About the project

• AllEcoSys aims to promote sustainable and resilient agricultural systems by implementing a network of living labs across Europe, that will facilitate the adoption of agroecological practices that enhance soil health, increase biodiversity, and foster natural pest and disease control.
• Hereby, AllEcoSys seeks to create prosperous agro-businesses that contribute to sustainable food production and environmental conservation.
• AllEcoSys is coordinated by Norwegian University of Life Sciences. The consortium include universities, research institutes, and producers in Norway, Denmark, Ireland, Germany, France and Romania. Living Labs will be established in Norway, Denmark, Germany, France and Romania. The project will be dedicated to co-creation and stakeholder engagement with joint field trials and experimentation to test and refine agroecological practices.

• Background

  • Agroecology aims at harmonizing agricultural practices and local communities with natural systems to benefit both the environment and human livelihoods. Agroecological practices enhance soil biotic activity, minimize nutrient losses, boosts energy efficiency and increase species and functional diversity. Agroecology also considers social, economic and resilience aspects of food systems.
  • Living Labs (LL) engage a wide range of stakeholders including farmers, researchers, agricultural advisors, policymakers, consumer groups, environmental NGOs, food processors, retailers, rural development agencies, input suppliers, educational institutions, local community members, and technology providers. Living labs are seen as key instruments to support the large-scale transition to agroecology by offering a long-term, user-centered framework that facilitates co-design, co-development, and adoption of practices and innovations tailored to specific geographical locations and real-world constraints, ranging from practical on-farm experiences to the development of new policies.
  • Diversification by intercropping is a multifunctional strategy at the core of agroecology. It can increase yields up to 23%. Intercropping is compatible with sustainable soil management, reduced tillage/ dead mulch and compost. These methods can reduce energy use, cut emissions, and water loss, preserving soil fertility.
  • Intercropping can be implemented with traditional machinery or by hand. Robotics facilitate strip down to 3-6m wide, promising for larger scale intercropping. Including perennials and flowering plants can help reverse insect decline in farmland caused by monocultures and pesticide use, providing pollinators and natural enemies overwintering sites and pollen and nectar.
  • More complex habitats offer more resources to pollinators and natural enemies and can increase species richness of predators of pests by 50-100%. However higher crop diversity does not always improve ecosystem services, so the challenge is to integrate ecological knowledge into intercropping designs for optimal plant combinations and at the same time ensuring practical uptake.
• Objectives

  • AllEcoSys will assess how farming practices affect soil quality, soil microorganisms, and carbon storage, important to combat climate change. We will study the use of crop diversification and biocontrol to enhance plant robustness and yield, augment natural enemies of pests and farm functional biodiversity, reducing pesticide use. Further, we will analyze the impact of agroecology-led farming methods on social and economic factors. The project will be disseminated nationally and internationally via articles, newsletters, farm visits, workshops and more.
• More about the project

  Living Lab AllEcoSys Norge etableres som forum for samarbeid runt forskning, utvikling og deling av agroøkologiske metoder. Fire gårde som anvender og utvikler forskjellige agroøkologiske metoder spiller en viktig rolle i living lab og sammen med NMBU og NIBIO undersøkes effekt av utvalgte metoder.

  Dysterjordet Andelslandbruk: http://dysterjordet.no/
  Skjærgården gartneri https://www.skjaergaarden.no/
  Haneborg gård https://tomtermais.no/ og https://www.facebook.com/tomtermais/
  Bjertnes og Hoel https://bogh.no/

• Participants

  NMBU participants

  External participants

  • Roxana Ciceoi - University of Agronomic Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of Bucharest (USAMV), ROMANIA
  • Daniel Pleissner - Institute for Food and Environmental Research (ILU), GERMANY
  • Stine Kramer Jacobsen - University of Copenhagen (UCPH), DENMARK
  • Junbin Zhao - Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research (NIBIO), NORWAY
  • Achim Schmalenberger - University of Limerick (UL), IRELAND
  • Essaid Ait Barka - University of Reims Champagne-Ardenne (URCA), FRANCE
  • Ole Green - Benfarm, DENMARK
  • Thibault Deville - Cueillette de Muizon (CdM), FRANCE
  • Véronique Fleury - Rosée des champs (RdC), FRANCE