Over 40 new projects start their research on agroecology and ocean observation

46 new projects will receive over €236 million in research funding grants from the Horizon 2020 programme under Societal Challenge 2. These projects will develop innovative solutions, including approaches to reduce pesticide use and to deliver healthy food from land and sea, foster urban food systems, promote agroecology and energy free farming, remove marine litter, and advance ocean observation, among others.  

The successful project consortia include the involvement of various actors, from private- and public- research institutions, industry and SMEs, farming, forestry, fisheries, and other civil society organisations. The top countries receiving funding are Spain and Italy, followed by Belgium, Germany and France. The projects will start in October.

The  projects were selected from amongst the 254 proposals submitted in January 2020 as evaluated by independent experts. 

Societal Challenge 2 (SC2) - Food Security, Sustainable Agriculture and Forestry, Marine, Maritime and Inland Water Research and the Bioeconomy - aims to lead the transition towards an optimal and renewable use of biological resources, and towards sustainable primary production and processing systems. SC2 projects are managed by the Research Executive Agency (REA). 

See the EU-funded projects: 

Sustainable Food Security 

BIOSCHAMP (101000651) - Biostimulant alternative casing for a sustainable and profitable mushroom industry   

NOVATERRA (101000554) – Integrated Novel Strategies for Reducing the Use and Impact of Pesticides, Towards Sustainable Mediterranean Vineyards and Olive Groves  

 WeLASER (101000256) – Sustainable Weed management in Agriculture with Laser-Based Autonomous Tools 

novIGRain (101000663) – Sustainable Storage of Grains by Implementing a Novel Protectant and Versatile Application Technology  

IPMWORKS (101000339) - An EU-wide farm network demonstrating and promoting cost-effective IPM strategies   

BreedingValue (101000747) - Pre-breeding strategies for obtaining new resilient and added value berries   

GEN4OLIVE (101000427) - Mobilization of Olive GenRes through pre-breeding activities to face the future challenges and development of an intelligent interface to ensure a friendly information availability for end users    

HARNESSTOM (101000716) - Harnessing the value of tomato genetic resources for now and the future   

Food and Natural Resources 

CITIES2030 (101000640) - Co-creating resIlient and susTaInable food systEms towardS FOOD2030

FOOD TRAILS (101000812) - Building pathways towards FOOD 2030-led urban food policies   

FUSILLI (101000717) - Fostering the Urban food System Transformation through Innovative Living Labs Implementation   

In-No-Plastic (101000612) - Innovative approaches towards prevention, removal and reuse of marine plastic litter   

MAELSTROM (101000832) - Smart technology for MArinE Litter SusTainable RemOval and Management   

HEREWEAR (101000632) - Bio-based local sustainable circular wear 

MY-FI (101000719) - Reinventing a smart, circular and competitive textile industry with advanced myco-fibres 

New Cotton (101000559) - Demonstration and launch of high performance, biodegradable, regenerated New Cotton textiles to consumer markets through an innovative, circular supply chain using Infinited Fiber technology 

COOPID (101000519) - COOPeration of bioeconomy clusters for bio-based knowledge transfer via Innovative Dissemination techniques in the primary production sector 

HOOP (101000836) - HUB OF CIRCULAR CITIES BOOSTING PLATFORM TO FOSTER INVESTMENTS FOR THE VALORISATION OF URBAN BIOWASTE AND WASTEWATER 

AE4EU (101000478) - Agroecology for Europe  AgroEcoLLNet-Prep (101000349) - The European Agroecology Living Lab and Research Infrastructure Network: Preparation phase 

MEF4CAP (101000662) - Monitoring and Evaluation Frameworks for the Common Agricultural Policy

EFUA (101000681) - European Forum for a Comprehensive Vision on Urban Agriculture 

SMS (101000258) - Soil Mission Support: Towards a European research and innovation roadmap on soils and land management 

FOODSAFETY4EU (101000613) - FOODSAFETY4EU - MULTI-STAKEHOLDER PLATFORM FOR FOOD SAFETY IN EUROPE 

Transition2BIO (101000539) - Support the TRANSITION towards the BIOeconomy for a more sustainable future through communication, education and public engagement 

AgroFossilFree (101000496) - Strategies and technologies to achieve a European Fossil-energy-free agriculture 

HyPErFarm (101000828) - HYDROGEN AND PHOTOVOLTAIC ELECTRIFICATION ON FARM 

RES4LIVE (101000785) - Energy Smart Livestock Farming towards Zero Fossil Fuel Consumption 

TheGreefa (101000801) - Thermochemical fluids in greenhouse farming 

ALL-Ready (101000349) - The European Agroecology Living Lab and Research Infrastructure Network: Preparation phase

Rural Renaissance 

RUSTICA (101000527) - Demonstration of circular biofertilisers and implementation of optimized fertiliser strategies and value chains in rural communities 

SEA2LAND (101000402) - Producing advanced bio-based fertilizers from fisheries wastes 

COACH (101000918) - Collaborative Agri-food Chains: Driving Innovation in Territorial Food Systems and Improving Outcomes for Producers and Consumers   

COCOREADO (101000573) - Connecting COnsumers and producers to REbalance farmers’ position through AmbassaDOrs trainings 

agroBRIDGES (101000788) - Building bridges between consumers and producers by supporting short food supply chains through a systemic, holistic, multi-actor approach based Toolbox 

CO-FRESH (101000852) - CO-creating sustainable and competitive FRuits and vEgetableS’ value cHains in Europe 

FAIRCHAIN (101000723) - Innovative technological, organisational and social solutions for FAIRer dairy and fruit and vegetable value CHAINs 

Ploutos (101000594) - Data-driven sustainable agri-food value chains 

FOODRUS (101000617) – An Innovative Collaborative Circular Food System to Reduce Food Waste and Losses in the Agri-Food Chain 

LOWINFOOD (101000439) - Multi-actor design of low-waste food value chains through the demonstration of innovative solutions to reduce food loss and waste 

BRANCHES (101000375) - Boosting Rural Bioeconomy Networks following multi-actor approaches 

FARMWELL (101000797) - Improving farmers' wellbeing through social innovation 

NETPOULSAFE (101000728) - Networking European poultry actors for enhancing the compliance of biosecurity measures for a sustainable production 

R4D (101000770) - Resilience For Dairy 

SmaRT (101000471) - Small Ruminant Technology - Precision Livestock Farming and Digital Technology for Small Ruminants 

Blue Growth 

NAUTILOS (101000825) - New Approach to Underwater Technologies for Innovative, Low-cost Ocean obServation 

TechOceanS (101000858) - Technologies for Ocean Sensing