MDCG 2019-16 is intended to assist practitioners in compliance with the Medical Device Regulation and the In-Vitro Device Regulation. This paper presents a gap analysis of MDCG 2019-16, identifying key gaps and proposing a robust set of recommendations to enhance the IoMT regulatory framework. This work has been undertaken by a selection of current (2023-2025) projects, all funded under the Horizon Europe call "Enhancing cybersecurity of connected medical devices": HORIZON-HLTH-2022-IND-13-01, and this paper summarizes observations and recommendations from across these projects. There is considerable consensus across the projects in many recommendation themes, notably; linking cybersecurity with patient safety and privacy; keeping the guidelines current; and usage recipes for the guidelines. The paper also suggests toolkit solutions to address some of the recommendations.

Global environmental and social change are pushing wildfire activity and impact beyond known trajectories. Here, we conducted a targeted review to distill five wildfire challenges that we argue form opportunities for their governance (research aim 1). We exemplified our arguments by drawing from the case of Cyprus (research aim 2), a small island country in the south-east European Mediterranean Basin at risk of extreme wildfire impact. Findings indicate that burning for social and ecological resource benefits, innovative management paradigms and anticipatory governance systems offer actionable solutions to the wildfire paradox and the limits of suppression. Local adaptive institutions and a reconceptualisation of wildfire as a risk and process beyond technocratic interpretations are necessary to account for broader social conditions shaping wildfire regimes and community impact. Governance systems that accommodate collective action have proven suitable to address multiple wildfire complexities linked with different socio-economic systems and values. A systematic literature review, policy review, and qualitative data collection on wildfire management in Cyprus track back to the initial framing. Our case study offers insights for tackling wildfires with actionable steps through overarching governance systems, and illustrates the potential for change in thinking of and acting on wildfire in flammable landscapes globally.

This paper investigates the views of practitioners on the decision-making influences and the transnational considerations affecting risk assessment (RA) for critical infrastructure (CI) and its protection (CIP). The investigation is based on a thematic analysis of the interviews of twelve RA practitioners. The analysis identified an overarching theme supporting the view that the team approach is the one true remedy to RA process shortcomings as well as five other themes: (1) the value of the human influence in RA; (2) transnationalism - an unfathomable notion; (3) consistency is no panacea to performance; (4) CI organizational RA-influencing forces; and (5) CI RA-enablers and impediments. The investigation suggests that the team approach to effective RA for CIP is considered as the absolute panacea in the eyes of practitioners although both insights from the current industry RA practice through the interviews themselves, and an investigation of relevant literature suggests that although this is warmheartedly recommended (a) there are no set rules and guidelines in its application, (b) it is not coordinated nor applied consistently, and (c) it is not an integral part of RA processes. Notwithstanding the reality that a team approach to RA for CIP is being contemplated by practitioners, albeit with lagging consistency and coordination, it is evident that additional research is necessary to broaden the understanding of its value.

Fire and explosion are one of the fatal causalities frequently encountered in maritime transportation. Due to technical or/and human error, fire and explosion can be occurred either in the cargo hold or deck of bulk carriers. According to the EMSA report (2022), fire and explosion causalities were ranked 4th on the top. Fire and explosion accidents onboard may pose hazards for human life and the maritime environment. In this context, performing a comprehensive risk assessment is of paramount importance for safer navigation, cargo operation, and the marine environment. This study aims to assess the risks, including human errors, of fire and explosion accidents in cargo holds and decks of bulk carriers under the fuzzy Bayesian networks (BN) approach. Since BN provides a robust tool for calculating the conditional probability of risk, fuzzy sets deal with uncertainty and ambiguity during expert judgments. The outcomes of the paper are expected to contribute to bulk carrier ship owners, safety superintendents, HSEQ managers, Master, Chief officers, and crew on-board ships to understand basic events that may cause fire and explosion and to improve safety at the operational level.

Dr. Loucas Louca is an Associate Professor of Science Education at the European University Cyprus. His research interests focus on student abilities for inquiry in science, on modeling-based learning in scinece and on teachers’ instructional strategies for promoting student inquiry in science. He has also a longstanding interest in supporting professional teacher development in science education. He has been involved in several nationally and EU funded projects focusing on student inquiry in science, teacher professional development, professional learning communities, development of curriculum materials, promoting opportunities for gender balance in science education, STEM education, and promoting inquiry-based teaching and learning in science. He has also experiences in the development and enactment of afternoon clubs for young children in Science, and he also has designed various out-of-school STEM activities for students.

