pollinator and habitat restoration and developing transferable approaches for countries both within and beyond Europe (WP5). 6. Provide open access to knowledge on pollinator restoration: RestPoll co-develops open-access resources of already existing and newly-generated data, traditional and expert knowledge and tools to enable researchers and stakeholders across relevant scales to compare the benefits of existing and forthcoming initiatives and to prioritise restoration measures that promote pollinator diversity across Europe (WP5, WP6, WP7). RestPoll builds upon our current understanding of important restoration measures for the full range of wild and managed pollinators, including ecology-, economyand RestPoll: Restoring Pollinator habitats across European agricultural landscapes ... 5 community-focused approaches, to produce a new evidence base, which enables a holistic demonstration of their applicability and effectiveness. Furthermore, RestPoll develops innovative assessment methods that enable stakeholders to prioritise different measures of the restoration of pollinator habitats at multiple temporal and spatial scales. Public, political and scientific actors in pollinator conservation have driven the implementation of restoration measures for pollinators across the EU and beyond (Wilson et al. 2017). Indeed, there is great potential for conservation actions to be implemented in a range of sites in agricultural landscapes (Tonietto and Larkin 2017). Although an abundance of online material promotes pollinator conservation, a better understanding of how some actions actually contribute to pollinator and pollination restoration is required (Majewska and Altizer 2019). Some general measures for insect conservation have been articulated (Harvey et al. 2020), but context-specific, tailored and actionable solutions are still in short supply. RestPoll uses rigorous evidence assessment to validate the effectiveness of measures for reversing pollinator decline and to develop and empirically test methods for predicting and monitoring the utility of strategies designed to change human behaviour and promote activities aimed at restoring pollinator habitats (Reddy et al. 2016, Green et al. 2019). While there is a growing understanding of how to assess the multiple values of nature to account for the plurality of worldviews, knowledge and value systems (e.g. see Pascual et al. (2017)), there is a gap in methodological approaches that directly focus on pollinator impacts on human well-being, especially from a socio-cultural viewpoint (IPBES 2016, IPBES 2022). RestPoll reviews and assesses how stakeholders perceive wild pollinators and the direct and indirect social benefits provided by them, in terms of human health, cultural and other values. Methodology a) Overall concept Research on wild pollinator conservation in agricultural landscapes has shown that the reduction of semi-natural habitats, isolation of crop fields from those habitats and extensive use of agrochemicals are the primary drivers responsible for declines in wild pollinator diversity and pollination services to crops (Dicks et al. 2021). One response to these findings is maintaining, restoring and establishing flowering habitats near crop fields to increase wild pollinator populations. Restoration measures, other than flowering strips on arable land, are rarely studied with respect to wild bee and other insect pollinator populations, their diversity and pollination services and also, for flower strips, many questions remain open. Additionally, little is known about the co-benefits (such as wider biodiversity or cultural values) of different restoration measures and their direct and spill-over effects on entire landscapes and society at large. For example, restoration studies up to today mainly measure the attractiveness of the restored habitat, but not the effects on maintaining pollinator populations in the wider landscape. Reconnecting biodiversity protection and farming requires understanding the full range of benefits and co-benefits of restoring pollinator habitats as well as the motivations, barriers and 6Klein A et al necessary incentives that drive (or prevent) stakeholders along the agri-food chain to invest in or promote the creation of pollinator-friendly agricultural landscapes and production. In our pan-European project, RestPoll addresses these major knowledge gaps in line with our conceptual framework to restore pollinator habitats across European agricultural landscapes, based on multi-actor participatory approaches (Fig. 1). Through transdisciplinary research and strong networking with other pan-European projects, RestPoll enables scale-specific prioritisation of restoration measures to quantify links between pollinator diversity and pollination services and to determine the wider effects of pollinators and co-benefits of restoring pollinator habitats. At the same time, we develop a comprehensive toolbox to support key stakeholders to take appropriate action themselves to reverse pollinator decline. All parts of the methodology comply with the “do no significant harm” principle as per article 17 of Regulation (EU) No. 2020/852. RestPoll identifies and develops novel methods and tools for restoration decisions, based on the best available scientific and stakeholder knowledge, as well as by creating new knowledge usable by both experts and non-experts. These are achieved by creating a network of pollinator restoration areas in at least 17 case-study areas in 14 countries across Europe (Fig. 1, Table 1). We choose three major restoration measures currently seen as being most important for pollinators: 1) improved nesting habitat, 2) improved flowering resources, and 3) reduction of agrochemicals in terms of pesticides and fertilisers. Figure 1. Relationships amongst the work packages (see below), scales covered by RestPoll (field/farmto landscape, European and global) and the distribution of partners. All partners, except one, establish a case-study area forming the restoration network. In a continuous multi-actor approach, Living Labs are established in all case-study areas of the restoration network, covering different climates, geographies, histories, land cover and land use, socio-economic characteristics, policies and levels of public engagement in restoring habitats for pollinators.  RestPoll: Restoring Pollinator habitats across European agricultural landscapes ... 