Strengthen the sustainability of EU farming systems, through co-constructing improved and practice-validated strategies and incentives for the promotion of improved agro-ecological approaches

Background and Objective

Agroecological approaches are increasingly discussed as an alternative to farming based on chemical inputs to address the challenges of viably producing enough food and biomass while preserving soil, water and biodiversity necessary for ecosystem services. While it is widely acknowledged that farming systems implementing such approaches generally require more knowledge and labour per hectare in comparison to conventional farming, there is a need for a better understanding of the socio-economic and policy factors that hinder or enhance the development and implementation of such systems.

The UNISECO project will enhance the understanding of the socio-economic and policy factors that hinder or enhance the development and implementation of agroecological approaches in EU farming systems by identifying the trends and drivers encouraging the involvement of farmers, actors in the value chain, consumers, educators and policy makers. The ambition and overarching objective is to strengthen the sustainability of European farming systems, through co-constructing improved and practice-validated strategies and incentives for the promotion of improved agroecological approaches.

Approach

The UNISECO project will achieve these objectives through a work programme of:

• reviewing drivers and barriers to agro-ecological approaches and participatory scenario development;
• empirical data collection in participatory case studies, co-learning and co-construction of innovative knowledge and management strategies and incentives;
• cutting edge biophysical and socio-economic modelling and development of robust indicators for assessing sustainability and innovative strategies of AEFS;
• development of a methodological toolkit to assess impacts of management strategies, market incentives and policy instruments promoting AEFS in Europe.

The methodological toolkit will be developed and tested in participatory case studies in 15 EU Member States with particular attention paid to different biophysical, socio-economic and socio-cultural contexts of farming systems across the EU.

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement N° 773901.

Links and Downloads

More details of the project are available on the project website: www.uniseco-project.eu

Thünen-Contact

• Schwarz, Gerald Institute of Farm Economics

Involved Thünen-Partners

• Carolus, Johannes Institute of Farm Economics
• Sanders, Jürn Institute of Farm Economics

Involved external Thünen-Partners

• Consiglio per la ricerca in agricoltura a l´analisi dell´economia agraria
  (Rom, Italien)
• Agricultural University of Athens (AUA)
  (Athen, Griechenland)
• Universität für Bodenkultur
  (Wien, Österreich)
• The James Hutton Institute (JHI)
  (Dundee, Schottland, Großbritannien (Vereinigtes Königreich))
• University of Aberdeen
  (Aberdeen, Großbritannien (Vereinigtes Königreich))
• Institut Superieur D’Agriculture Rhone Alpes (ISARA)
  (Lyon, Frankreich)
• Baltic Environmental Forum Latvia
  (Riga, Lettland)
• Baltic Environmental Forum Lithuania
  (Vilnius, Litauen)
• Forschungsinstitut für biologischen Landbau
  (Frick, Schweiz)
• Geonardo
  (Budapest, Ungarn)
• Luonnonvarakeskus (LUKE)
  (Vanda, Finnland)
• Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet
  (Uppsala, Schweden)
• Gestion Ambiental de Navarra
  (Pamplona, Spanien)
• Asociatia WWF Programul Dunare Carpati Romania
  (Bukarest, Rumänien)
• Ustav Zemedelske Ekonomiky a Informaci
  (Prag, Tschechische Republik)
• European Landowners Organization
  (Brüssel, Belgien)
• Bioinstitut
  (Olomouc, Tschechische Republik)

Funding Body

• European Union (EU)
  (international, öffentlich)

Duration

5.2018 - 4.2021

More Information

Projekt type:
Project funding number: 773901
Funding program: EU – Horizon 2020 – Societal Challenge "Food Security, Sustainable Agriculture and Forestry, Marine, Maritime and Inland Water Research and the Bioeconomy"
Project status: ongoing