SUPER-G
Developing SUStainable PERmanent Grassland systems and policies (H2020-SFS-774124- Super-G)
The existence and management of permanent grasslands (PG) is key to the delivery of multiple ecosystem services (ES) across Europe. However, PG maintenance and functions are under threat from sub-optimal management of inputs, cultivation in higher output farming systems and abandonment in remote and marginal areas. The overall objective of the SUPER-G project is to co-develop sustainable PG systems and policies with farmers and policy makers that will be effective in optimising productivity, whilst supporting biodiversity and delivering a number of other ES.
SUPER-G will apply a multi-actor approach, working with farmers; land owners/managers and their advisers; third sector and civil society groups; non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and researchers, policy and business communities to achieve:
- better understanding of the importance and functioning of PG .
- benchmarking of PG performance across Europe.
- codevelopment of integrated approaches for profitable and sustainable PG management.
- co-development of tools and policy mechanisms, which are inclusive of stakeholder and citizen priorities, to support the maintenance and sustainable management of PG.
The project will last five years to allow time for the establishment of farm networks for data gathering and analysis; and the development of good grassland practices, innovative techniques and farm-level and policy support tools
Using a responsible research and innovation (RRI) approach, the project will develop a comprehensive European grassland typology and a shared conceptual model of how PG can deliver in terms of productivity, biodiversity and other ES such as climate regulation, water quality, mediation of water flows and erosion control.
The potential of PG to deliver multiple ES will be informed by benchmarking and testing, involving a network of farms and experimental platforms in 14 countries covering the Mediterranean, Atlantic, Continental, Alpine, Pannonian and Boreal regions.
General objectives
The SUPER-G proposal has the following detailed objectives:
- Use an ecosystem approach to co-develop sustainable PG systems that are cost-effective and easily managed by farmers and land managers; and policy options that deliver ES for policy makers.
- Improve understanding of the distribution and state of PG in Europe, the impact of maintaining or increasing the PG area and the challenges associated with doing so.
- Develop a grassland typology that covers the range of grassland systems in Europe and allows comparison of ES delivery between contrasting regions and PG systems.
- Analyse the main farming systems managing PG to improve farm organisation and promote ES delivery.
- Develop robust and meaningful agri-environment indicators for ES delivery by grassland-based systems.
- Gather data and information to benchmark and model the ability of PG to deliver farm productivity, profitability and key ES within a selection of biogeographic regions.
- Improve understanding of trade-offs and synergies associated with the management of PG for ES delivery in a range of contexts and scenarios
- Clarify the benefits PG provides for society and generate policy options that are either tailored to or robust across multiple PG contexts to deliver the range of ES.
- Develop farm-level and policy decision support tools for the management of PG to enhance the productivity and profitability of grazing livestock farms (and/or other innovative uses and markets for grassland products) and the delivery of ES to society.
- Provide clear guidance to farmers/advisers and policy makers for optimal PG management, taking into account contrasting priorities for ES delivery in different regions/farming systems, but also impacts of management options and system approaches on local rural communities.
Role of the University of Cordoba
The University of Cordoba is in charge of the Work Programmes 2, 3 , 4 and 6.
Investigador Principal: Tom Vanwalleghem
Correo electrónico de contacto: tom.vanwalleghem@uco.es
Página web del proyecto: https://www.super-g.eu/
SUDOANG
Promoting the sustainable management of eels within Sudoe area (INTERREG-SOE2/P5/E0617-SUDOANG)
Due to environmental and economic factors as well as the lack of coordination between the agents involved in its conservation, the European eel is currently in danger of extinction. SUDOAND proposes a solution based on scientific evidence to provide accurate information about the eel population and its evolution.
Through a web application and a governance platform, SUDOAND ensures greater coordination between the different actors in the sector as well as the development of more effective management models.
