GSS EU Science Funding Gateway

Within the context of the present open call, the ECO-READY consortium aims to use the funding for third parties as a mechanism to establish a Living Labs (LLs) network. This network of Living Labs will facilitate knowledge sharing, data collection related to food security, climate change and biodiversity to ultimately support European agrifood systems security and resilience and involve input from all relevant stakeholders.

The ECO-READY Open Call uses a horizontal strategy to attract living labs specialised in at least one of the distinct but interrelated themes of food security, biodiversity and climate change, as well as a vertical strategy to ensure broad spatial and temporal coverage. The Open Call will be inclusive of all types of LLs, including commercial, academic and community drive.

The Living Labs will:

• Investigate product types (food products & crops) and create model-based scenarios. Each LL focuses only on one bioclimatic zone.
• Test the scenarios relevant to climate-related challenges, such as: exposure to climate shocks, management of water and land resources etc.
• Contribute to the development of contingency plans for selected food products for ensuring food supply & security.
• Provide input to data-driven policy recommendations.
• Co design/ deploy awareness raising plans.
• Form a lasting partnership with the Observatory for easier data collection and exchange.

The ECO-READY project wants to assure fair representation of all EU agro-climate zones. For this reason, the selected LLs will operate in four distinct clusters representing four specific agro-climate zones in Europe (at least 3 LLs in Mediterranean and South-West, at least 3 LLs in Central-Eastern, at least 2 LLs in NorthWestern, and at least 2 LLs in Scandinavian and Baltic regions). Particular emphasis will be given in regions that are at high risk in terms of natural resources. Each applying Living Lab will have to focus on only one of the four bio-climatic regions.