7 Region Partners Brief description Codesign Multi-actor engagement Nesting Flowers Agrochemicals Landscape Møn, DK AU Extensive grassland No No x x Occitanie, FR ENSFEA, IAMM, INRAE, ADASEA32, INPT Extensive grassland Yes Yes x x x BadenWürttemberg, DE UFR, UM-BW, MLR-BW Farmland Yes&No Yes x x x x Brandenburg, MecklenburgVorpommern, Lower Saxony, DE TUM Farmland Yes&No Yes x x x SaxonyAnhalt, DE UFZ Arable farmland No No x x Eastern MacedoniaThrace, GR UTH, IAMM Kiwi orchard Yes&No No x x South-Heves, HU HUN-REN CER, BNPI Farmland Yes No x x x x Kildare, IE TCD, NBDC Farmland No No x Puglia, IT Confagricoltura Farmland No Yes x x x Latvia (Vidzeme region), LV BSC Extensive grassland Yes Yes x x Boshommel L. Geuldal, NL WU Arable farmland Yes Yes x x Table 1. Case-study areas of our European pollinator restoration network with information about the landuse type, the design approach (co-designed: ≥ 2 parties), extent of engagement (multi-actor ≥ 3 actors of a value chain from research to end users), the different restoration measures (improving nesting habitats, improving flower resources, reducing agrochemicals or a combination) and if restoration efforts are additionally at the landscape scale (all are conducted at the local/site scale). “Yes&No” = non-co-designed & co-designed sites available. All case-study areas have also nonrestored sites as controls. 8Klein A et al Region Partners Brief description Codesign Multi-actor engagement Nesting Flowers Agrochemicals Landscape Catalonia, ES CREAF, IRTA Fruit orchard Yes No x x x Skåne, SE ULUND Arable farmland Yes Yes x x Valais, CH WBF Mixed farmland Yes Yes x x x Kent, GB UREAD, Avalon, Innocent Fruit orchard No No x x Somerset, GB UCAM, BBCT Mixed grassland Yes Yes x x x Chernivtsi, UA CYFNU Flowering habitats Yes&No Yes x x x We listed our CSAs according to the completeness of the restoration efforts (Table 1). All CSAs already had restoration measures established before the project started or established them within the project start. Before the project started, five case-study areas have completed restoration efforts of improving flower resources and nesting habitats and reduced agrochemicals, six have improved nesting habitats and flowering resources, but no reduction of agrochemicals, two have improved nesting habitats and agrochemical reductions, one has improved flowering resources and reduced agrochemicals, one has improved nesting habitats only and two have improved flowering resources only. Eight locations have specifically been targeted to restore the overall landscape, while all are established at the level of particular sites, for example, several orchards in a landscape. Restoration measures are to a large extent co-designed by different regional to national actors (e.g. beekeepers, farmers, food companies, ministries, NGOs, seed retailers or their organisations) in pre-existing collaborations with RestPoll researchers. All 17 areas have already established at least one restoration measure before the project started. Five areas have sites that are either co-designed by at least two parties (e.g. researcher and farmer) or non-co-designed. In eight areas, all sites are co-designed and, in four areas, all sites were co-designed and established with the start of the project. Eleven CSAs have already more than three actors of the value chain from research to end users involved (Table 1). Ten CSAs were already planning multi-actor workshops for knowledge exchange not funded by RestPoll. Other partners obtain funding to offer multiactor workshops and invite actors to contribute to research activities in our Living Labs (see WP4). Four countries already incorporated citizen-science approaches to establish, maintain and document the restoration measures, although these were not all codesigned. These activities are responses to observed pollinator declines and were, therefore, established before the start of RestPoll. RestPoll: Restoring Pollinator habitats across European agricultural landscapes ... 9 Metadata Element Set). Protocols, recommendations and data are published open access and data management and publications are coordinated in strong collaboration with Safeguard, SHOWCASE and SPRING by adapting their open access and publication rules including compliance with the FAIR principles of data publications and involving rapid data archiving in permanent online repositories. Finally, WP7 oversees the creation and involvement of a high-level Advisory Board drawn primarily from our collaborations with global pollinator policy experts (e.g. DG AGRI, EU PI, FAO, EEA, ENV, IEEP), industry (e.g. Bayer, BASF, ELO, Syngenta, COPA-COGECA) and NGOs (Conservation International, Endangered Landscape Programme UK, IUCN, WWF). c) Collaboration with national and international research and innovation activities RestPoll benefits from links with a significant array of international and national research and innovation, engagement, policy and conservation activities. Our partners currently lead, have led or will lead or play/have played key roles in many global, European and national projects. RestPoll benefits uniquely from the experiences, stakeholder networks and outputs of these projects (see Table 2 for a selection of international actions to highlight the most relevant links to RestPoll). Specifically, several partners (UFR, ENSFEA, TCD, TUM, ULUND, UREAD, UFZ, WBF, WU) have/had leading roles in coordinated European research and monitoring projects and implementations related to pollinators and pollination (EU-PoMS, EcoFruit, NutriB2, PoshBee, Safeguard, SPRING, STEP, SHOWCASE, SuperB, MAMBO), generating scientific information on drivers of trends in wild pollinator populations and tools for assessment and monitoring of pollinator diversity and health across Europe. Partners have played and/or play leading roles in science-policy innovations (UFR, TCD, ENSFEA, UCAM, ULUND, UREAD), including the IPBES Assessment of Pollinators, Pollination and Food Production and Assessing and implementing the diverse values of nature in real-life decisions, for example, EASAC policy report on risks of neonicotinoid pesticides in agriculture, EFSA work on risk assessment of pesticides for bees and the Eklipse project to produce guidance on knowledge-synthesis methods for science-policy mechanisms. All partners are leading experts in diverse projects focusing on people and nature, agriculture and sustainable development at the EU level, including MAMBO (EU Horizon Europe); AgriLink, ALLReady, MIXED, PLAID, SALSA, NoAW, EMPHASIS, TOMRES (EU H2020); QuESSA, LIBERATION, STEP (EU FP7); ECODEAL, OBServ, FarmLand (EU BiodivERsA); and at national levels, for example, GreenHort (ERDF Latvia), INCASE (Irish EPA), SustainScapes (Novo Nordisk Foundation). Of significance, RestPoll partners play key roles in global (e.g. FAO, CBD, IPBES, IPCC) (UFR, UREAD, UFZ) and national (TCD, UFR, UCAM, ULUND, UREAD, INP) pollinator conservation strategies or policy consulting. Overall, this diversity of strong links enables RestPoll to be uniquely positioned in terms of integration with past, current and future activities at national, European and global levels. 