General objectives
To provide tools and joint methods that support the conservation of the european anguilla and its habitat to managers in the Sudoe area
To provide joint evaluation and management tools for european eel and its habitat to the agents of the sudoe area : Within the countries, and even the regions of the SUDOE area, there is a wide variety of methods to estimate the key indicators for the monitoring of the eel population: ranging from coarse extrapolations with reference values from other places, to widely accepted models by the scientific community.
Thus, it is necessary to provide the managers of the SUDOE area with tools that reinforce their capacity to make decisions based on greater scientific evidence and in an agreed manner. It will allow finding a balance between the conservation of this emblematic species itself and its ecosystems with the fishery and other water uses.
To design a strategy in order to obtain data for a long-term and coordinated monitorining of the population of anguilla in the Sudoe area: To carry out the evaluation of the population, analyze the effectiveness of the implemented measures and calibrate the estimates produced by the models, it is necessary to know key parameters related to the species and its habitat.
However, 1) in certain basins of the SUDOE area there are knowledge gaps about the species that hinder the management and conservation of the species; 2) in the absence of common protocols, the information collected is not comparable; and 3) it is costly to obtain these parameters from an economic and sampling effort point of view.
Therefore, it is necessary to design a strategy that allows the key parameters for the monitoring of eel in the Sudoe area to be collected in a coordinated and harmonized manner, with a reasonable economic cost and making sure that the follow-up is done in the long term.
To strengthen the cooperation of the agents involved in the governance of eel and its habitat in the Sudoe area: The complex biological cycle of European eel and its wide distribution causes the managers to be of different levels (e.g. national, regional and local) as well as of different sectors (e.g. public authorities and governmental bodies, organizations involved in the protection of the sea and water ecosystems, conservation of biodiversity and ecological restoration; scientific community, industrial sector or end-users).
Due to this, European eel management is not carried out in a concerted manner in the SUDOE area. Thus, it is necessary to improve the dialogue, the cooperation and the capitalization of knowledge and experiences to promote the conservation of European eel and its habitats, making it compatible with long-term exploitation of the species and guarantying the maintenance of employment and modes of life and cultures related to European eel fishery.
Role of the University of Cordoba
- Atlas of distribution of the European eel
- Recruitment model
- European eel governance platform
- The silver eel biomass estimation model
- European eel monitoring network in the area
- Action plan for awareness and good practices
Investigador Principal: Carlos Fernández Delgado
Correo electrónico de contacto: ba1fedec@uco.es
Página web del proyecto: www.sudoang.eu
sHui
Soil Hydrology research platform underpinning innovation to manage water scarcity in European and Chinese cropping systems (H2020-SFS-773903-Shui)
SHui is conceived as a network integrating long-term experiments of its 19 academic and SME partners across different environmental conditions and cropping systems in the EU and China. It provides a platform for research on soil-water resources management under water scarce conditions, to better understand the linkages between agricultural soil hydrology and sustainability and for a systematic assessment of adaptation and mitigation methods.
It will develop and implement new strategies to increase water use efficiency and yield, based on sustainable intensification through integrated use of soil and water across different spatial scales. At farm level, this includes digital agriculture solutions integrating in situ and remote sensors and simulation models to exploit an improved understanding of the relationship between crop yield variability and soil hydraulic properties, optimizing circular approaches to re-use water and using waste water sources.
At regional scales, the aggregation of biophysical and socioeconomic variables in dynamic models will evaluate the impact of different policy strategies, to support decision makers to evaluate different scenarios of land-use dynamics, economic context and current and future climate in EU and China, including assessments of water and carbon footprint. Training a cohort of early career scientists in soil conservation and water-saving practices, SHui’s legacy will extend beyond the project duration.
General objectives
Benchmark existing, and emerging, cropping practices, in terms of crop yields, economic returns and key agro-ecosystem services.
Identify “win-win” interventions over short- and long-term periods for both farmers and society in cooperation with different stakeholders, and to develop and disseminate best management strategies at different spatial and temporal scales.
