SUNRISE project: Supporting the agroecological transition through living labs networks

The University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of Bucharest (USAMVB) is part of the SUNRISE project, with a funding of over €3.3 million, of which our team has €172,000 available, for the implementation of activities. The project is funded by the Agroecology Partnership (https://www.agroecologypartnership.eu/sunrise), the Horizon Europe program and includes 13 partners from 10 European countries, to achieve the objectives of food security and sustainable agricultural production, benefiting from the interaction between science, technology and traditional knowledge from the producer to the consumer.

These objectives are found in the USAMVB development strategy for reducing the negative impact of intensive agricultural technologies on the environment and adapting to climate change, by promoting agroecological principles, sustainable development and profitability in agriculture.

At the same time, these approaches can improve agroecological strategies for obtaining profitable and quality of agricultural production, restoring the relational balance between agriculture and the environment, the transition to the agroecological system, as well as for increasing the economic efficiency of organic farms.

Added value for transnational research and innovation through Agroecological Living Labs

The SUNRISE project is a European initiative dedicated to promoting agroecology by creating a vibrant network of Agroecological Living Labs (AELLs) in 10 countries: Switzerland, Spain, Estonia, the Netherlands, Sweden, Romania, Slovakia, Italy and Germany. Building on five existing labs and five promising initiatives, the project supports a collaborative approach to innovation. This project develops practical solutions to key agronomic challenges, paving the way for a more sustainable and resilient agricultural future in areas such as: soil health, crop diversification, input reduction, crop and animal production, pest biocontrol, biodiversity and ecosystem services.

Agroecological living labs created at sub-regional or regional level are based on networks of actors (multi-actor teams – MAT) formed by researchers, experts, farmers, farmer associations) already involved in agroecological practices/value chains at an early or advanced stage. Agroecological living labs will involve multi-actor teams at local level, in continuous collaborative activities and will be key centres for the expansion of agroecology from local level through testing platforms (Local Lighthouses) at regional, national and European level (European Lighthouses).

Within the Agroecological Living Labs, field trials will be organized within research stations and/or centers, farms/farmer associations in collaboration with researchers, experts and other key actors, facilitating the adoption of agroecological practices that improve soil and plant health, enhance biodiversity and boost the quality of agricultural production for all interested parties.

SUNRISE in Romania

The role of the USAMVB team will focus on implementing applied research on soil, plant and environmental health, by optimizing nutrient cycles, reducing the use of chemical fertilizers and correcting soil acidity, diversifying crop rotations and adopting innovative solutions for controlling harmful organisms through the use of biostimulants and biopesticides.

The project implements a national agroecological living laboratory with locations at the Moara Domnească Agronomic Research and Development Didactic Station of USAMVB and private partners. Soil analyses will be carried out in terms of both physicochemical and microbiological indices. The Moara Domnească Experimental Field will test innovative agroecological practices – biofertilizers, biostimulants, bioherbicides, diversification of rotations by including autumn legumes in the crop rotation, as well as methods for integrated control of diseases, pests and weeds. Through the involvement of farmers, researchers and students, the Moara Domnească Didactic Station becomes a living agroecological laboratory, respectively a model platform for practical testing and education, strongly anchored in European and national research and innovation programs for soil, plants and biodiversity.

From research to farm

The project opens up possibilities for collaboration with farmers to implement sustainable solutions through technology transfers and direct field testing of agroecological practices proposed by this project.

The co-creation, co-evaluation and co-validation together with farmers of the new agroecological solutions proposed by the SUNRISE project and tested at farm level will lead to the development of recommendations on modern technologies for cultivating plants in a sustainable, ecological way, which respects current and long-term agricultural policies and encourages the agroecological transition to improve the value chains of agricultural production, the conservation of the environment and natural resources.

This approach reflects the principles of Open Science and Horizon Europe: open and transparent data, co-creation with farmers and community involvement. Thus, research becomes practical and relevant, contributing to the objectives of the European Green Deal on sustainability, resilience and applied innovation. Also, methods and tools for implementing a co-creation process in a Living Lab approach must support improved agroecology at the farm level.

Coordination and partners

The project coordinator is Paolo Barberi – Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies and Specialization in Pisa, Institute of Plant Sciences (SSSA), ITALY.

Partners on project:

Maria Toader – University of Agronomic Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of Bucharest (USAMV), ROMANIA
Liina Talgre – Estonian University of Life Sciences (EMU), ESTONIA
Jens Dauber – Johann Heinrich von Thünen-Institut (TI), GERMANY
Doreen Gabriel – Julius Kühn-Institut Institute for Crop and Soil Science (JKI), GERMANY
Friederike Dima Danneil – Agricultural University of Iceland (AUI), ICELAND
Daniele Antichi – University of Pisa (UNIPI), ITALY
Pablo Tittonelli – University of Groningen (RUG), (NETHERLANDS)
Xavier F. Sans Serra – University of Barcelona (UB), (SPAIN)
Marcos Lana – Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), SWEDEN
Franz S. Bender – Agroscope (WFB), Switzerland
Peter Bezak – Institute of Landscape Ecology of Slovak Academy of Sciences (ILSAS), SLOVAKIA
Thomas Parisis – STRATAGEM ENERGY LTD (STRATA), CYPRU

More information about the project is available here: https://www.sunrise-agroecology.eu/

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