16 Klein A et al Projects Relevant outputs and links RestPoll Partners Website SPRING (2021-2023) We use and adapt the protocol from the EU Pollinator Monitoring Scheme (EU-PoMS) that will be created during this project for the monitoring protocol UFZ, HUN-REN CER, ULUND, UREAD, AU https://www.ufz.de/springpollination/index.php?en=49053 STEP (2010-2015) We use data on trends and the EU Red Lists to establish indicators of different restoration levels and scales UFR, ULUND, UREAD, WU, UFZ http://www.step-project.net/ SuperB (2014-2018) We extend policy analysis and analyse perceptions and barriers in business and economic models to enable valuation of payments to restore pollinator diversity and pollination UFR, TCD, UREAD, WU, HUN-REN CER, UFZ, UCAM http://superb-project.eu/ EcoFruit (2015-2018) We use data from implemented agro-Environmental Schemes not co-designed to access the value and impact of co-design UFR, CREAF-CERCA https://www.biodiversa.eu/ 2022/10/31/ecofruit/ Eklipse (2016-) We employ the developed knowledge synthesis methods to evaluate pollinator restoration success evidence concerning the policy cycle UCAM, UFZ https://eklipse.eu/ IPBES (2012-) We identify knowledge gaps related to pollination services (varietyrelated analysis, payment schemes for pollination services) UFR, UCAM, UFZ, UREAD, CER, CREAF-CERCA https://www.ipbes.net/ PoshBee (2018-2023) We use gained knowledge on pesticide exposure to develop landscape-scale restoration success criteria and to model risks to develop pollinator risk indicators UFR, TCD, UFZ, ULUND, UREAD, BBCT https://poshbee.eu/ NutriB2 (2020-2023) We use the data on pollen quality and bee pollen needs to develop restoration success criteria UFR, TUM https://nutrib2.project.uj.edu.pl/ SHOWCASE (2020-2025) We share knowledge and data on co-design to evaluate the most effective incentives, marked and non-marked values to restore wild pollinators UREAD, WU https://showcase-project.eu/ Table 2. Summary of the most relevant recent and ongoing international research and innovation activities whose results will feed into RestPoll and the action taken to establish the collaborative links. The table has been updated since the proposal to include newly-funded projects that are relevant or related to the RestPoll project. Leads are indicated in bold. RestPoll: Restoring Pollinator habitats across European agricultural landscapes ... 17 Projects Relevant outputs and links RestPoll Partners Website Safeguard (2021-2026) We are sharing knowledge on assessment, especially related to monitoring and rapid assessment to complement each other’s project goals UREAD, UFZ, WBF, WU, HVR, CER, BBCT, ULUND https:// www.safeguard.biozentrum.uniwuerzburg.de/ MAMBO (2022-2026) We share knowledge and data on monitoring and tools developed to evaluate habitat conditions UREAD, UFZ, AU https://www.mambo-project.eu/ New EU projects PollinERA (2024-2027) We share knowledge on tools used for monitoring pollinators that are co-designed AU, ULUND, SLU https://pollinera-horizon.eu/ WildPosh (2024-2027) We use knowledge on pesticide exposure to develop landscapescale restoration success criteria and to model risks to develop pollinator risk indicators UFR, UFZ, UREAD, https://wildposh.eu/ AGRI4POL (2025-2028) We sample at overlapping Living Labs and share similar stakeholders. Tasks and goals will build upon each other. UFZ, UREAD, WU, ULUND, UFR, WBF https://agri4pol.eu/ VALOR (2025-2028) We sample at overlapping Living Labs and share similar stakeholders. Tasks and goals will build upon each other. UREAD, SLU, UFR, WU, ULUND https://valor-project.eu/ BUTTERFLY (2025-2029) We sample at overlapping Living Labs and share similar stakeholders. Tasks and goals will build upon each other. IAMM, ENSFEA, UTH, TUM, AU, UFZ https://butterfly.project.uj.edu.pl/ start ProPollSoil (2025-2029) We sample at overlapping Living Labs and share similar stakeholders. Tasks and goals will build upon each other. TUM, UTH, UFZ, AU https://www.propollsoil.eu/ EU Pollinator Hub (2024-2026) We share knowledge and data for creating general guidelines of management. https://pollinatorhub.eu/ d) The multidisciplinary and diverse character of the project The multi-disciplinary and multi-actor RestPoll consortium are used to encourage an integrated, trans-disciplinary approach to restoring habitats for pollinators, their benefits for the value chain, as well as to integrating biodiversity into farming systems. The expertise of partners is complementary, which is integrated into leadership of the work packages (Fig. 1). The core of RestPoll is the establishment of case study areas with Living Labs where co-design and communication between local stakeholders and scientists are facilitated. World-leading conservation and pollination ecology scientists with expertise in undertaking monitoring, empirical studies, as well as meta-analyses, 18 Klein A et al unite with socio-economic scholars, based on long-term previous collaborations. Commercial organisations facilitate the development, as well as the establishment of pollinator-friendly labels facilitating investment in biodiversity independent of governmental subsidies. NGOs, conservation projects and national parks feed in with hands-on experience in restoring habitats and protecting pollinator species with expertise in dissemination to various stakeholders. Local ministries, as well as a farmer organisation, complement and complete the consortium`s expertise. The joined forces of RestPoll with its complementary skill-set enable long-lasting impact and contribute to a new era of biodiversity research. RestPoll partners have been chosen to warrant comprehensive sectoral representation. The consortium consists of universities (14; 45%), public research institutions (eight; 26%), industry partners/commercial organisations (three; 10%), non-profit organisations (four; 13%) and ministries (two; 6%). The value chain is covered by including growers (a farmers' association) and two global retailers, Avalon (now part of AM Fresh) and Innocent, directly as partners in the consortium. The integrative approach of the project with the