The Common Agricultural Policy is the European Union's flagship policy for supporting the agricultural sector, ensuring food security, and safeguarding rural development while it is also a key tool for reaching the objectives of the European Green Deal, including the Farm to Fork and the Biodiversity Strategy. With these policy strategies, the EU aims for more sustainable food systems. Effectively supporting the policy impact assessment in this new context is a great challenge for the existing quantitative modelling tools as it requires them to substantially enhance the thematic coverage to comprehensively address all the components of the European Green Deal and ensure consistency with the monitoring systems in place. ACT4CAP27 responses to this challenge by enhancing the analytical capacity of the key policy tools (CAPRI,GLOBIOM,MAGNET,AGMEMOD) used by the European Commission to assess short-term and long-term policy impacts on EU’s agri-food systems and providing evidence-based knowledge supporting analysis for the design of agri-food policies post 2027. ACT4CAP27 develops a consistent, interdisciplinary methodological framework to operationalise and quantify relevant aspects of the EU agri-food system and related policies post 2027 and their economic, social (including health), environmental and climate sustainability impacts. Act4CAP27 addresses the main shortcomings of current modelling tools with its Act4CAP27 Modular Toolbox for EU Food System Modelling which provides a basis for innovation by creating a collaborative space and a modular model infrastructure for the whole EU agri-food research community and beyond. The Act4CAP27 Dissemination and Stakeholder Platform establishes an appropriate and inclusive engagement with stakeholders to co-create, communicate, and disseminate Act4CAP27 research results. ACT4CAP27 launches an Interactive Roadmap for guiding EU, national and regional policy makers weigh up policy objectives towards more sustainable outcomes.

AGROSUS will identify appropriate tools and agroecological strategies (AS) to prevent and manage the occurrence of weeds in relevant crops, in conventional, organic and mixed farming, at the eleven biogeographic regions of the European Union and associated countries (Continental–Mediterranean–Atlantic–Macaronesian–Pannonian–Anatolian–Black-Sea–Boreal–Alpine–Steppic–Artic), while reducing the reliance of synthetic herbicides to the environment and increasing biodiversity of agroecosystems. The consortium integrates a multi-actor approach for farmers’ decision making and for including the different perspectives from stakeholders to decision-makers that regulate and administer policies. In summary, AGROSUS will rely on i) expanded knowledge on problematic weeds on European agriculture, current weeding techniques, and problems encountered by farmers and advisors (around 500 farmers and advisors will be contacted for surveys, workshops and discussion groups), ii) advanced detection tools iii) establishment of cultural, mechanical, physical, biological, and biotechnological AS in 68 short-term experimental units sprayed all over Europe, iv) actions carried out with stakeholders and policy makers to promote the most appropriate initiatives at the field, administration and regulatory levels, and v) technology transfer and training of stakeholders for prevention and management of weeds. The tools and strategies designed will be developed, in collaboration with stakeholders, for the most problematic weeds of the different regions. These strategies will be implemented in the most economically relevant crops at the 11 biogeographic regions, and in conventional, organic and mixed farming systems. As well, the environmental impact, and economic and social costs and benefits of combined AS for weed control will be assessed in the 68 short-term fields and in 15 medium to long-term already in course agroecological fields, both in comparison with classical chemical weed management.