Determine the impacts of these interventions at larger scales on future crop yields and other agro-ecosystem services by testing two hypotheses aimed at sustainable intensification through optimum water use. Specifically:
a). In rainfed agriculture, increased resilience to severe droughts and extreme rainfalls events can be achieved by introducing new technologies that allow heterogeneous management of the landscape, by cooperation among different stakeholders and changing farmer attitudes to innovation.
b). In irrigated agriculture, optimal use of the limited available water (including rainfall and recycled water), can increase growers’ net profits and receive support from society relative to current practices.
Role of the University of Cordoba
- To improve, calibrate and validate the AquaCrop model to: 1) simulate crop yield response to variable water supply in the different SHui environments; 2) integrate soil physical properties and soil fertility to more realistically simulate actual crop performance; 3) capture the impact of different management strategies on water limited productivity; and, 4) link with SHui hydrologic models to scale point simulations up to farm and regional analyses of crop responses to water scarcity.
- To develop a hybrid-type model to simulate yield responses of tree crops to variable water supply.
- Calibrating current generation of selected mathematical models at plot and field scale for soil-water interaction and processes, hydrological balance, soil degradation and water quality description.
- Performing large catchment analyses including crop yield scenarios using conceptual upscaling based on GIS platform. 5- Coordinating exploratory analyses of fully coupled hydrologic and crop models that link variability of soil properties (related to water availability) to yield at field scale.
Investigador Principal: Elías Fereres Castiel
Correo electrónico de contacto: opi@uco.es
Página web del proyecto:https://www.shui-eu.org/
Prodehesa Montado
PROYECTO DE COOPERACIÓN TRANSFRONTERIZA PARA LA VALORIZACIÓN DE LA DEHESA-MONTADO (INTERREG-POCTEP 0276_PRODEHESA_MONTADO_6_E)
The dehesa/ montado, a transboundary agrosilvopastoral ecosystem without comparation in Europe, is in a serious crisis. It is also a very important tool, thanks to its services and products, in order to mitigate the climate change and the reduction of erosion in Europe. The purpose of this Project is to promote necessary actions to value the dehesa both environmentally and economically from a sustainable point of view, through the creation of stable cooperation structures that promote the investment of companies in innovation, the development of synergies between companies (60,000), R+D and innovation centers, technology transfer, public service applications and the demand for dehesa´s products
General objectives
The purpose of this Project is to promote necessary actions to value the dehesa both environmentally and economically from a sustainable point of view, through the creation of stable cooperation structures that promote the investment of companies in innovation, the development of synergies between companies (60,000), R+D and innovation centers, technology transfer, public service applications and the demand for dehesa´s products.
Investigador Principal: Vicente Rodríguez Estévez
Correo electrónico de contacto: pa2roesv@uco.es
Página web del proyecto: http://prodehesamontado.eu
OK-Net EcoFeed
Organic Knowledge Network on Monogastric Animal Feed (H2020-RUR-CSA-773911)
OK-Net EcoFeed (link is external) is funded within the EU Horizon 2020 program, started in January 2018 and runs for 3 years until December 2020. The project has 19 partners covering 11 European countries. The consortium includes multiple actors including feed processors and mills, farmers and farmer’s organizations, research institutes, universities and advisory agencies.
100% use of organic and regional feed for monogastrics
General objectives
The project will synthesize the scientific and practical knowledge available about organic and regional feed production for monogastrics.
It will create a European network of innovation groups to facilitate exchange and co-creation of knowledge among farmers, business actors, researchers and advisors.
It will collect end-user material and develop new tools adapted to the needs of farmers and business actors. All material and tools will be summarized in the EIP common format for practice abstracts.
Finally, the project will extend the OK-Net knowledge platform (farmknowledge.org) to include the topic of monogastric animal feed.
Role of the University of Cordoba
• Co-ordinate and facilitate the interaction and exchange between the national and regional practitioner’s innovation groups (IG) and international thematic groups (TG).
