GSS EU Science Funding Gateway

The proposed solution should address at least some of the following aspects:

• Improving resilience of the agriculture and /or forestry sector, improving the capacity of the sector to withstand dry periods and extreme droughts while protecting the ecological flows, preserving biodiversity in and around the catchment channels, preserving longitudinal connectivity of the flowing streams, slowing the falling level of the groundwater table and reversing the loss of biodiversity. This should include for example exploring value of culture rotation and other means to improve soil quality, improving soil structure by circular approaches, establishment and maintenance of landscape features (such as hedges reducing wind erosion), innovative silvo-pasture, management of genetic resources in an agro-ecological perspective and other agro-ecology approaches in farmland, in particular in relation to droughts and water multi-usage and management;
• Exploiting agro-ecology as an approach to enhance the climate resilience of the farming system, its functionality and sustainability, while bringing sustainable solutions and multiple benefits, such as more stable yields from adapted food crops, water efficiency, enhanced farmer livelihoods from income generation, increased biodiversity, improved water quality and water use efficiency, the ecological status of waters, improved soil structure and health, reduced erosion, and/or a higher level of carbon sequestration.
• Exploring integration of available smart farming approaches (and improvements of the same based on updated data) and the use of technologies such as the AI, remote sensing and the Internet of Things (IoT) to improve climate resilience through the modification and improvement of nutrient and crop protection processes, such as fertilization, pest control and irrigation, to ensure sufficient crop yields both in terms of quality and quantity, while also reducing emissions, water consumption and preserving biodiversity.
• Development of more natural ecosystems, generating combined benefits for climate mitigation, reduction of water flooding and soil erosion, (by increasing green infrastructures, tree planting, or increasing of permeable green surfaces) and maintaining or restoring rivers, peatland, wetland and natural floodplain.
• Further demonstrate and increase awareness of the value of maintaining and restoring existing natural systems, preservation of cultural landscapes and socio-ecological systems as providing a rich spectrum of climate services compared to other anthropogenic solutions, including integration of cultural heritage considerations as the legacy from the past, to be experienced in the present, and for transmitting to future generations. In line with the Mission Implementation Plan and the new EU Climate Adaptation Strategy, implementing nature-based solutions with adequate social and environmental standards on a larger scale would increase climate resilience.

Blue-green (as opposed to grey) infrastructures represent multipurpose, “no regret” solutions, which simultaneously provide environmental, social and economic benefits and help build climate resilience, whose uptake can be facilitated by better quantification and communication of their benefits.