Legumes

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Project SCOPE

The legumES project seeks to address key challenges in modern agriculture by focusing on the environmental, economic, and social benefits of legume crops. The project promotes legume cultivation as a solution for reducing dependence on synthetic fertilizers, lowering greenhouse gas emissions, and improving soil health. Additionally, the project aims to enhance biodiversity, contribute to sustainable food systems, and strengthen rural communities by providing alternative economic opportunities through legume-based agriculture. The research spans across multiple European regions, ensuring diverse ecological and agricultural contexts are studied.

The legumES project integrates scientific research, innovation, and policy development to achieve its goals. By working with a range of stakeholders—including farmers, policymakers, and researchers—the project creates a robust framework for adopting legume-based systems at scale, ensuring that the results are relevant to both local and EU-wide agricultural policies.

HOW IT WORKS

The legumES project operates through a combination of research phases, pilot studies, and real-time field monitoring across various European climates and soils. First, the project collects extensive baseline data on legume cultivation, including soil composition, water retention, and carbon sequestration capabilities. These studies are conducted across a network of experimental sites to ensure broad applicability.

Next, the project introduces new legume varieties that are adapted to changing environmental conditions. These innovations aim to enhance crop resilience, reduce input needs, and maximize yields. Throughout the process, detailed environmental and socioeconomic data is collected and analyzed. Researchers assess the long-term effects of legumes on soil health, ecosystem services, and economic outcomes for rural areas.

In parallel, the project engages farmers, industry stakeholders, and policymakers, offering training and practical insights. These stakeholders receive direct access to the findings and participate in workshops and outreach programs designed to transfer knowledge and encourage the adoption of legumes. The project also leverages digital tools, such as precision agriculture techniques, to monitor progress in real-time and adjust recommendations based on data-driven insights.

This approach ensures that the legumES project delivers practical, scalable solutions that contribute to agricultural sustainability, with the ultimate goal of informing both policy and practice across the European Union.

WORK PACKAGES GOALS

Empowering Legume Cultivation and Consumption

WP1 focuses on creating a dynamic, collaborative environment to boost legume production, processing, and consumption. By engaging a wide range of stakeholders and leveraging innovative approaches like the MAA (Multi-Actor Approach) and Living Labs, we aim to bring tangible, lasting change across the entire legume value chain.

  • Engaging Key Stakeholders: We work to connect farmers, processors, researchers, and consumers, fostering strong partnerships and encouraging greater involvement in the legume sector. Together, we will increase legume cultivation and integrate them into daily diets for healthier and more sustainable food systems.
  • Building Capacity for the Future: Through hands-on research, training sessions, and collaborative problem-solving, we provide valuable knowledge and technical support to farmers, advisors, students, and other key players in the legume value chain. Our goal is to build a skilled, well-informed community that can drive growth in legume production.
  • Raising Awareness and Sharing Knowledge: We are committed to spreading the word about the environmental and health benefits of legumes. By sharing the project’s findings with production agents and a wide array of stakeholders, from farm to table, we aim to inspire more sustainable practices and increase consumer demand for legume-based products.

Harnessing Data to Unlock the Potential of Legumes

WP2 is dedicated to gathering, analyzing, and maximizing the value of data to demonstrate the environmental and economic benefits of legumes. By combining historical insights and innovative pilot studies, we aim to provide a clearer understanding of how legumes contribute to ecosystem services (ES) and help build sustainable agricultural practices.

  • Building a Knowledge Base: We systematically review historical datasets and data from legumES Pilot studies, bringing together valuable insights that will guide future decisions in legume farming and its environmental impacts.
  • Empowering Practitioners: Our goal is to enable practitioners to effectively measure the benefits legumes bring to ecosystems. We will design and validate low-resource methodologies, making it easier and more efficient for professionals to quantify these important contributions.
  • Creating a Comprehensive Database: A bespoke database will be established to capture and organize data from Pilot Studies, ensuring seamless use across all project tasks. This centralized resource will enhance collaboration and data-driven decision-making.
  • Understanding Environmental and Genetic Impacts: We explore how environmental factors and genetic variations influence the multiple ecosystem services provided by legumes, as well as their associated costs. This knowledge will help optimize legume cultivation for maximum environmental and economic gain.

Evaluating the Environmental and Economic Impact of Legume Systems

WP3 focuses on assessing the full potential of legume-based cropping systems, examining their environmental, social, and economic contributions. By integrating these factors into decision-making tools, we aim to provide a comprehensive view of the sustainability benefits legumes bring to agriculture.

  • Incorporating Environmental Services into LCA: We integrate environmental ecosystem services (ES) into Life Cycle Assessments (LCA) for legume-based cropping systems and value chains. This helps create a detailed, sustainable picture of how legumes contribute to the broader agricultural landscape.
  • Balancing Benefits and Costs: By assessing the environmental and input benefits versus costs of legume-based cropping systems, we aim to determine the most effective ways to utilize legumes for both environmental sustainability and economic profitability.
  • Assessing Across Europe: We take a pan-European approach to evaluate the environmental benefit/cost balance of legume crop production. This comprehensive assessment will provide valuable insights into how different regions can optimize legume cultivation.
  • Developing Integrated Assessment Tools: We integrate social, environmental, and economic assessments into Decision Support Tools (DSTs) for legume-based systems. These tools will help stakeholders make well-rounded decisions, ensuring that the transition to more sustainable legume-based agriculture is both feasible and beneficial across all sectors.

