Taking advantage of the use, uptake, and deployment of environmental observations as well as digital and data-based green solutions, assessed through the European Green Deal’s ‘do no harm’ principle, is key for innovative governance models and for designing, implementing and monitoring science-based policy. To maximise impacts of R&I on the ground and spark behavioural and socio-economic change, the knowledge and innovation produced throughout the whole cluster should be widely disseminated to and exchanged between the key stakeholders and end users. In particular, the Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation Systems (AKIS) need to be strengthened in line with the 2023-2027 CAP to accelerate the required transformative changes.

Innovating with governance models and supporting policies

Transformative changes such as those required within the European Green Deal are dynamic processes that require appropriate governance. At the same time, to ensure coordination and for collaborative and informed decision-making, governance requires multiple channels and networks that provide readily available and robust data and information from different sources.

R&I activities under this destination aim to both: experiment with new ways to govern the transition process and strengthen the governance, in particular by ensuring i) appropriate and inclusive engagement with stakeholders, e.g. civil society and regional and local actors, ii) environmental observations coverage, and iii) that information and knowledge is made available and accessible. R&I for governance to support the European Green Deal should provide insights into the opportunities to overcome potential institutional barriers such as lock-ins, path dependency, political and cultural inertia, power imbalances and the ways to strengthen the effectiveness and efficiency of regulatory pathways. It should also help create synergies and linkages between different policy instruments and funding opportunities.

Innovative governance supporting the European Green Deal objectives needs to recognise, cope with and promote resilience and inclusiveness in the face of on-going shocks and disruptions across Europe and the world, whether these be climatic, ecological, economic, social, geopolitical or related to agricultural inputs and resources, food, health, bio-based sectors or the wider bioeconomy. The creation of networks with the public (citizen engagement) and researchers, including also through digital technologies, can step up transformation and enhance resilience in different areas, such as food. Critical risk assessment and reduction strategies need to be incorporated, including the diversification of infrastructures, resources and knowledge through more self-sufficiency and autonomy. Innovative governance will: i) support social innovation in the bioeconomy and bio-based systems (e.g. revitalisation of local communities with innovative bio-based business models and social innovation, or with co-creation and trust-building measures for biotechnology and bio-based innovation systems); ii) assess existing and emerging trade-offs of land and biomass; and iii) strengthen the national bioeconomy networks in countries taking part in the Central-Eastern European Initiative for Knowledge-Based Agriculture, Aquaculture and Forestry in the Bioeconomy (BIOEAST Initiative)^[1].

The new partnership ‘Agriculture of Data’ will help improve the sustainability performance of agricultural production and strengthen policy monitoring and evaluation capacities through using the full potential of Earth and environmental observation and data technologies. It will address public and private sector interests in a synergetic way. This will be done through responsible R&I delivering data-based green solutions and through establishing governance structures which allow for systemic approaches to capitalising and using data. The partnership for a ‘Climate-neutral, sustainable and productive Blue Economy’ will enable a just and inclusive transition to a climate-neutral, sustainable and productive blue economy providing for a healthy ocean, people’s wellbeing, and a blue economy that is in harmony with nature and whose benefits are distributed fairly.

Deploying and adding value to environmental observations

Data and information obtained through environmental observation is of great value when assessing the state of the planet and is crucial to supporting the European Green Deal and the climate and ecological transitions. Integrating this information from different sources (space-based, airborne including drones, in-situ and citizens observations) with other relevant data and knowledge while ensuring (better) accessible, interoperable or deployable information, provides the information necessary for shaping the direction of policy development in the broad context of Cluster 6A strong link to Copernicus, the European Earth observation and monitoring part of the EU Space programme (in Cluster 4 - Digital, Industry and Space) and the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Earth observation programme, as well as support to the Group on Earth Observation (GEO), its European regional initiative (EuroGEO), the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) and the European Commission initiative DestinationEarth^[2], is foreseen for topics on environmental observations under this destination. R&I activities relevant to the ocean, seas and coastal waters will complement and support the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development and the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, the G7 Future of the Seas and Oceans Initiative, the European Global Ocean Observing System (EOOS) and the GOOS 2030 strategy.

