Project hub

Addressing the overexploitation and unsustainable management of land across Europe is essential for addressing the climate and biodiversity crises. The EU-funded MOSAIC project is working to understand and influence how land across Europe is managed. To that end, it will study how land use decisions are made and to what extent climate change and biodiversity issues are currently incorporated. The project team will work with local people and organisations in six case study locations to establish Policy Labs, each one of which will develop robust policy options. Then, state-of-the-art modelling will be used to explore the impact of these different policies. Project results will be made available online through a series of tools, which will support land use decision makers in developing and implementing innovative and effective policies.

In efforts to bolster the resilience and sustainability of remote regions, it’s important to consider the efficient management of agricultural and forest residues and waste. In this context, the EU-funded PYRAGRAF project aims to develop a mobile, solar-assisted unit, showcasing pyrolytic conversion technology that turns crop residues and waste into valuable products while reducing carbon footprints. This mobile unit comprises a solar-assisted gasifier burner, biomass dryer and integrated pyrolysis reactor. This system harnesses renewable sources like solar energy and biomass to produce valuable products. Overall, the project’s multifaceted approach yields biochar, wood vinegar ecosystems services, upgraded pyrogas and bio-oil. Field demonstrations across Germany, Portugal and Türkiye involve local stakeholders and will showcase the unit’s potential.

Agriculture sensors provide data assisting farmers in monitoring and optimising crops by adapting to changes in the environmental conditions. Integrating these data with other data derived from satellites could further enhance regional agricultural monitoring but would require a paradigm shift in the data ownership and governance models. The vision of the EU-funded ScaleAgData project is to gain insight into how integrated data streams should be governed to the benefit of all stakeholders, especially the farmers. By upscaling these data, this wealth of information can be shared with a larger farmer community, thus shrinking the technological inequality in the sector. Specific attention will be paid to innovations in sensor technology, edge computing, data analytics and novel Earth observation products.

To feed and nourish a growing population, agriculture needs to be sustainable. The EU is committed to transitioning to carbon-neutral and sustainable systems of agriculture. In this context, the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions project LegumeLegacy will apply the latest from the fields of ecology, agronomy, statistics and other fields to minimise nutrient inputs and leaching, while increasing carbon stocks, biodiversity and yield stability. LegumeLegacy will bring together 10 doctoral researchers to develop a model system of crop rotation, in the common experiment grassland plots of six species. The findings will be useful for the design of grassland leys within crop rotations that optimise agronomic and environmental performance.

Radioactive contamination of the environment including soil and groundwater is not uncommon since there are numerous sources of radionuclides from human activities, including defence-related, power production, medical, industrial and research activities. The contamination poses a long-term hazard to human and environmental health. Remediation of contaminated soil layers with various conventional physical and chemical treatments is difficult and expensive. The EU-funded SURRI project will investigate sustainable electrochemical and microbiological interventions enabling improved remediation while recovering materials resources including rare earth elements from radionuclide-impacted waste. This will be done in the context of a twinning programme to strengthen the capacity of the Technical University of Liberec in Czechia.