The current situation in Europe clearly indicates that major changes are needed to develop sustainable agricultural and food systems. In this respect, agroecology is increasingly seen as an important pathway as it designs, develops and promotes the transition towards sustainable farming and food systems. Although a certain development of agroecology and its different facets in Europe can be stated, it remains so far too limited to allow a successful transition to sustainable agriculture and food systems. The present project will contribute to agroecology research and innovation development through different strategic objectives. AE4EU will develop a road map and framework for a European network of agroecological living labs (LL) and research infrastructure (RI), and other relevant actors. Major avenues for this will be the mapping of local, regional and national state of the art and initiatives in different European countries, provide also a more comprehensive and detailed overview of how agroecology is understood. This will lay out the ground to connect relevant actors of identified initiatives, LL, RI, funding schemes and policies. Further, the project will identify and assess past and ongoing agroecological LL and RI initiatives, and how they derive relevant and successful approaches for transition to agroecological production and food systems. Moreover, AE4EU will identify and analyse policy frameworks that include elements of agroecology and provide recommendations for future reinforcement and adaptation. The project will as well work out propositions for potential changes and improvements for enlarged and complementary funding of public and philanthropic/private funders to enhance research, practice and innovation of agroecology in Europe. The overall goal of AE4EU is through reinforced networks development and connection of a large diversity of relevant actors across Europe accelerate the transition to sustainable agriculture and food systems.

The potential of agroecological farming systems to master many of today’s challenges to the environment, economy, health, and society can be significantly promoted by coupling with digital tools and technologies. PATH2DEA is committed to unlocking digitalisation’s catalysing power to foster European agriculture’s 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 project’s 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.

The EU Mission ‘A Soil Deal for Europe’ (Soil Mission) aims to lead the transition to healthy soils via sustainable soil management. This requires knowledge and awareness of the importance and value of soil health and its challenges and drivers across Europe. Engaging and activating municipalities and regions across Europe to protect and restore soil health is vital for a successful Soil Mission deployment. The creation of spaces for dialogue with Quadruple Helix stakeholders, including marginalized and/or vulnerable strata of the population, on soil health and land management issues may contribute to develop a shared understanding of the challenges and help co-create solutions for the protection and restoration of soil. Within this context, HuMUS main aim is to facilitate the deployment of the Soil Mission across regions and municipalities, through: (i) the creation and experimentation of spaces for social dialogue on soil health among public and private actors in Europe; (ii) the promotion of a shared understanding and co-assessment exercises of soil challenges (biophysical and socio-economic dimensions); and, (iii) the enhancement of knowledge sharing among municipalities and regions, including on the needed transformations in current S4 (Sustainable Smart Specialisation) strategies and the use of available EU funds to support the transition. HuMUS will support the involvement of stakeholders and citizens in the decision-making processes via case studies, educational and capacity building activities as well as exchanges of best practices at regional and local levels. HuMUS will further contribute to raising the problem awareness of regional and local governments, businesses and society at large through the use of the Bio-districts multi-stakeholder methodology, whereby well-informed local production and consumption patterns are planned in a coordinated way by all actors of the supply chain. HuMUS will particularly encourage social innovation and the implementation of a trans-disciplinary approach. At each partner territory, regional and local governments will be closely associated from an early stage in order to develop effective participatory processes, and stimulate extensive dialogues on soil health. Regions and municipalities will be empowered to reflect, deliberate and propose appropriate and realistic solutions together with citizens and stakeholders. HuMUS will create and manage collaboration opportunities and spaces of dialogue between citizens and other stakeholders (e.g. farmers and other land users) and public authorities to mutually benefit from discussions in HuMUS as well as from the latest developments and findings from European projects and networks. HuMUS will also support public authorities at local / regional level, associations of land managers (e.g. farmer associations), civil society organisations and research institutions throughout Europe to establish constructive dialogues on soil health, through the launch of an EU-wide Open Call aiming to provide funding to at least 20 exemplary pilot projects. Hence, HuMUS will also contribute to increasing knowledge sharing among municipalities and regions, matching needs with already available methods, tools and approaches for social engagement and knowledge valorisation. The consortium is composed of universities and research centres with experience in participatory approaches and multi-stakeholder associations with large coverage of EU, regional and municipal governance levels.

Soils are under multiple pressures, including climate change, urbanization, pollution, overexploitation, and biodiversity loss. The specific objectives of the EU Mission ‘A Soil Deal for Europe’ address all these pressures, needing now: i) actionable research and innovation roadmaps for its concretization; and, ii) an overarching transdisciplinary agenda to identify the thematic and regional trade-offs and synergies that allow the sustainable use, management, and protection of European soils. Defining such an agenda requires the direct involvement of a wide range of stakeholders, bringing together multiple perspectives and ecological, environmental, economic and social contexts. To do that, at the core of SOLO will be the implementation of Think Tanks, one for each Soil Mission objective, with the aim of co-creating knowledge and identifying the knowledge gaps, drivers, bottlenecks, and novel approaches, as well as suggesting KPIs to monitor the progress of the Mission R&I related activities. Together with an open digital platform, the Think Tanks will function as an operational tool for implementing a participatory process that will last beyond SOLO's lifespan. SOLO will also address the potential differences in the regional implementation of the Soil Mission by testing its approach in four co-creation Regional Nodes, generating their own regional roadmaps that will be matched with the European ones. These explicit linkages between the co-creation mechanisms and the different project components aim to produce a shared understanding of needs and comprehensive identification of research and innovation priorities and other critical activities for the success of the Soil Mission.

Today more than half of the planet’s inhabitants live in cities and this is projected to increase. The world-wide migration of rural people to cities is particularly prominent in West Africa. This leads to increased practicing of peri-urban agriculture, supported by a) the lack of formal jobs and as a means of adding up to household income in low and middle-income countries (LMIC), b) the young generations of farmers are not willing to live in remote areas, c) initial stages of agriculture intensification in LMIC usually involves concentration of production in peri-urban areas. Even though intensified peri-urban farming has significant advantages, it also introduces concerns about zoonotic diseases, sanitary issues, local environmental degradation, antimicrobial resistance and more. Especially in LMIC, the intensification of food systems, as they transition from subsistence to market-oriented production, is typically associated with human health risks. URBANE is addressing this challenge of sustainable agriculture for food nutrition security, applying a One Health approach for tackling issues related to the application & intensification of peri-urban agriculture, as well as providing the necessary framework for its sustainable & safe application in different contexts. To achieve this, the project will be built around the principles of agroecology. URBANE is building on the extensive experience in agroecology of its partners whilst exploiting friendly tools & methods for measuring the progress & impact of the agroecological transition of farming. The URBANE approach will be demonstrated through 6 case studies in Africa, while its transferability in other regions will also be studied and facilitated through specific tools. New/ adapted business models will also be worked out for the URBANE case studies, that will act as lighthouse examples of how such business models can be - with suitable local adaptations informed by local specificities.