News & Events

Prepared by UCSC, WECR and JRC the objective of this report is to review the existing and future policies as well as some key global drivers affecting the agricultural sector in the EU in order to set the research agenda for the EU H2020 project MIND STEP.

On 2nd November 2020 an online meeting was organised between AGRICORE, BESTMAP and MIND STEP to update each other on activities that are relevant for all three projects.

The second issue of our 6 monthly newsletters will be out very soon. 
In the issue you will find information about ... 

A news release of the Agrimodels Cluster was published in EurekAlert! of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

European research projects team up for a common goal - to develop novel modelling capabilities in the agricultural sector and contribute to a new architecture of agricultural policies in the European Union.

The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen has announced that the European Commission has stated that it will support and enhance the potential of rural areas through the development of a Long-Term Vision for Rural Areas.

Biodiversity - the need for urgent action

The Council endorses the objectives of the EU biodiversity strategy for 2030 and the nature protection and restoration targets contained therein, which aim at setting biodiversity on the path to recovery.

Models of individual farm decision (IDM) like FarmDyn that are capable of reflecting detailed technology choices, investment decisions, and biophysical linkages are necessary to analyze the upcoming CAP where environmental impacts are considered to play a crucial role due to the laid-out targets of the EU-Commissions “European Green Deal” and the “Farm to Fork Strategy”.

The environmental and climate objectives of the EU policy are crucial for the agricultural and rural sectors in the future decades. This is the unanimous advise of the H2020 MIND STEP core group of stakeholders, covering public and private sectors, including research, policy making and industry.

EU farm ministers reached an early-morning deal on 21 October on the post-2020 Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) that will come into force in 2023 -  in which they also protect by reserving 20% ​​of direct payments to new eco-schemes - touted as ‘a paradigm shift in European food policy’.

Scheduled around the World Food Day this conference was the first in what was an annual gathering of European stakeholders willing to engage and help shape the EU's path towards sustainable food systems.

After the adoption of a new EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 in May, Green Week highlighted the contribution biodiversity can make to society and the economy, and the role it can play in supporting and stimulating recovery in a post-pandemic world, bringing jobs and sustainable growth.

Co-hosted by the World Food System Center and the Agricultural Economics and Policy Group of ETH Zurich key challenges and present pathways for advancing European pesticide policies were discussed at this Zoom webinar on 20 October 2020 at 11.00-12.30 CET.