Integrated SERVices supporting a sustainable AGROecological transition (AGROSERV)

Main research question/goal

AgroServ aims to support research and innovation by providing customized and integrated research infrastructures services with an eye on achieving a sustainable and resilient agriculture and supporting agroecological transitions. This aim will take place in line with the One-Health approach, with particular attention to threats and risks on agroecosystems and to enhance new agroecological  practices and their socioeconomic benefits.

Research approach

The approach is practical and cross-organizational: We provide (improved) access to innovative, tailored and efficient services (physical, remote and virtual) that enable interdisciplinary research on resilient and sustainable agricultural systems and their interrelationships with environment, health and food security. We develop a higher level of integration of services for a multi-research infrastructure (RI) by engaging a variety of users and stakeholders in a process of co-creation, generating new services. We provide data and modeling services relevant to human, plant, and animal health and well-being to support evidence-based policy-making and sustainable progress in agroecology. We connect and provide training to a large community of actors, not just researchers, to enable them to make the best use of the research facilities and services provided by the RIs. We ensure that the multi-RI services developed during the AgroServ project continue beyond the end of the project by finding appropriate ways to make the service offerings sustainable.

Relevance/Valorisation

In 2015, UN set the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development with 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). Sustainable agricultural systems are key to attain the SDGs, from ending poverty and hunger to fighting climate change and preserving biodiversity and natural resources. At the European level, sustainable agricultural and food systems lie at the heart of the European Green Deal and the Farm2Fork Strategy with the ambition that the European agriculture and food system becomes the “global standard for sustainability”. To address these societal challenges and contribute to the achievement of these objectives, the scientific community must consider the high intersectoral and interdisciplinary dimension of studying agroecosystems.