INRAE is France's new National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment, created on January 1 2020.
It was formed by the merger of INRA, the National Institute for Agricultural Research, and IRSTEA, the National Research Institute of Science and Technology for the Environment and Agriculture.
INRAE is uniquely suited to performing valuable research on numerous topics, including water resources, regional agricultural strategies, the preservation and restoration of biodiversity, risk anticipation and management, and digital agriculture.
Partner contact: Bertrand Dumont (bertrand.dumont@inrae.fr)
Agroscope is the Swiss centre of excellence for agricultural research, and is affiliated with the Federal Office for Agriculture (FOAG). Agroscope makes an important contribution to a sustainable agriculture and food sector as well as to an intact environment, thereby contributing to an improved quality of life.
Agroscope researches along the entire value chain of the agriculture and the food sector. Its goals is to achieve a competitive and multifunctional agricultural sector, high-quality food for a healthy diet, and an intact environment.
Partner contact: Olivier Huguenin-Elie (olivier.huguenin@agroscope.admin.ch)
Agrovi are an agricultural consulting organisation based in Denmark, providing service and advice to farmers, rural dwellers and other business operators.
Partner contact: Henrik Kruse Rasmussen (hkr@agrovi.dk)
The Working Group for the Promotion of Fodder Production (AGFF) works with farmers on their production of high quality forage on permanent grassland, summer pasture and sown temporary grassland.
With about 3000 members, the vast majority of whom are practicing farmers, AGFF is the link between research, education/advice and on-farm practice, promoting cooperation between forage production, feeding and animal husbandry, and promoting conversations between town and country, mountain and valley areas. It is also the contact for farmers, consumers and authorities.
Partner contact: Andreas Luscher (andreas.luescher@agroscope.admin.ch)
The non-profit association Greenotec (acronym of Grouping for Research on the Environment and Study of New Cultural Techniques) was officially founded in 2006 by a group of 10 farmers. By 2012, the association had more than 230 members in its ranks, the vast majority of whom were Walloon farmers.
It was created by and for farmers in search of concrete solutions to the practical problems they encountered on a daily basis in the adoption of Soil Conservation Techniques (TCS) on their farm.
The group holds study days, conferences other learning opportunities aimed at offering interested farmers and researchers advice on the transition from conventional farming techniques to TCS.
Partner contact: Simon Dierickx (dierickx.s@greenotec.be)
Čarna d.o.o.was founded in 2009. The heart of the business is a vegetable box scheme delivering organic and locally produced vegetables (and other produce) to people’s homes.
The starting point was the statement ‘We want to eat better food’. This developed to ‘We want Slovenes to enjoy good healthy local food and are looking to find ways in which to further support this’. The goal now is to find ways to increase the percentage of fresh, local organic food sold locally throughout the year, working with smaller farmers.
The business has two main aims - to be in touch with the customer base, and to support small farmers by sharing knowledge and providing a stable route to market.
Partner contact: Alexandra Waldmann (alexandra@carna.si)
The CRA-W is a public institution that integrates scientific research, service and support functions for the benefit of Walloon farmers, stockbreeders, horticulturalists, foresters and operators in the agri-food sector in order to aim for more sustainable agriculture.
Partner contact: Adrien Swartebroeckx (a.swartebroeckx@cra.wallonie.be)
The Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV) are joint partners in the research centre INGENIO (CSIC-UPV).
INGENIO works in the field of economics of innovation, monitoring and evaluation and science policy. It is building an increasingly strong reputation in the areas of transformative innovation policy evaluation, social and grassroots innovation and responsible research and innovation.
INGENIO works across five research themes: Social and environmental innovation for sustainability; Collaboration and knowledge co-creation; Design and evaluation of polices for innovation; Capacities for territorial and organisational innovation; and Education, employment and skills.
Partner contact: Marta Guadalupe Rivera Ferre (martaguadalupe.rivera@uvic.cat)
INRAE Transfert (IT) is a fully owned subsidiary of INRAE. IT is a technology transfer company specialised in exploiting the innovative technologies arising from INRAE’s agriculture-related research and developing them into concrete business opportunities.
The staff of IT’s European Projects Division have particular expertise in both helping researchers in the conception, construction and writing of relevant proposals (especially relating to health, agriculture, and environment topics), and managing large collaborative projects of all types and sizes that are implemented with various different national and international funding sources.
Partner contact: Luke Lauprete (luke.lauprete@inrae.fr)
Land & Co are researching and testing strip cropping techniques with farmers, to both reduce inputs and improve farm profitability.
At the same time, they are exploring how this approach can be scaled up across the region and beyond. By building a network of strip croppers, who are able to share their techniques and findings, and research partners who are collecting data, a robust and practical can be shared with other farmers interested in strip cropping techniques.
The network is currently made up of around 50 arable farmers in both organic and conventional systems. Alongside this group of farmers is a range of supporting organisations - researchers, breeders, advisory services and NGOs.
Partner contact: Maria van Boxtel (mvanboxtel@landco.nl)
ÖMKi is the only independent organisation in Hungary devoted specifically to research sustainable agriculture.
