BEATLES: AEIDL to provide policy recommendations to change how EU agri-food systems shift to climate smart

Association Européenne pour l’Information sur le Développement Local -

We are delighted to announce the official start of BEATLES, a Horizon Research & Innovation project funded by the European Union, with a budget of approximately €3.9 million.

BEATLES is focused on Co-creating Behavioural Change Towards Climate-Smart Food Systems.

In this project AEIDL will lead the work package on Transition through policy recommendations and tools. The objectives of our work package are:

  • Provide policy makers with tailored recommendations;
  • Develop policy tools, and guidelines for advisors to enable the adoption of sustainable practices;
  • Build the capacities of policy makers and boost mutual learning to drive the shift to climate-smart food systems.

The project started in July 2022 and will last for 48 months.

BEATLES aspires to change the way agri-food systems currently operate and accelerate the systemic and systematic behavioural shift to climate-smart agriculture and smart farming technologies fully aligned with the ambitions of the Farm to Fork and Biodiversity Strategies, and the new CAP at regional and EU levels.

On July 18th 2022 the project’s kick-off meeting was held at the premises of the Agricultural University of Athens. Five different food systems representing the major crop and livestock farming systems in Europe (cereals, dairy, stone fruits, livestock, vegetables) in various EU regions (Western, Eastern, Southern and Northern Europe), will be studied to account for the diversity in agri-food systems and conditions in the EU. BEATLES will provide a set of business strategies establishing roadmaps for a fair shift towards climate-smart agriculture, based on environmental, social, and economic sustainability assessments.

The BEATLES consortium, led by the Agricultural University of Athens, consists of 18 partners across 10 European countries (Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom). The consortium members are: Agricultural University of Athens, Wageningen University & Research, University of Copenhagen, AEIDL, SEI – Stockholm Environment Institute, National Technical University of Athens, Q-Plan International Advisors PC, Naturland, INTIA, Delphy BV, AgriFood Lithuania DIH, FBCD, ZPS, Sustainable Innovations, ART21, Agro Digital Solutions, and KPAD Ltd.