The EU Farm to Fork strategy, which is at the heart of the European Green Deal, aims to make food systems fair, healthy, and environmentally friendly. To achieve the objectives of the Farm to Fork strategy, the Commission proposed, among other, new targets to reduce the use and risks of pesticides (RURP). The main objective of AdvisoryNetPEST is to establish and upgrade a network of advisory services across the EU, increasing the knowledge sharing between advisors, and among the whole AKIS, and the adoption of innovative solutions to RURP by farmers. The project will achieve this by: 1) Developing a EU network of advisors to RURP, based on existing networks and national AKIS, covering the 27 EU Members States (MSs) and the UK. To cover all MSs, the project will adopt a twinning approach: 14 National Networks will be created by the project partners, and these will engage with 14 Associated Networks through a twining program. The network will cover all European pedo-climatic areas, integrating four EU regional clusters and the most relevant crop sectors. 2) Identifying, selecting, and shaping Novel Approaches (NAs), which are technically, economically, socially, and environmentally viable, that will be adapted and replicated across the EU. 3) Exchanging knowledge and training advisors and students to promote the adoption of the NAs. 4) Connecting the project with other national and EU projects, initiatives and policy makers. 5) Scaling up the NAs, fostering the adoption of innovative solutions by farmers and the whole value chain. The project will embrace a multi-actor approach, gathering 19 partner organisations with a vast experience in advisory and crop protection. The consortium will also represent a diversity of AKIS stakeholders, including advisors, researchers, and other value chain actors, as the cornerstone of a regional, national, and EU level network that will allow a wide sharing of technical and practical expertise to RURP in the long-term.

The EU food system is under considerable pressure for change due to its negative climate, environmental and health impacts. Food system transition will require changing dietary habits of millions of Europeans. PLAN’EAT aims at advancing the scientific basis on factors influencing dietary behaviour and the health, environmental and socio-economic impacts of dietary patterns and deliver solutions for transition through a transdisciplinary and multi-level approach. PLAN’EAT will co-create data and interventions in pan-EU network of 9 Living Labs and a Policy Lab. These living labs will focus on a broad range of population groups, varying according to age, culture, health and socio-economic status. PLAN’EAT entails four steps that feed into each other: (1) Dietary patterns of 9 different target groups from 9 regions will be mapped together with their food environments (2) Factors and drivers influencing dietary behaviour at macro- (food system), meso- (food environment) and micro- (individual) levels will be deeply investigated. (3) A True Cost Accounting database and methodology will be developed and applied, for the first time, on dietary patterns, providing integrated insights into the diverse impacts of current and future diets, including possible synergies and trade-offs. (4) A solution package will be co-developed with food chain actors, consumers and policymakers, incl.: i) a Food System Dashboard, setting out context-specific food policy recommendations; ii) interventions targeting Farm to Fork actors, for farmers, food industries, retailers and food services to create suitable food environments; iii) advisory tools to empower consumers; and iv) improved dietary advice and communication strategies to target populations at large. PLAN’EAT will allow for realizing a transition of 58500 consumers to healthier and sustainable dietary patterns by 2032, reducing premature mortality by 20% and greenhouse gases emissions of local food supply chains by 23% in 39 areas.