Digital and data technologies as key enablers

Digital and data-based innovation, in complementarity with activities supported by Cluster 4 and the Digital Europe Programme, should bring benefits for citizens, businesses, researchers, the environment, society at large and policymakers. The potential of the ongoing digital transformation, and its wider impacts – both positive and negative – need to be better understood and monitored in view of future policy design and implementation, governance, and solution development. The potential for digital and data technologies, including AI-, IoT-, and augmented reality-based solutions, to increase the sustainability and resilience of production and consumption systems, as well as industry and services, in sectors covered by this Cluster will be exploited. This destination will contribute to the development, support and take up of innovative digital and data-based solutions to support communities, economic sectors relevant for this cluster and society at large to achieve sustainability objectives. The focus is on overall sustainable solutions tailored to the needs of end-users and/or the systems. More specifically, R&I activities will contribute to economic circularity by promoting reuse of materials and waste reduction, adding value to existing knowledge and increasing cost-effectiveness, safety and trustworthiness of innovative environmentally-friendly technologies in and across primary production sectors, food systems, bio-based sectors, bioeconomy, and sectors related to the oceans and biodiversity.

It will also increase attention given to precision and collaborative technologies and contribute to the human-centric twin green and digital transitions. This is a key policy objective that is also supported by the cross-cutting objective pursued by the CAP, the EU digital strategy, the European industrial strategy, the circular economy action plan, the SME strategy and the European data strategy.

Strengthening agricultural knowledge and innovation systems (AKIS)^[3]

Knowledge and advice to all actors relevant to this cluster are key to improving sustainability. For instance, primary producers have a particular need for impartial and tailored advice on sustainable management choices. Agriculture Knowledge and Innovation Systems (AKIS, which are at the heart of the 2023-2027 CAP’s cross-cutting objective, go beyond agriculture, farming and rural activities and cover environment, climate, biodiversity, landscape, bioeconomy, consumers and citizens, i.e. all food and bio-based systems including value chains up to the consumer. R&I actions under this destination will support effective AKIS as a key driver to bridge the gap between science and practice and to enhance co-creation. This will speed up innovation and the take-up of results needed to achieve the European Green Deal objectives and targets.

This includes promoting interactive innovation and co-ownership of results by users as well as strengthening synergies with other EU funds, especially the CAP, boosting the multi-actor approach and setting up structural networking within national/regional/local AKIS. In addition, social innovation also has the potential to achieve the objectives set in this destination, as it strengthens the resilience of communities, increases the relevance, acceptance and uptake of innovation, and helps bring about lasting changes in social practices, therefore acting as a system changer.

Where appropriate, proposals are encouraged to cooperate with the European Commission Knowledge Centre on Earth Observation (KCEO)^[4], in order to e.g. disseminate and exploit results.

Expected impact

Proposals for topics under this destination should set out a credible pathway contributing to innovative governance and sound decision-making on policies for the green transition and more specifically to one or more of the following impacts:

• innovative governance models enabling sustainability and resilience notably to achieve better informed decision-making processes, societal engagement and innovation;
• areas related to the European Green Deal benefit from further deployment and exploitation of environmental observation data, products and “green” solutions;
• a strengthened Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS)^[5];
• sustainability performance and competitiveness in the areas covered by Cluster 6 are improved through further deployment of digital and data technologies as key enablers;
• stakeholders and end users including primary producers and consumers are better informed and engaged thanks to effective platforms such as AKIS;
• strengthened EU and international science-policy interfaces to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

When considering their impact, proposals also need to assess their compliance with the “Do No Significant Harm” principle according to which the project’s R&I activities should not support or carry out activities that cause a significant harm to any of the six environmental objectives of the EU Taxonomy Regulation ^[6].

Topics under this destination will have impacts in the following areas:

• “Climate change mitigation and adaptation”;
• “Clean and healthy air, water and soil”;
• “Enhancing ecosystems and biodiversity on land and in water”;
• “Sustainable food systems from farm to fork on land and sea”;
• “High quality digital services for all”;
• “A Competitive and secure data-economy”.

Social innovation is recommended when the solution is at the socio-technical interface and requires social change, new social practices, social ownership or market uptake. In this cluster, it is envisaged that topics will be coordinated with European Space Agency (ESA) actions so that ESA space data and science can be proactively integrated into the relevant research actions of the WP.

[1] https://bioeast.eu/.

[2] https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/destination-earth.

[3] AKIS refers to the organisation and knowledge flows between persons, organisations and institutions who use and produce knowledge for agriculture and interrelated fields.

[4] https://knowledge4policy.ec.europa.eu/earthobservation_en.

[5] The European Commission is a member and co-chair of the Group on Earth Observations (GEO), as such the European Commission adopted the GEO Canberra Declaration and Commission Decision C(2019)7337/F1, and committed to contribute to the GEO objectives, including to the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS).

[6] As per Article 17 of Regulation (EU) No 2020/852 on the establishment of a framework to facilitate sustainable investment (EU Taxonomy Regulation).

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