Climate Smart Research (CSR) is a research & innovation project involving 29 Experimental Research Stations (ERS) across Europe. It will accelerate the transition to climate neutral agriculture. CSR contributes to EU climate goals by developing new Climate Smart Farming (CSF) knowledge and innovations and boost the potential of ERS in realising these goals. More specific CSR will: 1) Co-develop a conceptual foundation for Climate Smart research on agricultural ERS and uncovering implications on system level to assess effectivity, synergies and trade-offs of CSF; 2) Develop cutting edge CSF approaches on selected ERS across 4 pedo-climatic zones with significant mitigation of GHG emissions (-55% to climate neutral) and adaptation to climate change; 3) Collect and compare climate tool-kits, services and decision support systems also for possible use on average farms across the EU and scientifically validate emerging solutions coming from practice; 4) Foster the capacity of research station actors through various knowledge exchange and networking activities amongst ERS and identify pathways for effective climate research and climate research design processes. This supports the development of practice-oriented climate smart knowledge, skills and innovations; 5) Maximise the impact of CSR by ensuring that project results are effectively embedded within EIP-AGRI and national/regional AKIS networks by developing and implementing a strategy for effective Dissemination, Exploitation and Communication. The networks of pilot demonstration farmers and climate smart advisors established in sister projects CFD and CSA will be leveraged to ensure that CSR practice-oriented solutions are widely accessible to farmers across Europe.

Total farm livestock population in Europe excrete around 1400 Mt of manure annually. More than 90% of manure produced is returned to agricultural fields. However, this is not being done in the most efficient and least leaky way. FERTIMANURE will develop, integrate, test and validate innovative Nutrient Management Strategies to efficiently recover mineral nutrients and other products with agronomic value from manure, to finally obtain reliable and safe fertilisers that can compete in the EU fertilizers market. FERTIMANURE focuses on “How to improve the agronomic use of recycled nutrients from livestock manure” to reconnect nutrient flows between plant and livestock production. Nutrient recycling relies not only in the technologies for producing bio-based fertilisers, but also in a better understanding and managing nutrients at the farm. The ambition of FERTIMANURE is to cover both technological approach for nutrient recovery and nutrient management. To this end, the technological approach will be covered by the implementation of 5 innovative & integrated nutrient recovery on-farm experimental pilots in the most relevant European countries in terms of livestock production (Spain, France, Germany, Belgium, The Netherlands), whereas the nutrient management will be addressed through 3 different strategies adapted to mixed and specialised farming systems: (Strategy #1) On-farm production and use of Bio-Based Fertilisers (BBF), (Strategy #2) On-farm BBF production and Centralised Tailor-Made Fertilisers (TMF) production and (Strategy #3) On-farm TMF production and use. A total of 31 marketable end-products (11 BBF & 20 TMF) will be obtained. The agronomic & environmental performance and their potential to replace conventional fertilisers will be assessed. Ultimately, FERTIMANURE seeks to provide an innovative circular economy model to favour rural development in agricultural sector by creating real synergies and links within farmers and other industrial activities.

Healthy soil is at the heart of the European Green Deal and one of the main targets of the Mission Board. The EU is currently struggling with soil degradation which is undoubtedly linked to agriculture intensification. Thus, a new soil management paradigm on soil monitoring, restoration and protection must be an endeavour of farmers, scientists, businesses, politicians and citizens. LivingSoiLL intends to respond to these challenges by establishing 5 Living Labs (LLs) in PT, FR, ES, IT and PL focused on permanent crops (vineyards, olive groves, chestnuts, hazelnuts and apple orchards), comprising at least 50 demonstration sites and 10 lighthouses, and with active participation of more than 2000 local actors. These LLs will focus on improving healthy soils and ecosystem services through co-creating, co-implementing and co-testing (digital) solutions to reduce erosion, improve soil structure, reduce the impacts of the intensive use of fertilizers and pesticides, increase water storage, enhance soil biodiversity, and the overall resilience of soil. By promoting locally adjusted innovative solutions, spreading sustainable soil management practices and enhancing soil literacy, LivingSoilLL will contribute to the overall improvement of soil health and environmental resilience. This approach, applied in real-life settings, will mobilize farmers, farm advisors and local communities, facilitating the assemblage of formal, scientific knowledge with experience-based farmers know-how, fostering a forum for the exchange of experiences and best practices. LivingSoilLL is also designed to produce policy recommendations on best soil management practices on permanent crops to reduce erosion while promoting other soil health indicators. With its approach, LivingSoiLL projects intends to contribute to creating the necessary conditions to EU be able to sustain healthy soils for future generations

WelFarmers will set up eight national innovation networks and four Europe-wide networks of pig farmers, advisors, veterinarians and researchers to address the challenges of the upcoming change in the European pig welfare legislation. WelFarmers will address four main topics: cage ban; keeping pigs with uncovered tails; avoiding pain during castration and space and flooring. The most urgent innovation needs and challenges will be identified in a bottom up way and the network will collect and evaluate good practices that meet these needs. WelFarmers will also strive to collaborate with existing and new EIP-AGRI operational groups (OGs) and EU research projects focused on pig welfare and to enhance their impact. The selected best practices will be disseminated through a series of communication and dissemination activities to reach most pig farmers in the eight participating countries and in Europe. EIP abstracts, thematic reports videos, brochures, e-news, national workshops, transnational cross-fertilisation events and a multilingual website are some of the dissemination methods planned to communicate and disseminate the best practices.

The ‘IPM Decisions’ project proposed here will accelerate impact from farm Decision Support Systems (DSS) for IPM, as advocated in the Sustainable Use Directive. The impact of DSS in crop protection has been constrained by regional and sectoral fragmentation of actors, inadequate testing of DSS and quantification of their benefits, DSS addressing single pests whilst farmer decisions need to account for multiple pests, and DSS which are insufficiently risk-averse. We will address these constraints and enable innovation by creating a ‘one stop shop’ delivering DSS, data, tools and resources through a pan-European online Platform and an ‘IPM Decisions Network’. The latter forming a community of users and stakeholders. Users will be farmers and advisers, and applied research or industry organisations that deliver or develop DSS. Each type of user will access the Platform via a tailored Dashboard, specific to their requirements. The project consortium brings together multi-actor participants from research, crop protection industry, ICT, meteorological services, policy, farming, advisory and extension organisations. Participants in IPM Decisions are also participants in relevant European projects and networks, enabling efficient engagement and impact. The focus will be on delivering DSS for key pests of major outdoor crops. Integrating key examples of contrasting DSS on the Platform will address urgent needs and demonstrate that the Platform has the functionality required for wide impact. Longevity of the Platform and Dashboards beyond the life of the project will be aided by minimizing the resources required to maintain and update the system, and a realistic business plan. Software, scientific publications and research data will be open access. IPM Decisions addresses all the requirements of part A of SFS-06-2018-2020. The outcomes from this project will support the EU wide demonstration farm network to be established under part B of the call.