case study areas and Living Labs as their core ensures in addition the involvement of stakeholders along the value chain. The RestPoll consortium covers all geographical sub-regions as defined by EuroVoc with five (16%) Northern, 18 (58%) Western, four (13%) Southern and three (10%) Eastern European partners as well as one partner from the US (3%). This ensures relevant regional perspectives of restoration measures, as well as a broad set of policy regulations and instruments. Specifically, 22 (71%) partners are situated within the EU, while nine (29%) are located outside of the European Union, including the US. In addition, the UK as a country, which recently left the EU, gives us the unique opportunity to investigate its consequences for pollinator restoration efforts. YFCNU, as a partner from Ukraine, might be challenged by obstacles due to the war with Russia. Pollinator restoration efforts might also be affected negatively by the war in Ukraine as well as in other countries due to the fluctuations in crop prices. Political changes and their consequences are integrated into the RestPoll research. e) Gender dimension Lack or inadequate consideration of gender and diversity in research, land management and development of agricultural policy is known to constrain successful long-term implementation of sustainable land use (Villamor et al. 2014). Hence, we aim to carefully embed overall gender and diversity dimensions throughout our research and innovation activities. We have developed and are regularly updating a project-specific gender, diversity and equality plan (Adamsone-Fiskovica et al. 2023). The plan has been elaborated with an aim of promoting gender equality, diversity and social inclusion across all project activities; fostering respectful, inclusive and supportive work environment; ensuring fair and equal opportunities and access to resources for all participants, irrespective of gender, race, ethnicity, disability or any other characteristic; and encouraging diverse perspectives to enhance the project's creativity, innovation, RestPoll: Restoring Pollinator habitats across European agricultural landscapes ... 19 effectiveness and acceptance of measures. The document provides the baseline information on the current state of play of gender balance and diversity within the project. It lays out the plan’s implementation strategy with regard to staff recruitment, management of the multi-actor consortium, work environment, composition of the advisory board, stakeholder engagement, research process and content, training and capacity building and whistle-blowing and support system. The document also describes the monitoring and evaluation of the plan’s implementation, summarising the specific measures and activities, identifying their content, expected results, time-frame and organisations in charge, as well as their implementation status at the time of the regular update of the plan. All RestPoll partners guarantee equality in opportunities and work against discrimination and under-representation of any kind. To further sensitise partners in leading roles of RestPoll to these issues, we encourage their participation in respective workshops offered by their institutions or national contact points. These provide them with guidelines on how to detect problems and on respective countermeasures. Gender balance in the consortium has been integrated throughout the work packages. Above all, the coordinator of the consortium, UFR, is led by a female researcher. Each work package has one lead and two co-leads of which ten are female and eleven are male. The strong leading role of females (14 of the 31 partners are represented by females) guarantee a strong integration of female interpretation of our research outputs. Most work related to dissemination is led by females. As presentations of females are visited by a higher proportion of females in the audience, our consortium is likely to attract many female stakeholders. This should have an impact on future land management. RestPoll aims for an equal number of female to male postdocs and PhD students to be employed. Gender equality measures have a high priority in the project. f) Data management and open science practices A data management plan is created which outlines the rules and responsibility for data creation and management within the RestPoll project from collection to publication (Wintermantel et al. 2024). All data gathered are managed under the FAIR principle and conforms to the GDPR. The data management workflow also adheres to the Open Science principles. A joint drive is used to store and exchange data within the project. On this drive, data are accessible to data file managers, who are responsible for the maintenance of the data. Sensitive personal data are not stored on the RestPoll drive, but on secure institutional drives. Central to the plan is the RestPoll data dictionary, where all data files with their respective file managers are listed and all variables across all RestPoll data files, as well as key concepts, are defined, which is pivotal to allow data reusage. We plan to share our data with existing infrastructures like GloBI, GBIF and the EU Pollinator Hub, along with the “RestPoll Horizon” community within Zenodo. All protocols and our Living Lab network data are linked to the Oppla platform. 20 Klein A et al Our publication strategy includes several rules for integrative RestPoll dissemination within and beyond the project: 1. compulsory open access publishing, including RestPoll data, protocols and results; 2. multi-targeted dissemination and communication including regional participatory communications within our Living Labs; 3. multiple use of data and results through our open access policies; and 4. engagement of science-society platforms in several languages and use of social media platforms in cooperation with other projects and stakeholders focusing on pollinator restoration. Moreover, key results (e.g. best practices report, policy briefs and factsheets) are communicated in all languages of our case study area network and be shared with other projects. Impact The EU HORIZON Europe Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment work programme's call on "Biodiverity and ecosystem services" lists five outcomes for this topic (A: Agricultural land is restored through co-designed measures; B: Wild pollinator habitat is managed according to scientific and policy recommendations; C: Stakeholders are enabled through effective learning environments; D: Better coordinated governance and data accessibility; E: