AGROECOLOGY Partnership Event

Agroecology Partnership event

Seville, Spain

From 31 March to 2 April 2025, the city of Seville, Spain, hosts the AGROECOLOGY Partnership event, a key gathering that brings together leading actors from across Europe to advance the transition towards sustainable agroecological systems.

Organised by the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology (FECYT) and the Spanish State Research Agency (AEI), with collaboration from LifeWatch ERIC and the Regional Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Water, and Rural Development of Andalusia, this event is framed within the European Partnership on Agroecology Living Labs and Research Infrastructures.

Over three days, participants will engage in a dynamic programme of activities, including:

  • The 7th in-person Executive Team Meeting
  • The first physical meeting of the Science and Stakeholder Advisory Board (SciSAB)
  • An Alignment Workshop with sister initiatives
  • A technical visit to IFAPA, the Andalusian Institute of Agricultural and Fisheries Research and Training

These sessions will address the current state of play, explore synergies with related initiatives, and identify future strategic actions for the 2025–2027 period. Topics include science-policy interactions, co-creation of knowledge, sustainable production systems, and the use of data platforms to support agroecological transformation.

LifeWatch ERIC, will actively participate in the event through its ICT Core team, Agroecology Coordinator Dr José Manuel Ávila Castuera, and Senior Scientific Manager Dr Iria Soto Embodas. will participate actively in the event. The infrastructure will contribute its expertise in biodiversity and ecosystem research to support the development of integrated, innovative, and sustainable solutions for agriculture in Europe.

This high-level event represents an important opportunity to align agendas, strengthen collaboration, and foster impactful contributions to Europe’s agroecological transition.

PATH2DEA Webinar series on digital tools for sustainable farming

PATH2DEA Webinar

Online

The PATH2DEA project aims to enhance the potential of agroecological farming systems, by supporting the adoption of digital tools and technologies. Farmers’ competence and views, matched with the rich repertoire of digital solutions already available in agriculture, can help tailor technologies to the end users’ needs.

The project involves multiple actors, including early adopters of digital agroecological farming, represented by six Showcase farms located in different pedo-climatic regions to validate the project’s conclusions.

As part of its ongoing activities, PATH2DEA has also established a Digital Agroecology Cluster and is now organising a webinar series with two key projects within the Cluster: D4AgEcol and REFOREST. This series consists of two webinars focused on the role of digitalisation in sustainable agricultural practices, and in particular agroecology and agroforestry.

The first appointment, on 18 March, will present tools currently available on the market for sustainable agriculture, and their practical applications. The second one, scheduled on 15 April, will dive into farmers’ perceptions of the tools, and barriers to adoption.

Visit this page for the detailed agenda and registration: https://www.path2dea.eu/agroecology-cluster/webinar-series.html

PATH2DEA Consortium meeting

Seville, Spain

PATH2DEA is a project co-funded by the European Union and the Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI). Its objective is to enhance the potential of agroecological farming systems by promoting the use of digital tools and technologies to cope with environmental, economical and health challenges.

Building on farmers’ competences, PATH2DEA matches them with the rich repertoire of already existing digital solutions for agriculture, with the objective to tailor them to users’ needs and fostering wide-range adoption of digital agroecology farming in EU and associated countries.

Started in November 2022, the project has already launched some important achievements as the Digital Agroecology Cluster, and a a Virtual Research Environment (VRE) to support knowledge sharing, collaboration, and innovation in the field of digital agroecology (read PATH2DEA’s December newsletter for more insights into these results).

Next Monday 27th of January, the consortium members will meet in Seville, Spain, for a two-day workshop organised by LifeWatch ERIC and hosted at the Facultad de Comunicación of the Universidad de Sevilla (FCom-US)

LifeWatch ERIC contributes to the project by leading the establishment and implementation of the PATH2DEA Open Repository (OR) of digital agroecology tools, where all the data generated in the project will be integrated. It also leads the co-creation of the PATH2DEA Virtual Research Environment (VRE), a secured and trusted environment for data management and exchange for R&I in agroecology and digitalisation, and the operationalisation of the Digital Agroecology Cluster. Moreover, it contributes to the mapping and integration of project assets.

The meeting, gathering more than 20 participants and additional online attendees, will be a chance to assess current progress and discuss the next steps and key goals for 2025: an important opportunity for collaboration, alignment, and planning, helping to ensure the successful continuation of the PATH2DEA project.

ALL-READY Workshop – Accelerating the Agroecology Transition

ALL-Ready

Seville, Spain / online, 11 May 2023.

The upcoming 2nd ALL-READY Project Workshop, entitled “Accelerating the Agroecology Transition: Your potential role and benefits of contributing to a European Network of Living Labs and Research Infrastructures.”

 This interactive discussion session will take place on 11 May 2023, at the LifeWatch ERIC ICT-Core premises in Seville, Spain, and will also be available online as a hybrid event.

More information in our news item.

Register Here

AgroServ Webinar: European Research Services on Agroecology

AgroServ Webinar

Online, 15 May 2023.

Ahead of its first annual conference, the Horizon Europe project AgroServ (in which LifeWatch ERIC partners) is pleased to invite you to its first webinar on European Research Services on Agroecology that will take place on 15 May 2023, 14:00 CEST via Zoom. 

This AgroServ webinar will give researchers the opportunity to connect with other practitioners interested in the field of agroecology and will extend discussions to promote the first European Research Services on Agroecology Conference and that will take place in June 2023 in Prague and online. 

Participants will learn about the AgroServ project, its agroecological services accessible via the project’s Catalogue Of Services, and how to apply to the next Call For Proposals that will be launched during AgroServ’s first annual conference taking place in Prague.

The project does not yet have a website, but you can follow the AgroServ LinkedIn page for updates!

AgroServ European Research Services on Agroecology Conference

European Research Services on Agroecology Conference

Prague, Czech Republic / Hybrid, 5–6 June 2023.

The first annual conference on research services on agroecology will be held by AgroServ (a project in which LifeWatch ERIC is partner) from 5–6 June 2023 at the Czech University of Life Sciences Prague (in-person and online).

The AgroServ project uses a multi-scale approach to respond to diverse research questions; from the level of the molecule and the organism, to the large-scale from farms to entire ecosystems. Since the transition towards a sustainable and resilient agricultural system needs to consider ecological, societal and economic factors, the active involvement of practitioners and scientists from different fields is crucial.

This first edition of the AgroServ Conference will thus be devoted to the research community where it will present the diverse agroecological services accessible via AgroServ and the different facets that shape research in the emerging field of agroecology.

To promote and encourage interdisciplinary approaches to address the agroecological transition, AgroServ’s first call for Transnational Access (TNA call) to access AgroServ services will be launched during this event.

Time will be devoted to discussions and hands-on workshops to brainstorm, meet researchers from different fields and to build ideas for potential proposals.

More information will be shared soon at this link.