Strengthening Agricultural landscape multiFunctionality through expansion of agroecological farming in EuRope

Redesigning agri-food systems to address environmental and socioeconomic challenges is crucial for Europe, as emphasized by the European Green Deal.

Agroecology, which integrates ecological functions into farming, offers a sustainable solution but faces limited adoption due to the complexity of adapting practices to diverse local conditions and a lack of understanding of its broader impacts.The SAFER project will address these challenges and knowledge gaps by mobilizing a European network of 6 Living Labs distributed across contrasting regions and social-ecological systems, in a multidisciplinary research approach.

We will specifically: (i) co-design agroecological practices tailored to local social-ecological contexts through a participatory approach that involves stakeholders in each Living Lab; (ii) quantify the multiple agronomical, environmental and socio-economic benefits and risks of scaling up these agroecological practices from the field to the landscape scale; (iii) forecast the whole-system consequences of various landscape-scale strategies of deployment for farmers and local stakeholders; (iv) identify how policies, stakeholder demands and the Living Lab methodology can enhance or limit the expansion of agroecological practices at the landscape level.By engaging local stakeholders and disseminating insights, SAFER aims to provide innovative, context-adapted agroecological solutions and foster the large-scale adoption of sustainable farming practices across Europe.