Continuous monitoring and assessment of outcomes inform the adaptive management of measures) and eight expected impacts, of which one or more should be addressed in the project. To demonstrate and quantitatively evaluate how the planned outputs and outcomes of RestPoll generate and exceed the expected impacts of the call and benefit the call's target groups (agricultural schools, farm advisors, farmers, beekeepers, gardeners other land managers, business actors, researchers, NGOs and policy-makers), we have defined a set of explicit target indicators (highlighted in our Communication and Dissemination plan, (Taylor et al. 2024)). Below in the section "Expected impacts," we elaborate on how RestPoll reaches the impact points, while in the section "Requirements and potential barriers that may determine whether outcome and impacts will be achieved," we elaborate on the requirements and potential barriers to achieving these impacts. In the section "Measures to maximise impact - Dissemination, exploitation and communication," how we plan to maximise and exceed them with our dissemination, exploitation and communication strategy. Expected impacts Expected Impact 1: Biodiversity decline, its main direct drivers and their interrelations are better understood and addressed. Data on the effects of land-use management on biodiversity and ecosystem services exist from finalised and ongoing EU-funded and other projects. Many of those datasets focus, on or include, pollinators. Some datasets are available open access, but many others are not fully available and data are not harmonised across ecosystems and target species. To RestPoll: Restoring Pollinator habitats across European agricultural landscapes ... 21 better understand the main drivers of pollinator decline and their interrelations, RestPoll synthesises knowledge through: 1. compiling existing data; 2. collecting new data on pollinator communities and pollination services in a unique, large and diverse network of active restoration projects targeting pollinators; 3. collaborating and exchanging intensively with other EU projects (e.g. having access to data from field experiments and surveys on pesticide and nutrient stressors of PoshBee, WildPosh and NutriB2) and beyond (e.g. exchanging protocols with EU-PoMs, EMBAL, LUCAS, Safeguard, SHOWCASE, VALOR, Butterfly and Agri4Pol and jointly providing information for policies with National Academies of Sciences, ESAC, FAO, DG-Agri and DG-Env); and 4. conducting novel syntheses and analyses to add value to existing data and extend knowledge on the drivers of pollinator biodiversity declines. Although RestPoll focuses on mitigating pollinator decline by restoration measures, we aim to maximise insight into the role of drivers of decline by relating pollinator data with simultaneously collected data on direct (e.g. use of agrochemicals) and indirect drivers (e.g. political actions on biodiversity decline). To ensure research with maximised impact and actionable knowledge on drivers of decline, we collect data across the full range of EU production systems. These include annual (vegetables, sunflower and oilseed rape) and perennial (apple, kiwi and olives) crop production systems and grassland managed for a range of livestock animals, from northern to southern and eastern to western countries. RestPoll’s innovative restoration measures are, to a large extent, already implemented by using co-development approaches in a multi-actor and multi-disciplinary setting to engage all relevant stakeholders and tailor measures to user requirements across sectors with long-term impact. While developing the proposal, we have preselected case study areas with existing restoration activity from local/siteto landscape scales. When implementing the RestPoll project, we select sites within those landscapes for detailed data collection. We continuously add national sites of other projects to increase the area and actors involved in our restoration network. By doing so, we increase regional to international visibility for the network, and build a common understanding of the benefits of multi-actor co-development for pollinator restoration, across a range of contexts and objectives. We decided to focus on multiple restoration measures with moderate to strong evidence for their effectiveness in promoting different levels of pollinator restoration and pollination services. We provide a strong focus on diversified agro-ecological practices, including agroforestry and on integrating pesticide reduction measures and extensified grasslands with a high proportion of native flowers. A key strength of our network is that we are not only focusing on insect pollinators as an overall group or on common pollinators, but also pay attention to specific specialist and threatened pollinator species in some areas, for example, Bombus sylvarum in one of its few remaining UK populations. Hence, RestPoll delivers harmonised datasets on drivers of pollinator decline with different restoration goals (targeted to single species or whole communities). Our survey data are collected 22 Klein A et al using methods aligned with EU-PoMS and contribute to long-term monitoring datasets, which provide additional novel insights into the interrelationships between pollinator diversity and its drivers. RestPoll's monitoring approach is highly acknowledged by researchers and NGOs and ensures continuous knowledge development beyond our project by contributing substantially to open access, harmonised, long-term biodiversity data and measures to restore biodiversity. Main project pathways to impact: • RestPoll ensures timely site selection after the project start, to develop a multiactor pollinator restoration network covering local (site) to landscape restoration measures in an area of around 15,000 km² of productive landscapes in 17 casestudy areas across 14 EU countries (Task 1.1); • We establish distinct branding (logo, webpage, social media) and join forces with ongoing EU projects focusing on pollinator conservation (e.g. Table 2) in which RestPoll partners are involved (Task 6.2). We empirically identify the importance of the main drivers of pollinator decline (lack of nesting and flower resources, agrochemical use; Task 2.2) and synergies amongst restoration measures to counter declines (Task 2.3); • We conduct knowledge exchange activities specifying direct and indirect drivers of decline and restoration success across the RestPoll network to share experience on effective measures in landscape-scale restoration projects to mitigate pollinator loss and