Partnerships

Accelerating Farming Systems Transitions*

Accelerating Farming Systems Transitions*

Partnership website: https://scar-europe.org/

The partnership aims to structure and support a network of living labs and research infrastructures accelerating the transition towards agroecology throughout Europe. It will provide spaces for long-term, site-specific, multi-stakeholder and real-life experimentation, and deliver ready-to adopt practices that support farmers in understanding and implementing agroecological practices at the scale needed for positive economic, environmental and social impacts.

By 2030, the ecosystem around agroecology will be better connected at EU level, knowledge of agroecological processes will boost uptake of agroecology by farmers and the environment and the social performance of farming will be improved.

Contact

Commission services: Paola EulalioSusana Gaona Saez

Partners: SCAR Strategic Working Group on Agroecology (SCAR-AE) - Nicolas TinoisBenjamin SanchezTorsten Rodel Berg

What are partnerships?

Partnerships group the EC and private and/or public partners, to coordinate and streamline the research & innovation initiatives and funding in some selected key domains.

How to use partnerships?

  • orientation
    Partnerships publish strategic documents, e.g. outlining the main research and innovation challenges or key focus points.
  • networking
    Partnerships often organise events, such as info days, brokerage events, etc. Meet potential partners and learn about the nuances that are not visible in the official documents.
  • ecosystem analysis
    Partnerships typically have an advisory board, and publish impact studies of previous actions. These are good sources of information to uncover the main R&D&I players in the domain.
  • steering the agenda
    Partnerships collaborate with the EC on outlining the strategy and the future funding opportunities in their domain, based on input from industry, academia, and other stakeholders.

Testimonial

image of Autoship - a new and durable way of freight transport

Autoship - a new and durable way of freight transport

Autoship is, as the name suggests, an acronym for autonomous ship. Just like with self-driving cars, the possibilities of an unmanned boat seem endless. It can create more efficient freight transport, around the clock deliveries and these are just a few of the examples. The project has two societal challenges.

At first, De Vlaamse Waterweg was a bit hesitant as their experience with FP7 or Horizon 2020 projects was limited and they had not been very successful up until then. The fact that they were already doing basic research on the topic of autonomous boats, and the administrative help of NCP FLanders helped De Vlaamse waterweg to cross the line and get involved.