• Develop a framework that facilitates structured data collection and comparison on the experiences around organic feed for monogastrics based on practitioner’s tacit knowledge.
• Test innovative end-user material, tools and innovations; and understand reasons for acceptance and successful implementation. • Promote the project and its outcomes via the innovation groups at regional and national levels.
Investigador Principal: Vicente Rodríguez Estévez
Correo electrónico de contacto: pa2roesv@uco.es
Página web del proyecto: https://ok-net-ecofeed.eu
LIFE RESILIENCE
Prevention of X. fastidiosa in intensive olive & almond plantations applying productive green farming practices (LIFE17-CCA/ES/00030-RESILIENC)
Develop and test 10-20 new olive cultivar that will be resistant to Xylella fastidiosa, with good agronomic characteristic and compatible with intensive production systems. The tests will be carried out in infected field (in Italy) and uninfected regions (Spain).
General objectives
The project will:
- Evaluate and crossbreed pathogen-resistant olive varieties as resilient options for olive producers in potentially infected areas, minimizing the risk of losses due to XF and other pathogens. These new olive varieties can create different olive oils with new organoleptic qualities, increasing the competitiveness in the sector.
- Demonstrate sustainable best practices and technologies for intensive Mediterranean olive and almond production systems, on 250 ha in Spain, Italy and Portugal, that lower their water consumption and carbon footprint, increase biodiversity and resistance to pests/pathogens without compromising yield.
- Provide a replicable model of best practices for olive, almond, and other woody crops such as citrus and grapevine production systems in Europe, increasing their capacity to adapt to CC and future epidemics to be replicated ten-fold (2500 ha) during the project.
- Involve multidisciplinary actors in transnational collaboration to provide new prevention strategies and EU policies for uptake.
Role of the University of Cordoba
The University of Cordoba will carry out trials for olive breeding with the objective of developing new varieties that will be able to resist this deadly disease.
Investigador Principal: Diego Barranco Navero
Correo electrónico de contacto: ag1banad@uco.es
Página web del proyecto: http://www.liferesilience.eu/
LIFE ReNaturalNZEB
Recycled and Natural Materials and Products to develop nearly zero energy buildings with low carbon footprint (LIFE17-ENV/ES/000329)
This Project aims to identify natural and recycled construction materials and related technologies to develop and popularize the NZEB with low carbon footprint in Spain and Portugal.
There will be built 11 demonstrators to check hypothesis and results either in residential, industrial and public buildings. Furthermore, labelling criteria, recommendations and regulations needed to introduce the low carbon construction as a new compulsory requirement in the development of architecture in the regions participant in the project will be develop.
General objectives
- Development of a construction model of nearly zero energy building with low carbon footprint and low cost using green and circular economy criteria. The decreased embedded energy and CO2 emissions will be more than 60% and the reduction of weight of more than 20% both compared to actual construction standards. This new model is only 25% more expensive than the nowadays building average costs.
- Introduction of sustainable construction materials and technologies «close to the market» such as kenaf insulation, rice husk composite materials and biomass ash in concrete structure.
- Promotion of sustainable construction technologies with low market rate in Spain and Portugal such as wood structure, windows and finishes, compressed earth block structure, cork insulation, olive kernel biomass, clay wall panels and sustainable green roof/façade.
- Building 10 prototypes (2,000 m²), in existing and new constructions, with the natural and recycled technologies selected in the project. They have different typologies, sizes and uses to test the viability of those technologies in different scenarios.
- Decreasing the energy demand in buildings using envelopes made with recycled and natural materials. The energy demand of the building will be 10% of the current average in Portugal and Spain building stock. This construction model building demand will be lower than the recommendations published by EU in 2016/1318 (29th of July 2016) for Mediterranean countries: 0-15 kWh/m² year for dwellings and 20-30 kWh/m² year for offices.
- Dissemination of proposed technologies. Hosting workshops, courses, technical talks and ads in media highlighting the long term environmental and economic advantages compared with the current construction standards.