Unlocking the Economic Potential of Legume Farming

WP4 focuses on understanding the economic landscape of legume-based farming systems, evaluating their private and socio-economic impacts, and identifying effective strategies for scaling their adoption. Our aim is to shape the future of legume farming by providing valuable insights into market dynamics and policy interventions.

  • Mapping Costs and Benefits: We assess and map the private-economic and socio-economic costs and benefits of legume-based farming systems across different times, regions, and stakeholders. This detailed analysis will reveal the broader economic impacts of legume farming, helping to inform future agricultural policies and decisions.
  • Evaluating Intervention Strategies: We analyze the costs and effectiveness of various intervention strategies and institutional mechanisms designed to promote the adoption of legume-based farming systems. By identifying the most impactful approaches, we will accelerate the transition toward more sustainable and profitable agricultural practices.
  • Shaping Future Legume Markets: We develop and assess potential “legume pathways” for the future of legume markets in the EU and EU-Associated Countries, comparing these to global market trends. This forward-looking analysis will provide a clear direction for growing and strengthening legume markets, positioning the EU as a leader in sustainable agriculture.

Shaping Policies for a Legume-Focused Future

WP5 is dedicated to creating a supportive policy environment for legume cultivation and consumption. By engaging with key stakeholders and building capacity across levels, we aim to influence policy development and ensure that legume-based systems are prioritized in agricultural strategies.

  • Engaging Stakeholders in Policy Development: We bring together relevant actors at both the EU and national levels to map out and shape policies that support the growth of legume-based farming systems. Our goal is to create a unified approach that fosters legume cultivation across Europe.
  • Building Capacity for Policy Deliberation: Through innovative platforms like eDelphi, we facilitate discussions and capacity-building among stakeholders on legume-focused policies. This collaborative process ensures that all voices are heard, enabling the development of effective, inclusive policies.
  • Co-Developing Policy Recommendations: We integrate the project’s results on legume ecosystem services and benefits to co-develop policy recommendations that can drive change. By combining scientific insights with stakeholder input, we aim to create actionable, evidence-based policy solutions for a more sustainable agricultural future.

Tools for Measuring and Optimizing Legume Ecosystem Services

WP6 focuses on developing innovative tools and frameworks to assess, monitor, and optimize the environmental and economic benefits of legume-based systems. These tools will empower farmers, policymakers, and stakeholders to make data-driven decisions that maximize the potential of legumes in sustainable agriculture.

  • Developing the AgriToolkit: We create the AgriToolkit, a quantitative sustainability assessment tool designed to measure and harmonize ecosystem services (ES) and their indicators (ESI) across different legume-based systems at the local level (field/farm). This tool will provide farmers with the means to evaluate the impact of their practices on the environment.
  • Creating the Ecosystem Service Navigator (ESN): The ESN is a Decision Support System (DSS) developed for farmers to assess the specific ecosystem services provided by legumes and optimize the balance of these benefits at the field or farm level. This practical tool helps farmers make informed decisions to improve sustainability on their land.
  • Developing the Digital Catalogue of Regional ES Indicators (DiCES): We create a recommended monitoring scheme through the DiCES—a digital catalogue of regional ecosystem service indicators. This system balances legume benefits across various farming systems and climatic zones at the regional level, enabling more tailored approaches to legume farming.
  • Advisory Instruments for ES Policy (ADIES): We provide advisory instruments (ADIES) designed to evaluate and optimize legume-based ecosystem service policies at the national level. These tools will help policymakers balance environmental and economic goals, ensuring that legume farming can thrive sustainably while benefiting society.

Efficient Project Management and Coordination

WP7 is dedicated to ensuring the smooth and successful execution of the project. With a strong focus on internal communication, resource management, and collaboration with external partners, we aim to deliver high-quality results on time and within budget, while safeguarding the intellectual property (IP) of the project’s outcomes.

  • Streamlining Internal Communication and Documentation: We establish robust procedures and capacities for effective internal communication and management, ensuring that all relevant project documentation is easily accessible to the Consortium and the European Commission. This ensures transparency and smooth collaboration across all teams.
  • Coordinating Scientific and Administrative Activities: Our team ensures that both the scientific and administrative aspects of the project run seamlessly, delivering research and innovation of the highest quality. We focus on the efficient use of resources, time, and budgets to meet project goals within the set timelines.
  • Fostering Collaboration with Other EU Projects: We coordinate interactions with other related EU-funded projects and external institutions, promoting synergy and sharing knowledge to enhance the impact and effectiveness of the project.
  • Protecting and Exploiting Intellectual Property: We guarantee that intellectual property (IP) is properly protected and strategically exploited, ensuring that the project’s results are used to their fullest potential and contribute to broader scientific and industry advancements.