Since 2011, we have been working to ensure the competitiveness of organic food production in Hungary by practical research, authentic advice, consultation possibility and knowledge transfer.
We believe that the future belongs to both organic production methods that embrace tradition, and to the results of scientific research and innovation.
Partner contact: Gabriella Nagy (gabriella.nagy@biokutatas.hu)
Roskilde University was founded in 1972 and known for its ambition to push boundaries for knowledge through a problem-oriented approach. It focuses on research and education on fields where the university has international or national status, bringing the university and society closer together.
RUC has 950 employees and around 8000 students. RUC is primarily involved in several areas of the Agroecology TRANSECT project (WP3, and especially to WP2). The interdisciplinary tradition will primarily contribute to the ambitious ‘actor driven’ approaches with agroecology value chains. This includes producing, transforming and bringing goods and services to end-consumers as well as actively supporting collaborative social networks and institutional adaptation.
Partner contact: Henrik Hauggaard-Nielsen (hnie@ruc.dk)
Association for Territorial and Ecological Prosperity - STEP - is a non-profit organisation working for the benefit of high nature value agriculture and the communities that support it. The vision is for vibrant rural areas based on high nature value agriculture, sustainable economies and thriving communities.
The main goals of STEP in the long term are to contribute to the ecological development and preservation of rural areas while supporting agroecological farming practices and the rural economy.
They provide expert assistance for the preparation of analyses, studies, evaluations and proposals related to the development of a sustainable regional policy and a policy for the development of rural areas. They also provide information and consultations on policies related to agriculture, environment, social and regional development.
Partner contact: Yanka Kazakova (yanka.kazakova@gmail.com)
The business unit Field crops by Wageningen Research (WR) contributes to innovation and knowledge development in the agricultural sector, at both the national and international level.
Working alongside the sector and businesses in the field, we are able to design and implement projects using co-innovation.
Partner contact: Daniel de Jong (daniel.dejong@wur.nl)
Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ
UFZ was established in 1991 as the first and only centre in the Helmholtz Association of National Research Centres to be exclusively devoted to environmental research in a wide variety of fields. Founded in response to the severe pollution prevailing in Central Germany, the UFZ has become acknowledged as a global centre of expertise in sustainable land-use and landscape restoration, as well as for the preservation of biodiversity and natural landscapes.
German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv)
iDiv is a DFG research centre with more than 440 employees and members based primarily in Halle, Jena and Leipzig. Researchers from more than 40 nations establish the scientific basis for the sustainable management of our planet’s biodiversity. In the face of rapid changes, but limited knowledge about the underlying processes and consequences for humanity, a consortium of eleven research institutions joined forces to establish iDiv in 2012. In order to better understand the complex phenomenon of biodiversity, the iDiv researchers are working on five overarching research areas: 1) Biodiversity Change; 2) Biodiversity and Complexity; 3) Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functioning; 4) Molecular Biodiversity and Adaptation; and 5) Biodiversity and Society.
Find out more at www.idiv.de.
Partner contact: Guy Pe'er (guy.peer@ufz.de)
Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences
Chair for Agricultural Economics
The University of Rostock (UR) is one of the oldest universities in Germany and combines tradition with innovation. The Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at the University of Rostock combines agricultural, natural science and engineering disciplines in conjunction with economic and planning expertise.
Research at the faculty takes place in an interdisciplinary manner at the interface between agriculture and the environment and combines scientific excellence with practical relevance on the ground. Research on biodiversity and sustainable agriculture is part of the faculty's profile.
Within the faculty, the Agroecology-Transect project is based at the Chair of Agricultural Economics (Prof. Dr. Sebastian Lakner), which currently involved in a number of biodiversity-relevant projects. The chair specialises in economic aspects of the implementation of sustainable and biodiversity friendly practices in agriculture.
Partner contact: Sebastian Lakner (sebastian.lakner@uni-rostock.de)
USH Pro Business is an university spin off, a dedicated centre for the entrepreneurial activities, designed to support of SMEs and start ups which is also a technological transfer centre accredited by the Ministry of Research and Education with staff graduating competence training for technological brokerage.
USH Pro Business serving as a hub for consultancy services, training, information, internationalization, innovation, research funding to support and promote companies, products and services companies and the associations in the country and abroad.
USH Pro Business Center assumes an important role in supporting internationalization and innovation strategies, targeted by the business environment.
Partner contact: Costin Lianu (clianu@gmail.com)
The Farming Systems Ecology (FSE) Group of Wageningen University and Research (WUR) focuses on the analysis and redesign of farming systems and foodscapes, so that they deliver multiple benefits to humankind, using natural processes as our starting point.
Partner contact: Walter Rossing (walter.rossing@wur.nl)
The Soil Association is the UK charity that joins forces with nature for a better future, for a world with good health, in balance with nature, and a safe climate.
Working with everyone to transform the way we eat, farm and care for our natural world, we build real solutions from the ground up.
Together, we are a force for nature.
Partner contact: Julie Wilkins (jwilkins@soilassociation.org)