- Promotion and dissemination of nearly zero energy buildings in Portugal and Spain. Visiting the prototypes, promoting their replication and the use of the technologies with low carbon footprint and circular economy.
- Development of technical documentation, regulations, recommendations and urban regulations to reduce embodied energy in construction and promote the use of construction technologies based on recycled and materials.
Role of the University of Cordoba
- Promotion of sustainable construction technologies with low market rate in Spain and Portugal such as wood structure, windows and finishes, compressed earth block structure, cork insulation, olive kernel biomass, clay wall panels and sustainable green roof/façade.
- Develop technical documentation, regulations, recommendations and urban regulations to reduce embodied energy in construction and promote the use of construction technologies based on recycled and materials.
Investigador Principal: Marta Conde García
Correo electrónico de contacto: marta.conde@uco.es
LIFE LIVE-ADAPT
Adaptation to Climate Change of Extensive Livestock Production Models in Europe (LIFE17 CCA/ES/000035)
This project try to implement solutions for the Adaptation of Extensive Livestock farms to Climate Change
General objectives
- The demonstration of innovative technologies and practices on field for the adaptation of extensive livestock exploitations to Climate Change. This objective includes the testing of innovations for the improvement of water collection and use, the improvement of livestock management using ICT technologies, and the improvement in the quality of pastures and biodiversity in extensive exploitations for the new climate scenario.
- The Identification, adaptation and transference of Best Practices for the efficient adaptation of extensive livestock exploitations to Climate Change in Europe. These BPs will include solutions for energy efficiency, energy production, pastures and land management, livestock management, wastes management, water management, agro-forestry management, desertification, animal health, biodiversity improvement, and the valorization and marketing of eco-products produced in extensive exploitations.
- The Definition of innovative updated business models for extensive livestock exploitations adapted to the Climate scenario, including cooperation with other sectors such as tourism, and considering all environmental, economic and social factors. Actions within this objective include the Improvement in the promotion of “extensive” products as environmentally friendly and high quality products with added value in the market, together with the use of Short food chain distribution and the promotion of a change in the consumption model of citizens.
- Training and advice to farmers for the efficient adaptation to Climate Change of their extensive exploitations using ICT tools, and creating an open and dynamic course in a MOOC platform, available for everyone Objective 5 Definition of an Action Plan for the Adaptation of Extensive Livestock Production models in Europe including a proposal for policies, based in Participatory processes in Spain, France and Portugal, but involving experts from all over Europe.
Role of the University of Cordoba
The University of Cordoba role is to coordinate the project and to contribute to achieving the general objectives.
Investigador Principal: Vicente Rodríguez Estévez
Correo electrónico de contacto: pa2roesv@uco.es
FOUNDATION
Fusarium oxysporum mediated underpinning of cell type-specific modulation in multiple host interaction (H2020-MSCA-IF-2016-75066)
Fungi have a devastating impact on human nutrition and health. Each year, fungal pathogens provoke enormous agricultural losses in crop plants and contaminating food with harmful mycotoxins.
The soil-borne fungal pathogen Fusarium oxysporum infects plant root and vascular tissue, causing wilt disease in over a hundred different crops, including both dicots and monocots. A particular aggressive strain of this pathogen, tropical race 4, is threatening banana plantations worldwide. Currently, there is little information on the crucial biotrophic infection stage of vascular pathogens, from penetration of root to colonization of xylem vessels.
Fusarium provides an excellent model to investigate the cell-specific sensing and adaptation and suppression of plant immunity related to early infection stages. The host group has recently reported the chemotrophic sensing mechanism used by this pathogen, and identified host plant signals perceived by Fusarium in the soil.
Moreover, their work revealed a combined action of enzymes involved in fungal cell wall remodelling and plant cell wall degradation which contributes in virulence of this pathogen. In this project, we aim to identify the cell-specific virulence genes that F. oxysporum uses to colonize a dicot host (Arabidopsis) versus monocot (Banana) that has a fundamentally distinct vascular tissue architecture.