functions. We showcase a range of approaches including multiple drivers, such as designating farms as ‘Champion sites’ for promoting pollinator species (as in the Bombus sylvarum conservation action plan), celebrating organisations as ‘Evidence champions’ (as in the Conservation Evidence project) and providing incentives through local labelling or branding initiatives (as in southern Germany by using a state-wide branding for biodiversity demonstration farms; Task 4.3); • We conduct a horizon scan of direct and indirect drivers of pollinator decline (threats) and opportunities for restoring pollinator habitats (Task 4.4); • We include RestPoll’s standardised surveys in long-term national to Europeanwide monitoring data, such as EU-PoMS (Task 1.2). Expected Impact 2: Biodiversity and natural capital are integrated into public and business decision-making at all levels for the protection and restoration of ecosystems and their services. RestPoll uses multidisciplinary perspectives by studying ecological, agronomic, policy and market options to optimise conservation of pollinator habitats, while maintaining provisioning and cultural ecosystem services. We capture perceptions of local, national and global stakeholders to understand levers and barriers to adopting pollinator-friendly management practices. We co-develop metrics and approaches as an option to integrate conservation of pollinators into agri-food certification schemes, for example, with labels and payments for biodiversity and pollination services. RestPoll delivers a portfolio of decision-support tools and good practice guides (RestPoll toolbox), which include tools RestPoll: Restoring Pollinator habitats across European agricultural landscapes ... 23 and metrics targeted at extension services, growers, suppliers, retailers and the wider agri-food sector and provides templates for sector-to-sector sharing. These templates are also to be used by our US partner and to be shared with colleagues in other countries not involved in RestPoll within and outside the EU for wider impact. Pollinator populations and communities can only be conserved when the European agrifood sector actively restores pollinator habitats and, thus, natural capital in farmed landscapes throughout Europe, using the combined scientific and multi-actor knowledge developed with European funding and made accessible through the RestPoll toolbox. In the context of a current European Pollinators Initiative and many years of previous research and innovation projects (e.g. EcoFruit, STEP) and also the COST Action SuperB, we can monitor the uptake and use of the tools and knowledge we generate and the diversity and scale of landscapes and sectors in which they are used. Additionally, we use our LLs to showcase our restoration tools to raise awareness and boost our multiactor-generated knowledge to the public, policy-makers and decision-makers at all relevant levels. By providing options to reduce harm to pollinators, land managers can use these new tools to expand protected areas allowing land-use management to a politically defined extent, for example, under certain regulations on the use of agrochemicals. Hence, we fully integrate pollinator diversity and pollination services, drivers and restoration options into public and business decision-making. This triggers food producers and sellers in the business sector, as well as society at large, to implement restoration measures at multiple spatial and temporal scales to ultimately promote natural capital recovery and contribute to SDG 15 (Life on Land). Main project pathways to impact: • RestPoll establishes a series of case study areas with Living Labs (LL) as unique learning sites for pollinator restoration (Task 4.1); • In the regional (LL) and Europe-wide workshops, we enable farmer-to-farmer, farmer-to-researcher, farmer-to-policy-maker and farmer-to-journalist knowledge exchange across scales (Task 4.2, 4.3); • We conduct workshops and surveys in the first two years of the project (Tasks 1.4, 3.1, 3.2) and integrate local and traditional knowledge from our network of restoration landscapes into the tools, methods and guidance selected for the RestPoll toolbox (Task 5.2); • We develop a novel instrument, based on Payments for Restoration-mediated Pollination Services (PRPS) (Task 3.2); • We deliver with the RestPoll toolbox a portfolio of decision-support tools and good practice guidelines, including tools and metrics targeted at extension services, growers, suppliers, retailers and the wider agrifood sector (Task 5.2) and codesign metrics for reporting and labelling pollinator-friendly products and products grown in pollinator-friendly systems and develop a potential business model (Task 5.4). For this, RestPoll has two industry partners as funded beneficiaries and also engages with additional industry partners to be longstanding collaborators of RestPoll partners (e.g. Bayer CropScience, Syngenta and many national food and seed companies), to ensure all business tools (e.g. 24 Klein A et al planting schemes for different spatio-temporal scales, certification schemes for end-products) are co-designed to fully meet user requirements; • We develop teaching materials to be used by farmers, other land users, agricultural schools, extension specialists, beekeepers, business actors, farm advisors and public administration bodies, also to be shared with colleagues in other countries for wider impact (Task 6.4). Expected Impact 3: Europe builds competitive sustainability and tackles climate change and natural disasters through the deployment of nature-based solutions. RestPoll aims to substantially increase the visibility of pollinator habitat restoration measures regarding habitat quality and quantity. Through our Research and Innovation activity in active restoration, from site to landscape scales, Europe is accelerating the rebuilding of green infrastructure across ecosystems, contributing further to mitigation of climate change impacts. For example, we increase pollinator populations and pollinator diversity to promote pollination services (Tasks 1.1, 1.2). This leads to more stable pollination services in times of more variable and even extreme weather. We also model carbon sequestration of soils in our European restoration network (Task 2.4, contributing to SDG 13: Climate Action). Our restoration measures (hedgerows, agroforestry) act as windbreaks and buffer water shortages (e.g. through complementary uptake of water by plants). All of our restoration measures can support other beneficial insects and birds acting as