The Mediterranean and Black Sea region is an international centre of economic and commercial development and transactions. At the same time, though, it is characterised by a very volatile and dynamically changing security environment that poses severe threats and challenges on the societies and their prosperity. MEDEA aspires to contribute to the establishment of safer and more secure societies throughout the Mediterranean and Black Sea region using research and innovation as a catalyst to promote collaboration between practitioners from diverse disciplines and countries. The MEDEA project, during its 60 months of implementation aims to: Establish and Operate the MEDEA network. A multi-disciplinary network of security practitioners, with active links to policy makers and users/providers of security innovations across the M&BS countries focusing on Border Protection and other Security- and Disaster-Related tasks. All MEDEA members will engage in activities towards maintaining its sustainability and longevity even after the end of the project. Engage participants in anticipatory governance on emerging security challenges that the Mediterranean and Black Sea regions would face in the coming years (present until +10 years), based on a threefold structure that forms the backbone of the project: i) understanding the unsatisfactory state of play, ii) design the desirable future and iii) define a resilient pathway on how to achieve this. Push for the “co-creation” of security technology and capabilities innovations between practitioners and innovation. Their evaluation and prioritization will be based on a multi-criteria analysis (technology, operational, cost-benefit, etc.) and it will be linked to Human Development, Policy Making and Organizational Improvements in-terms of facilitating their use by the practitioners. Establish and annually update the Mediterranean Security Research and Innovation Agenda (MSRIA), that identifies areas where security & defence research is needed (including the research needs that are not covered by civilian research) and establishes recommendations for European Security & Defence technology investments. It will constitute the common position of the Mediterranean practitioners’ for future call for proposals from European and National funding mechanisms.

GRACE aims to equip European law enforcement agencies with advanced analytical and investigative capabilities to respond to the spread of online child sexual exploitation material. The growth in online child sexual exploitation and abuse material is a significant challenge for European law enforcement agencies. Referrals of CSEM exceed the capacity of LEAs to respond in a practical and timely manner. To safeguard victims, prosecute offenders and limit the spread of CSEM, LEAs need a next-generation AI-powered investigative platform. Background The sexual exploitation and abuse of children, the production of CSEM and subsequent distribution of this material via the internet is a shocking crime. Referrals from Online Service Providers (OSPs) are crucial to fighting CSE. Growth in the number of referrals of CSEM to LEAs is driven both by increased availability and distribution of online CSEM and improved detection and reporting processes. The extent of referrals is affecting LEAs' capacity to respond promptly, leading to an inability to prevent harm to infants and children, rescue those in immediate danger, and investigate and prosecute perpetrators. Core concepts Recent improvements to the referral process have improved LEAs capabilities. However, the sheer volume of data obtained in CSE cases stretches human resources, the limits of manual analysis beyond most LEAs reach. Given there has been a 4,000% increase in referrals since 2014, a new approach to managing, processing and analysing this content is necessary. At the heart of the project, GRACE has three core concepts. Adress the volume and analyse the content of online CSEM through technological innovations; Provide genuine operational value to LEAs in their investigation of online CSEM; and Impact at the strategic and policy level in the harmonisation of EU-wide responses to CSE.

Flipped classroom (FC) is a pedagogical approach in which the conventional notion of classroom-based learning is inverted, so that students are introduced to the learning material before class, with classroom time then being used to deepen understanding through discussion with peers and problem-solving activities facilitated by teachers. Although using FC methods has multiple benefits and is growing popularity, researchers and practitioners indicate that among impediments of widespread usage of FC methods are the additional time and technological support in relation to development of flipped learning activities. The flipped approach often involves the investment of significant time and energy on the part of instructors (e.g., recording video lectures; designing additional in-class activities). It is therefore recommended for teachers flipping their courses in team. By working in team, teachers can share their experiences of implementing flipped classrooms as well as their teaching resources The “Developing Flipped Methods for Teaching” project aims at developing all the necessary flipped learning pedagogical material (out-of-class tasks, pre-assessment tools, in-class activities) for teaching a discipline (psychology) covering a whole academic year course. The project aims at overcoming the difficulties of elaborating multiple materials for teaching with flipped classroom design. By collaboration of six education institutions an entire discipline will be covered with FC materials in seven languages (English, Romanian, Hungarian, Portuguese, Bulgarian, Slovak and Greek), tackling a gap between educational research and practice. One of the project partners, The Mihai Eminescu National Pedagogical High School (Romania) is a secondary-level educational institute. Due to the particularities of the Romanian education system they offer teacher and kindergarten teacher training program, whereby graduates receive a teacher-kindergarten teacher degree. In Romania psychology is part of the secondary-level school curricula, so high schools can also benefit from educational materials translated to Romanian. Their main role in the project is to translate the developed educational methods by the higher education institutes from the partnership, to test and adapt it to the Romanian requirements. The partnership is composed from other six Higher Education Institutes with Teacher Training Faculties, who have important experience as partners or leaders Strategic Partnership projects and educational innovation. The main intellectual output of the project are the pedagogical materials for teaching an entire course of psychology with flipped classroom (FC) methods (materials for 30 courses), available in seven languages. Each pedagogical material is composed of instructional video, out-of-class work plans (online activities) associated with Low-stakes, formative assignments as well as in-class activities and assessment tools.