We will use dual RNA-Seq coupled with Laser capture microdissection (LCM) to identify core compatibility components in both the pathogen and the plant, that are essential for establishing wilt disease. This will lead to identification and characterization of potential targets in this interaction that could be used to develop novel resistance strategies in ongoing banana breeding efforts.
This project will thus advance fundamental knowledge of how a fungus senses and colonizes such a broad host range, while creating new opportunities for crop protection by dissecting the interaction at a cell-type specific resolution.
General objectives
- Cell-type specific fungal and host transcriptome of F. oxysporum f. sp. conglutinans and Arabidopsis to identify the crucial compatibility components in Fox interaction.
- Understanding the fungal cell wall remodelling during colonization of Arabidopsis (dicot) versus Banana (monocot).
- Elucidate the mechanism of orientation to xylem vessels by Fusarium in Arabidopsis (dicot) versus Banana (monocot) by establishment of CRISPR-Cas and generation of deletion mutants.
Supervisor: Antonio C. Di Pietro e-mail: ge2dipia@uco.es
Investigador Principal: Amey Redkar e-mail: amey.redkar@tsl.ac.uk
FAME
Fatty Acid Metabolism – Interlinking Diet with Cardiometabolic Health (ERA-NET JPI HDHL/PCIN-2016-084)
The overall objective is to use existing biobanked samples and dietary and phenotype data from cohort studies and randomized controlled trials to, a) identify novel lipidomics biomarkers of cardiometabolic health which could replace or be used in addition to fatty acid profiles as more sensitive biomarkers of status and of future cardiometabolic clinical events, b) establish relationships between whole diets and specific foods with tissue status of fatty acids as explanatory factors for diet relationships with cardiometabolic health, and c) to investigate genetic determinants of fatty acid status and metabolism which modify the physiological effects of dietary intake.
Results of the project may contribute to the refinement of, current food and nutrients based dietary guidelines, e.g. with regard to dairy intake, PUFA intake and plant-based diets and the targeting of intervention strategies aimed at improved cardiometabolic health to those most at risk and/or likely to benefit.
General objectives
- WP1 – FA metabolites from lipidomics as novel biomarkers of cardiometabolic health. It will evaluate novel lipidomic markers as risk factors for cardiometabolic health/risk. Dietary FA intake is hypothesized to affect FA partitioning across different lipid families. Cardiometabolic risk will be investigated in terms of cross-sectional relationships between lipidomic markers and CVD risk factors as well as prospective analyses with regard to T2DM risk. Furthermore, we will investigate if relevant lipidomics markers can be modified by specific dietary interventions.
- WP2 – Identification of FA biomarkers of dairy intake and their interaction with health markers. The objectives of WP2 are threefold: 1) we will use data from human FA intervention RCTs, that used dairy in dietary manipulation, to determine whether FA such as C15:0, C17:0 and trans-palmitoleic acid are biomarkers of dairy SFA intake; 2) we will then determine whether changes in these FA and other trans-FA and SFA are related to cardiometabolic health/risk using both CVD and T2DM endpoint measures and risk biomarkers; and 3) lipidomic analysis will be performed (as described in WP1) and combined with phospholipid FA data to determine whether any novel biomarkers of cardiometabolic health include dairy SFA.
- WP3 – Identification of genetic and dietary modulators of response to dietary FA intake. It will evaluate genetic and dietary modulators of response to dietary FA intake. We will concentrate on dietary intake of polyphenols as well as genetic variants involved in PUFA metabolism. These potential modulators are hypothesized to modify the response to dietary intake of FAs in terms of their effect on FA composition and cardiometabolic risk.
Investigador Principal: José López Miranda
Correo electrónico de contacto: md1lomij@uco.es
Página web del proyecto: https://fame.dife.de/