CALLIOPE Participates in the 3rd Annual Meeting of the Horizon Europe Project MISTRAL
Last week, part of the CALLIOPE leadership team traveled to Krakow to attend the 3rd Annual Meeting of the Horizon Europe Project MISTRAL—a key moment to connect with partners, share progress, and advance the project’s innovation and exploitation strategy.
About MISTRAL
MISTRAL is a Horizon Europe-funded project aimed at developing a dynamic and intelligent Health Impact Assessment (HIA) toolkit. The toolkit predicts the health consequences of environmental exposure, particularly in areas impacted by industrial pollution. Cities such as Taranto (Italy), Rybnik (Poland), and Flanders (Belgium) are directly involved due to their proximity to large steel production facilities.
The MISTRAL methodology combines environmental, socioeconomic, geographical, and clinical data, processed through a federated learning architecture to safeguard data privacy while enhancing predictive capabilities.
Highlights from the 3rd Annual Meeting
The meeting provided a unique opportunity to:
- Take stock of project advancements with all partners;
- Deep-dive into the current use cases;
- Engage with international experts;
- Co-design a shared roadmap for the exploitation and valorisation of project outcomes.
Day 1 – Krakow: Workshop on “AI Digital Policy for Just Health”
The first day was hosted at the AGH University of Krakow, opening with remarks by Rodolfo Sardone (Scientific Officer, Local Health Authority of Taranto) and Ilaria Bortone (Project Coordinator, APS Planet Health). They introduced members of MISTRAL’s Scientific Board:
- Patrick De Boever – Director of Research & Valorisation, Antwerp University Hospital
- Silvia Visciano – Director of Research and International Relations, Regione Puglia
- Androniki Naska – Professor of Hygiene and Epidemiology, University of Athens
- Isabella Castiglioni – University of Milan / DeepTrace Technologies (remote)
Session 1 – Data as Innovation: Generation, Governance, and Interoperability
Key technical contributions included:
– Alessandro D’Ausilio / Alessandro Nanni (ARIANET) – AI and Nature-Based Solutions
– Rodolfo Sardone (ASL Taranto) – Biodiversity and Health Impact Metrics
– Georgios Kostopoulos (Nuromedia) – Digital Twin Policy
Session 2 – Modeling Planetary Health Data
– Alessandro Fania (University of Bari) – AI for Air Pollution Modeling
– Fabio Stefano Castellana (University of Bari) – Health & Socioeconomic Data – Architecture
– Maaret Jokela Pansini (University of Oxford) – Mining Social Sciences and Humanities Data
Open Debate – Valorising Innovation
Moderated by Marco Favia (APS Planet Health), this session explored how to transform project innovations into actionable outcomes. A roadmap for exploitation was introduced, which will be refined and finalised by the next Annual Meeting.
The day closed with the MISTRAL General Assembly.
Day 2 – Rybnik: Site-Specific Insights and Policy Roundtables
The second day took place at the Ignacy Historic Mine in Rybnik, with a warm welcome from the Mayor of Rybnik and the Director of the Specialist Provincial Hospital No. 3.
Session 1 – Case Study Presentations
– Agnieszka Gruszecka-Kosowska (AGH University) – Rybnik: Health and Pollution Interface
– Rodolfo Sardone – Taranto: Data Collection, Modeling & Preliminary Results
– Tim Nawrot (UHASSELT) – Hasselt/Genk: Data Collection & Modeling
Session 2 – Policy Panel Discussion
Moderated by Maaret Jokela Pansini, the roundtable brought together diverse voices:
– Adrian Strzelczyk – Head of Air Protection, City of Rybnik
– Emil Nagalewski – Polish Smog Alert, Silesian Voivodeship
– Giuseppe Colacicco – Medical Doctor, University Hospital of Bari
– Joseph Hongsheng Zhao – Treasurer, Urban Geography Research Group
– Feliciana Catino – Project Officer, Municipality of Taranto
The event concluded with a guided visit to the Ignacy Historic Mine, offering a symbolic link between industrial heritage and future health-centered innovation.
