Abstract:
“Agroecology research in Europe is increasingly evolving from a focus on isolated sustainable farming practices toward a systemic framework for transforming agri-food systems. Current trends emphasise the integration of biodiversity conservation, climate resilience, circular bioeconomy, digital technologies and participatory governance within farming systems. A major development is the growing use of Agroecology Living Labs and Research Infrastructures, where farmers, researchers, advisors, policymakers and other stakeholders co-design and test agroecological innovations under real-life conditions. The European Agroecology Partnership and initiatives such as BIOEAST are particularly important in accelerating research, innovation and networking across Central and Eastern Europe, where agroecology is increasingly linked with rural resilience, organic farming, biomass valorisation and regional innovation ecosystems.
At the same time, EU agricultural governance is moving from traditional compliance monitoring toward impact monitoring. Instead of only checking whether farmers implemented eco-schemes or biodiversity measures, the new approach evaluates whether these interventions actually improve biodiversity, ecosystem services and resilience. This requires integrated monitoring systems combining field ecology with digital tools such as remote sensing, drones, GIS, eDNA analysis, bioacoustics, IoT sensors and AI-supported biodiversity analytics. Effective impact monitoring should assess multiple dimensions, including pollinator populations, soil biodiversity, carbon sequestration, water regulation, climate resilience and socioeconomic sustainability. Future CAP and agroecology governance are expected to increasingly rely on evidence-based ecological performance indicators, supported by hybrid systems that combine digital infrastructures, scientific expertise and farmer participation in long-term landscape-level monitoring.“
About Prof. Popov:
Prof. Vladislav Popov is a professor at the Department of Agroecology of the Agricultural University of Plovdiv. He has professional experience in the field of agroecology, organic farming and environmental protection. Prof. Popov is one of the founders of organic farming in Bulgaria. He has significant international practical experience in over 24 countries around the world through scientific applied projects, training, dissemination and consulting in the fields of organic farming, agroecology and environmental protection.
Born in Kardzhali in August 1967. Between 1987 and 1990 he began his education at the Timiryazev Agricultural Academy – Moscow. Subsequently, he graduated from the Higher Agricultural Institute – Plovdiv as an agricultural engineer in Plant Protection and specialisation in agroecology. He received his Master’s degree in Ecological Agriculture from the Agricultural University – Wageningen, the Netherlands on ecological farming systems.
From August 2001 to October 2005 he was a full-time doctoral student at the University of Western Sydney, Australia, College of Environment and Agriculture. Since 1996 he has been working in the Department of Agroecology, and since 2006 he has been an associate professor in the department and a lecturer in the fields of “Fundamentals of Organic Agriculture”, “Soil Pollution and Impact on Ecosystems”, “Agroecology”, “Ecological Farming”.
In 2006 he was appointed Director of the Agroecological Center at the Agricultural University of Plovdiv and as such he organises and carries out scientific and applied projects and programs, actively participates in the training of farmers, agronomists and specialists in the application of the methods and practices of organic and sustainable agriculture, environmental protection, integrated rural development, etc.
Evaluator of scientific projects under the 7th Framework Program of the European Commission, author of a textbook for students in the specialty “Organic Agriculture” of the Agricultural University, member of several international organisations and the ecological network of the Avalon Foundation – Netherlands, coordinator of organic agriculture of the project “New Thracian Gold”, which is implemented in the Eastern Rhodopes.