INSPIRATION — Managing soil and groundwater impacts from agriculture for sustainable intensification

Results in brief

Managing soil and groundwater impacts from agriculture for sustainable intensification

"Agricultural production in Europe has significantly damaged soil and water resources, ecosystem biodiversity, socio-economic well-being and contributed to climate change. Expected further intensification of production to ensure food safety for population growth must be sustainable to minimise future impacts and negative externalities. This European Innovative Training Network (E/ITN) addresses these challenges by training 15 early-stage researchers in cutting edge research skills and innovative approaches to manage soil and groundwater impacts from agriculture for sustainable intensification. It supports EU policy goals on food security, resource conservation, renewable energy and climate change, and the aims of the H2020 Societal Challenge 5 Work Programme for sustainable management of the environment and its resources. The scientific objectives focus on developing (1) management techniques which mitigate environmental impacts of agricultural practices on soil, water and climate systems, and support sustainable intensification using new production methods; (2) ""smart"" environmental monitoring, biotechnology and modelling tools to predict the outcome of measures and practices in (1); (3) decision-making tools with sustainability indicators to implement sustainable agricultural production methods. This will be achieved by linking lab-scale studies of processes with field-scale evaluation of novel management concepts, analytical tools and modelling, using state-of-the-art methods. The network includes research, advisory and commercial organisations from all sectors of the agri-environmental management community, and SMEs to multinational firms. Its novel training agenda of workshops and summer schools on technical and commercial skills, international conferences, industry secondments and knowledge transfer activities has the specific aim of transferable skills training. This is highly relevant for scientific communication, societal impact and entrepreneurship, preparing the fellows for careers in many sectors."

Data: CORDIS, © European Union

Project objective

Agricultural production in Europe has significantly damaged soil and water resources, ecosystem biodiversity, socio-economic well-being and contributed to climate change. Expected further intensification of production to ensure food safety for population growth must be sustainable to minimise future impacts and negative externalities. This ETN addresses these challenges by training 15 early stage researchers in cutting edge research skills and innovative approaches to manage soil and groundwater impacts from agriculture for sustainable intensification. It supports EU policy goals on food security, resource conservation, renewable energy and climate change, and the aims of the H2020 Societal Challenge 5 Work Programme for sustainable management of the environment and its resources. The scientific objectives focus on developing (1) management techniques which mitigate environmental impacts of agricultural practices on soil, water and climate systems, and support sustainable intensification using new production methods; (2) ""smart"" environmental monitoring, biotechnology and modelling tools to predict the outcome of measures and practices in (1); (3) decision-making tools with sustainability indicators to implement sustainable agricultural production methods. This will be achieved by linking lab-scale studies of processes with field-scale evaluation of novel management concepts, analytical tools and modelling, using state-of-the-art methods. The network includes research, advisory and commercial organisations from all sectors of the agri-environmental management community, and SMEs to multinational firms. Its novel training agenda of workshops and summer schools on technical and business skills, international conferences, industry secondments and knowledge transfer activities has the specific aim of transferable skills training. This is highly relevant for scientific communication, societal impact and entrepreneurship, preparing the fellows for careers in many sectors.""

Original text from CORDIS.

Participants

THE UNIVERSITY OF SHEFFIELD · SHEFFIELDCoordinatorUnited Kingdom
AIT AUSTRIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY GMBH · WienAustria
Agricultural Catchments Programme · CarlowIreland
Amt für Umwelt Kanton Thurgau · FrauenfeldSwitzerland
COMPAGNIE INTERCOMMUNALE LIEGEOISE DES EAUX · LIEGEBelgium
CONTAMINATED LAND: APPLICATIONS INREAL ENVIRONMENTS LBG · READINGUnited Kingdom
Citius Engineering · EsneuxBelgium
EIDGENOESSISCHE ANSTALT FUER WASSERVERSORGUNG ABWASSERREINIGUNG UND GEWAESSERSCHUTZ · DubendorfSwitzerland
Food and Environment Research Agency · LONDONUnited Kingdom
GEOLYS · HAVELANGEBelgium
HELMHOLTZ-ZENTRUM FUR UMWELTFORSCHUNG GMBH - UFZ · LeipzigGermany
IWW ANALYTIK UND SERVICE GMBH · Mulheim an der RuhrGermany
KfU Envirotech GmbH · Halle/SaaleGermany
POLITECHNIKA WARSZAWSKA · WarszawaPoland
PROEFCENTRUM FRUITTEELT VZW · SINT TRUIDENBelgium
SZKOLA GLOWNA GOSPODARSTWA WIEJSKIEGO · WARSZAWAPoland
T.E. LABORATORIES LIMITED · TULLOWIreland
TATA STEEL UK LIMITED · LONDONUnited Kingdom
TEAGASC - AGRICULTURE AND FOOD DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY · CarlowIreland
THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS · LONDONUnited Kingdom
UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI PADOVA · PadovaItaly
UNIVERSITE DE LIEGE · LIEGEBelgium
UNIVERSITY OF GALWAY · GalwayIreland
VLAAMSE INSTELLING VOOR TECHNOLOGISCH ONDERZOEK N.V. · MolBelgium
WAGENINGEN UNIVERSITY · WageningenNetherlands
imw - Innovative Messtechnik Dr. WeissGermany

INSPIRATION · Managing soil and groundwater impacts from agriculture for sustainable intensification

Results in brief

Managing soil and groundwater impacts from agriculture for sustainable intensification

Project objective

Participants

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