This proposal seeks funding under the Horizon 2020 Work Programme 2014-2015 to establish an ERA-NET for joint European research coordination on Sustainable Animal Production (SusAn). The scope for this ERA-NET has been developed under the SCAR Collaborative Working Group on Sustainable Animal Production (CWG-SAP). Funding organisations from 22 European countries initially seek to support one co-funded call followed by other joint activities including the development of a Common Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda on Sustainable Animal Production. The animal production sector forms an important part of Europe’s (agricultural) economy and plays an essential role in the provision of Europe`s citizens with high quality animal products. Like other agriculture sectors, animal production faces many challenges from projected increases in global demand for food, climate change, competition for natural resources and economic volatility. The European animal production landscape is very complex, consisting of different species farmed within a wide range of different extensive, semi-intensive and intensive production systems using multiple resources to produce a diverse range of animal products and other services. Partners in this ERA-NET believe, however, that these challenges and complexities can be effectively addressed through joint European research within a framework which supports the three pillars of sustainability - economy, environment and society - and targets opportunities for innovative research spanning all areas of animal production such as health and welfare, feeding and nutrition, reproduction, breeding and genetics, housing, nutrient management and economics. Partners in ERA-NET SusAn endorse scientific excellence and recommend an integrated, interdisciplinary, cross-cutting and multi-actor approach to research and knowledge exchange which reflects the complexity of the research requirements for sustainable European animal production.

The potential of agroecological farming systems to master many of todays challenges to the environment, economy, health, and society can be significantly promoted by coupling with digital tools and technologies. PATH2DEA is committed to unlocking digitalisations catalysing power to foster European agricultures transition towards enhanced sustainability. It will build on farmers competences and views and match them with the rich repertoire of digital solutions already available for agriculture, aimed at tailoring digital technologies to users needs and fostering wide-range adoption of digital agroecological farming in the EU and associated countries. Strategic engagement by multiple actors includes early adopters of digital agroecological farming represented by six Showcase farms located in different pedo-climatic regions, with hands-on experience for solid consensus validation of the projects conclusions. PATH2DEA is deeply rooted in the European Agroecology Innovation Ecosystem and will establish itself amidst key players and proven instruments to mediate and connect among disciplines and sectors with a clear ethical-societal perspective. Via interactive discussion rounds, specific situations regarding digital technology uptake and use will be explored and brought to consideration by actors and stakeholders for increasing awareness and understanding. PATH2DEA will deliver a robust knowledge base in the frame of an Open Source Repository of digital tools and technologies in agroecology with decision support functionalities and a well-aligned R&I Roadmap for guiding digital agroecology transition. Finally, PATH2DEA will use its results for bridging towards the upcoming European Agroecology Partnership.

Problems related to biodiversity loss are seriously affecting the olive sector, one of the most important cultivars from the cultural and economic point of view. Emerging diseases and climate change effects daily threaten this sector. The last dry seasons have caused the decrease of olive oil production up to 57%. The genetic erosion risk is present: there are more than 1,200 olive varieties worldwide, but just a 5% represent the total harvested area. Olive GenRes could be the key to solve these problems, but they remain largely unexplored. Big handicaps still hinder their exploitation, such as poor characterisation of olive varieties, scarce development of pre-breeding activities, and lack of collaboration between the Germplasm Banks (GBs) and breeders/farmers. GEN4OLIVE encompasses a wide, interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary consortium, which aims to leverage olive GenRes by bringing them to a higher level closer to breeders and markets. The overall goal of GEN4OLIVE is to accelerate the mobilization of olive GenRes and to foster pre-breeding activities by (1) developing a smart and user-friendly interface that will implement Artificial Intelligence utilities to leverage the olive GenRes resources; and (2) enhancing breeders and growers’ participation through the implementation of two open calls for supporting pre-breeding activities and breeding plans. GEN4OLIVE will develop collective pre-breeding activities aiming to in-depth characterize more than 500 worldwide varieties and 1000 wild and ancient genotypes around 5 topics: climate change, pests and diseases, production and quality, and modern planting systems. After integrating all results in the GEN4OLIVE interface, breeders and other end-users will have an effective tool for speeding up all kind of breeding programs. The combination of pre-breeding results with modern ICTs will enable the access of end-users to this valuable information.

In the EU, 60-70% of soils are degraded as a direct result of unsustainable management. However, tackling this multifaceted challenge is not an easy task, mainly because farmers' decisions are influenced by a wide range of factors, making it difficult to define regenerative soil management practices that are simultaneously effective, economical, have demonstrable yield benefits and are easy to implement. In this context, the goal is to foster a collective awareness, at the the level of five Mediterranean regions, that soils and humans must be understood as social-ecological systems and that no organisation/solution alone is capable of sustainably transforming the system. The desired change can only emerge when the innovation process is supported by an exploration phase enabling actors to identify their personal (from individuals to organisations) drivers, ultimately aligning purposes and behaviours toward impactful collective actions. To demonstrate this, the project will apply co-creation tools to multi-actor governance structures, emphasising the building up of a shared awareness of soil threats over the identification of specific technologies. The main objectives of the proposed plan are: 1) to explore regional needs and drivers, and to validate governance models for operating multi-actor co-creation processes; 2) to establish a network of five agro-innovation hubs sustained by underlying business models; 3) to define harmonised regional baselines for 7 out of the 8 indicators found in the Soil Mission Implementation plan; 4) to kick-start the multi-actor co-design and validation of solutions for soil health that are practical and scalable; 5) to facilitate the diffusion of innovation through a plethora of communication and dissemination actions. GOV4ALL concentrates on 3 Mediterranean pedo-climatic zones, where the hubs will serve as sustainable innovation centres, aiding the Soil Mission's objectives and inspiring soil regeneration regionally and beyond.

BROILERNET will create twelve national level innovation networks and three EU level networks of broiler farmers, advisors, supply chain integrator companies, farmers' organisations, researchers and veterinarians to address the upcoming challenges faced by broiler farmers. The project will be designed around three main fields of concern: (1) environmental sustainability; (2) animal welfare; and (3) animal health management. Through a multi-actor approach, the most urgent needs of broiler farmers will be identified and the network will collect and evaluate good practices that are able to meet these needs. BROILERNET will also engage with existing and new broiler-focused EIP-AGRI Operational Groups (OGs) and enhance their impact. The selected best practices will be spread through a variety of communication and dissemination activities to reach the vast majority of broiler farmers in the countries of the participating consortium partners, but also to all broiler farmers across Europe. Numerous multi-language flyers, videos and national roadshows are just some of the dissemination methods that will be foreseen among the activities dedicated to communication and dissemination.