Project R-7412

Intensify production, Transform biomass to Energy and Novel goods and protect Soils in Europe (Research)

INTENSE will explore ways to increase food production in Europe by 20 %, by applying sustainable methods, nutrient cycling, and better use of ecosystem services. It will simultaneously strengthen the agricultural sector and guarantee the conservation and propagation of agricultural biodiversity and related ecosystem services provisioning. Its central aim is to include polluted sites (under remediation), set aside land and degraded ecosystems into the production chain for agricultural goods and ecosystem services and deliver novel services and products based on non-food products and agricultural residues. To do so, specific remote sensing and ecotoxicological test procedures to assess land use change in a safe way will be developed, and indicators of ecosystem services in agricultural systems (soil quality, biodiversity, pollination, water quality) for improved management at farm-scale will be tested. INTENSE will supply the EU with a toolbox to reduce the environmental impact of agricultural intensification by controlling nutrient and energy fluxes at landscape level and will disseminate the accumulated knowledge by training scientists (ESR and ER) for capacity building in integrated land management and build a network of farmers and all stakeholders. Hence, INTENSE helps to establish the resilient and adaptable European landscape needed for sustainable bioeconomy, with clean air, soil and water, no erosion, and a pollination friendly environment. In such a landscape, economically and environmentally sound integrated food and biomass production can proceed under different agro-ecological conditions and yield whole chain economic and environmental sustainability via the cascading of agricultural products and other green biomass.

01 April 2016 - 31 March 2019