natural pest control. Additionally, many of our restoration measures decrease soil erosion which poses a growing challenge in light of the forecasted increased frequency of flooding events on agricultural land. RestPoll specifically addresses naturebased solutions to buffer climate change and natural disasters in our e-learning materials. This ensures easy accessibility of knowledge on pollination habitats as a key strategy to increase awareness of nature-based solutions to, for example, extreme drought events. Our LLs are central to boosting knowledge of nature-based solutions related to beekeeping. To make full use of the power of our pollinator-restoration LLs, we collaborate with LLs of other EU projects in which we are involved (e.g. the Experimental Biodiversity Areas of SHOWCASE or other Horizon projects such as proGIreg). Recognising the central role of LLs in advancing the restoration of green infrastructure — enhancing rural development, social well-being and environmental resilience, while mitigating natural disasters — we integrate RestPoll’s LLs into the European Network of Living Labs to foster long-term impact aligned with SDG 15 (Life on Land). Main project pathways to impact: • RestPoll surveys pollinator populations, pollinator diversity and pollination services in restored and non-restored areas (Task 1.2) and evaluates the effectiveness of nature-based measures, including contributions to the mitigation of climate change and natural disasters, of pollinator habitat restoration measures (Task 1.3, 2.1) across landscapes (Task 2.2) and synergies amongst measures (Task 2.3); RestPoll: Restoring Pollinator habitats across European agricultural landscapes ... 25 media (e.g. social media, workshops and events, surveys, articles, Living Lab network etc). The goal of the RestPoll communication and engagement strategy is to reach a wide range of stakeholders and audiences interested in and relevant to the project's goals and objectives. It aims to engage and inform these audiences, fostering support and participation in the RestPoll project. The goals encompass: 1. Raising awareness about the RestPoll project and the significance of the decline in wild pollinators and their habitats; 2. Engaging stakeholders at various levels (including farmers, researchers, policymakers and the general public) and scales in the restoration efforts; 3. Communicating project findings, tools and recommendations to a broad audience; 4. Promoting collaboration and knowledge exchange amongst project partners. Throughout the duration of the project, content is communicated and disseminated. These activities are being monitored and measured by evaluating the actual results (output), determining what dissemination may contribute to our objectives (outcomes) and developing our communication strategy and activities to maximise this input (Thompson et al. 2025). We monitor the efficiency of each established communication channel and engagement with stakeholders to determine if our goals and expected impacts are reached. Throughout the project, we continue to refine our outreach strategies, enhance dissemination efforts and expand our Living Lab network to maximise the impact of our work. By establishing multi-actor collaboration and fostering co-design, we aim to ensure long-term sustainability and meaningful contributions to pollinator restoration across Europe. Contribution of the project results towards the wider impacts in the longer term The RestPoll project catalyst a wide array of scientific, economic and societal impacts with its key outcomes. Through the project, it ushers in a new era of applied biodiversity research via the establishment of long-term harmonised pollinator and pollination data and monitoring, providing an essential foundation for future ecological studies. Businesses and society at large implement restoration measures at multiple spatial and temporal scales, while stakeholder engagement in enhancing pollinator habitat connectivity, for example, through hedgerows as storm breakers or polycultures like agroforestry, deliver climate resilience and disaster mitigation co-benefits. The human health sector actively support habitat restoration to reduce disease risk and improve wellbeing. RestPoll’s innovative pollinator certification scheme is gaining traction amongst the fruit and seed industries, retailers and consumers, making pollinator-friendly products visible in mainstream markets and raising awareness of broader ecosystem services. Across Europe, flower-rich cultural and productive landscapes flourish, attracting a diversity of insect pollinator species, including species that are currently threatened. Lastly, RestPoll’s strong collaboration with other initiatives fosters a lasting framework for 32 Klein A et al communication and political ambition towards biodiversity restoration beyond the project’s lifetime. Quality and efficiency of the implementation Work plan and resources The RestPoll project consists of seven distinctive, but highly interconnected work packages. Each WP has a lead with the necessary know-how and a co-lead with complementary competence, combining socio-economic and agro-ecological expertise. The University of Freiburg (UFR), as the project coordinator, is in charge of establishing the restoration network and the overall pollinator surveys and monitoring (WP1), integrating data management according to the FAIR principle and ensuring proper attention to diversity and equality issues in the project (WP7). WP2 is based on data collected in WP1, upscaling it to the landscape level. The core of RestPoll is the establishment of Living Labs (WP4, see Fig. 1) facilitating the research carried out in WP1, WP3 and WP5, as well as the dissemination efforts in WP6. Tasks are linked within and across WPs. Six tasks engage with the LLs directly, all others indirectly and 17 tasks produce input for the RestPoll toolbox. Task 1.1 (establishing the case-study area network), Task 4.1 (establishing the LLs), Task 5.2 (elaborating the RestPoll toolbox) and all tasks in WP1 and WP7 are providing coordination and services for all other tasks. Tasks have been bundled around the annual LL workshops (Fig. 2) to enable effective work-flow. The RestPoll Living Lab Network aims to achieve long-lasting impact beyond the duration of the project. The budget has been carefully allocated to partners considering their contributions and needs. This ensures the achievement of their project goals by providing adequate resources to fulfil given roles. Around half of the staff effort (47%) has