Smart Crop Farming technologies allow farmers to optimize inputs and tailor cultivation practices to specific crop requirements. Despite the potential of these technologies to enhance agriculture, their adoption remains surprisingly low in Europe. Well-organized, farmer-focused, multi-actor advisory systems and networks can play a crucial role for farmers to understand and implement Smart Crop Farming technologies. These advisory systems involve multiple stakeholders and prioritize farmers' needs, while enabling knowledge exchange among diverse players. Operational Groups (OGs) provide a strong platform for this, but many lack the required capabilities. TechCoach's main objective is to strengthen farmers’ ability to assess, adopt, and integrate Smart Crop Farming technologies at the farm level, by facilitating collaborative innovation and multi-actor advisory in Operational Groups and AKIS. This will be achieved through the mobilization of OG’s and AKIS actors, as well as the utilization of existing and new thematic networks and Multi-Actor Approach projects, to gather and disseminate knowledge and experience for application in local contexts across Europe. TechCoach will serve a dual purpose: (1) strengthening the results of Operational Groups, and (2) accelerating these results through networks at the national and EU level. The approach includes 3 levels of interventions. Firstly, we learn how EIP Operational Groups facilitate their members in the adoption of Smart Farming technologies. Good practices are described, and gaps are identified. At the start of the project, TechCoach will work with 10 OG’s in 5 countries. Secondly, we connect project OGs, other OGs and AKIS actors in national networks to share knowledge and experience on the theme of facilitating Smart Crop Farming adoption and to narrow the identified gaps. And thirdly, we connect OGs and national networks across borders and enhance pan-European learning and collaboration in Smart Crop Farming.

The vision of the HORIZON-MISS-2023-CLIMA-01-01 call is that Europe’s Regions will be responsible for their sustainable and resilient adaptation to climate change (CC), by developing Roadmaps for adaptation of agriculture to CC. These roadmaps will need to empower regional stakeholders to innovate new, nature-based solutions that meet society’s needs for CC adaptation through better planning that is compatible with national and international policy. TRANSFORM proposes that innovating new crop rotations – the sequences of crops that farmers use to achieve their farming goals – will deliver nature-based solutions for sustainable and resilient CC adaptation in arable and mixed farming. Working in the Atlantic Biogeographic Region (Bio-region) of Europe, we adopt an explicitly multi-actor approach in which stakeholders are in charge of the innovation. TRANSFORM will co-create with stakeholders tools and methods: for Regional-level Roadmaps that describe the needs for adaptation of local people in agriculture; for farmers to innovate crop rotations for their region using the Future Rotations Explorer tool; and, a Toolbox of spatio-temporal methods and tools for stakeholders to explore and evaluate the societal, economic and environmental indicators of impact of rotations. When embedded within our social science methods, these methods and tools will leverage an iterative ‘pipeline to innovation’ for CC adaptation in agriculture that produces lists of acceptable crop rotations, and maps for planning, across the Atlantic Bio-region, and ultimately the whole of Europe. This will allow the European Commission, EU Member States and associated countries and their regions and stakeholders to make progress in attaining the goals of the EU Mission: Adaptation to Climate Change.

ROADMAP will foster transitions towards prudent antimicrobial use (AMU) in animal production in a large variety of contexts, by favouring a rethinking of antimicrobial decision-systems all along the food supply chain. Even if it is possible to learn from successful experiences, there is no “one-size-fits-all” solution to reduce AMU but various strategies working according to local conditions, defined by social, economic, technical and institutional variables. ROADMAP will develop innovative conceptual approaches within a transdisciplinary and multi-actor perspective to engage with animal health professionals, stakeholders and policy-makers. It will adapt, combine and produce tailored strategies to reduce AMU in diverse production systems in Europe and low- and middle-income countries (pig, poultry, cattle and fish sectors). Main objectives of ROADMAP are 1) to understand why and how AMU varies according to local contexts, by studying knowledge, practice and behaviours of farmers, veterinarians and upstream and downstream industries of the food supply chain; 2) to develop innovative socioeconomic and technical instruments to foster prudent AMU adapted to various production systems, by co-designing integrative strategies with animal health professionals and stakeholders; 3) to evaluate ROADMAP solutions and ensure their impact. Innovative communication, dissemination and exploitation tools will be implemented to reach a large community of end-users. ROADMAP will identify levers and incentives to encourage AMU change, by providing 1) scenarios and recommendations for efficient transitions towards prudent AMU and 2) solutions socially acceptable but also technically and economically feasible. ROADMAP will therefore contribute to the fight against antimicrobial resistance by allowing cross-learning from diverse successful experiences, encouraging a harmonization of AMU reduction trends across Europe and thus favouring a global decrease of AMU in animal production.