CARBONICA

The continuous increase of the scope and the scale of the anthropogenic activities in which agriculture plays a significant role contributes to a rapid negative impact on the carbon cycle. The impact of agriculture on CO2 emissions will be further increased, considering that the world population will reach 9.7 billion by 2050 . EU has committed to mitigate the carbon footprint from agriculture as described in the CAP (Objective 4), the European Green Deal and its flagship strategies, the Farm to Fork and the Biodiversity strategies. The efficiency of these carbon footprint from agriculture strategies will be mainly determined by the synergy amongst all stakeholders (policy, industry, academia, civil society) in the quadruple helix within the place-based innovation ecosystems. The widening countries involved in this project, Cyprus, Greece and North Macedonia, as part of the Balkan-Mediterranean region, are heavily impacted by climate change. To achieve these targets an inter- and transdisciplinary approach is required to integrate the expertise and knowledge of all relevant stakeholders and a place-based perspective and design needs-based carbon farming solutions (practices and technologies) as well as strict policies to foster shifts towards a Climate-resilient Agriculture. The main objective of this project is to establish CARBONICA Excellence Hub by connecting the innovation ecosystems of Cyprus, Greece and North Macedonia, while enhancing their TRL as service providers, based on cutting-edge technologies (Earth Observation – EO; in situ data; digital agriculture etc.) in carbon farming. The main scope is to establish access to excellence to all relevant stakeholders in the QH of the WC, as well as strengthen regional innovation capacity guided by long-term joint R&I strategy in the carbon farming field.