been allocated to tasks in WP1 and WP4, ensuring the establishment of the restoration network area and the Living Labs, including pollinator monitoring and stakeholder engagement and participation. More than 12% of the staff effort has been allocated to WP6 ensuring that dissemination leads to target impacts. Ethics self-assessment Ethical dimension of the objectives, methodology and likely impact (1) Pollinator monitoring: In order to identify pollinators to species level, it is required to collect individuals, which may potentially include a small number of Red-listed species. The preferred method to catch insects is hand-netting to minimise the number of insects collected and, therefore, to minimise the impact on populations. Our methods align with those recommended by the EU Pollinator Monitoring Scheme (Potts 2021). (2) Social science: With respect to social data, RestPoll uses data provided by stakeholders in workshops, interviews and surveys that may classify as personal RestPoll: Restoring Pollinator habitats across European agricultural landscapes ... 33 information. The data consist of text, photos and audio recordings. Participants are recruited on a voluntary basis and after having expressed full informed consent. Given the non-competitive nature of the activities in RestPoll, no negative impact is foreseen. Informed consent is obtained from every person taking part in the planned research activity before any data are requested. Children and/or adults unable to give informed consent are not to be involved. The informed consent is kept on file. All data collection complies fully with General Data Protection Regulation (henceforth GDPR, Regulation (EU) 2016/679) and national equivalents for non-EU countries. Figure 2. Timing of the work packages and tasks (Gantt chart). Milestones and deliverables are highlighted in orange, duration of tasks are in yellow.  34 Klein A et al Compliance with ethical principles and relevant legislation (1) Pollinator monitoring: Research is confined to basic monitoring including observing and extracting identified pollinators. Monitoring is performed in agricultural areas as well as protected areas. Other than pollinating insects, no additional material or bio-active compounds are exported from the RestPoll countries. When possible, pollinating insects are identified by local experts or the consortium partners within the same country. Otherwise, the Nagoya protocol is observed when sharing insect specimens between the partners. Thus, only basic research permits are required, which are applied for upon positive evaluation of this proposal. We confirm that research, sampling, export and import permits can and are obtained in agreement with the law of the countries where observations and sampling take place. All research in RestPoll is being conducted according to the Nagoya protocol and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). (2) Social science: We emphasise that the tasks that involve personal information of research participants are carried out in accordance with the GDPR, as well as national and organisation-specific guidelines, always ensuring that participants consent to the collection, storage and processing of their personal data. Further, participants are informed about their rights when providing us with such data according to article 13 of the EU GDPR (Information to be provided where personal data are collected from the data subject). Data collected in the context of the project are stored according to GDPR and deleted following the finalisation of the research activities for which it is used. Data collection instruments include informed consent forms, trained interviewers and guidelines ensuring a standardised process across the consortia. Personal data are only collected for specific, explicit and legitimate purposes and is processed fairly and lawfully and is adequate, relevant and not excessive. Data are only collected, held and processed to the extent necessary from a quality control, sampling and analytical perspective. In terms of data storage and processing, a secure SharePoint folder is set up for internal data management and exchange amongst project participants hosted by the project coordinator on a server placed within the EU. Data access is only provided to team members that process data according to the specified work packages, adhering to the GDPR. Personal information is not shared with third parties. With respect to qualitative data, anonymisation involves the removal of all names, specific occupational information, physical or electronic addresses or other personal identifiers. With respect to quantitative data, anonymisation involves processing, analysing and reporting results in aggregated form to ensure that specific participants cannot be identified. Data management in RestPoll is based on the FAIR principles of data management (findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable). Findings are presented in openaccess publications of international peer-reviewed journals, thus providing public access to the scientific output of the project. Data are only published in aggregated anonymised form. All publications and dissemination materials from RestPoll respect the research participants' right to privacy and there is no link to actual persons included in such materials without their informed consent. RestPoll: Restoring Pollinator habitats across European agricultural landscapes ... 35 Raw data from workshops and surveys are not made publicly available due to GDPR restrictions. Import/export of data that emerge from the project will only take place in anonymised form, thus not in a form where such information classify as personal data. Funding program HORIZON-CL6-2022-BIODIV-02-01-two-stage Grant title 101082102 - RestPoll Hosting institution University of Freiburg (UFR) Conflicts of interest The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. References • Adamsone-Fiskovica A, Mileiko I, Usca M, Kranke N, Thompson A, Klein A (2023) RestPoll Gender Equality and Diversity Plan (Milestone MS25) (Version V3). Zenod. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17671284 • Bishop J, Garratt MD, Nakagawa S (2022) Animal pollination increases stability of crop yield across spatial scales. Ecology Letters 25 (9): 2034‑2047. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele. 14069 • Cariveau D, Bruninga-Socolar B, Pardee G (2020) A review of the challenges and opportunities for restoring animal-mediated pollination of native plants. 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