A Horizon 2020 project
The EU agro industry is characterized by a massive import of soybean as a result of several self-reinforcement lock-in mechanisms. There is a need to challenge the institutional framework (collective rules) to influence innovation capacity of actors according to the norms and standards that could foster or restrict some specific uses.
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The introduction of a legume species in the crop sequence by farmers is highly dependent on the other actors of the chain, either upstream (such as breeders who offer adapted cultivars) or downstream (such as feed or food industry, which can valorise the harvested products). The project aims at developing sustainable and competitive legume-based farming systems and agrifeed and food chains in the EU including both the economic, environmental and social benefits to produce and use legumes in a sustainable manner. Specific value chains will be evaluated to reflect local, national and regional production and market diversity used to provide a range of solutions to improve the economic interest of each actor involved in the value chains to use more legumes.
The project approach to research takes stakeholder-driven objectives where the gap between research and practice will be overcome with close collaboration between non-academic actors and scientists (multi-actor approach). The project will enhance insights into how to support actors coordination for better added value sharing including technological topics that must be supported in priority to enhance legumes development. LEGVALUE will remove current market opacity to design transition pathways for EU and national policy-makers directed to increase legume production, support technological innovation and organisational innovation in supply chains, meeting the EU Parliament 2011 motion on increasing self-sufficiency on protein rich plant materials.
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- To propose realistic assessments of the potential of sustainable and competitive legume-based cropping and grassland systems in a diversity of situations in Europe
- To identify and share successful approaches to increase practice adaptations
- To provide best practice strategies for upscaling of sustainable local legume-based systems
- To analyse the innovation opportunities and bottlenecks to provide lessons learned for a successful transition
- To identify technological breakthroughs and new feed and food products fostering the increased use of legume in various supply chains
- To develop strategies of institutional changes identifying windows of opportunity for changing mainstream agricultural practices into the new socio-technical configurations
- To identify levers for EU and national policies through the analyses of the impact of the last CAP
- To provide recommendations on the combination of levers and specific policy measures acting at different levels of the value chains to foster sustainable transition.
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Roskilde University is the Danish partner and puts special emphasis on faba bean and grass-clover value chains in close collaboration with the national project partner SEGES. As a partner, Roskilde University is responsible for supporting knowledge sharing and stakeholder involvement, as well as making socio-technical analyses of opportunities for increased use of species mixtures in a number of European countries.
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LEGVALUE is funded by the EU Research and Innovation Program (Horizon 2020: Agreement No: 727672) with a duration of 4 years starting 1st June 2017 and a total cost: 6.000 k€ - EU grant: 5.000 k€ and a consortium size of 24 partners from 10 different countries.
Read more about the project
- Website: www.legvalue.eu
- Twitter: @LEGumeVALUE
The project is in principal accessible to all commercial companies who wish to contribute to the success of the project through the contribution of new market sector case studies and / or projects that meet the objectives of LEGVALUE.
LEGVALUE is divided into six work packages (see the figure below) with a combination of several scientific disciplines in each WP promoting an efficient integration between the scientific community, the extension services and the stakeholders.
Project division into six work packages (WP) with an organisational structure for maximum interaction between the various activities of the project.
Project members from Roskilde University
Professor, METRIK, Department of People and Technology, Roskilde University
Henrik Hauggaard-Nielsen is a trained agronomist from the then Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University in 1996. Since 2014 he has been a professor at Roskilde University at the Department of People and Technology, with a focus on climate, environment and transition processes in agriculture and energy systems. In a technology-social research environment, knowledge, tools and activities are produced to stakeholders interested in the bio-based society (food, feed, energy and raw materials) in an international, national, regional and local development and planning perspective. Previous employments at the Technical University of Denmark, focusing on sustainable bioenergy technologies and at the University of Copenhagen, focusing on alternative more diversified cultivation systems form the basis for these activities.
Through his research, Henrik has always been working towards a dynamic and continuous socio-technical development of sustainable farming systems, typically from an agro-ecological perspective. The focus is, among other things, on carbon and nutrient cycles, with inspiration from nature's efficient cycles where nothing is wasted; each part of the cycle creates nourishment for the next part (closed-loop). This includes leguminous symbiotic N2-fixation, self-sufficiency in protein including land use, land-use change and forestry (LULUCF) connected to protein imports, as well as promoting greater temporal (rotation) and spatial (intercropping) crop diversity contributing to more self-regulating cropping systems. Very much inspired by the traditional agricultural systems bypassing the current fossilization. It all takes its starting point in the current and prevailing societal agenda on both climate, environment and health. In the recent years increased focus is brought on social conditions as a crucial factor for transition processes. As human beings we create our own conditions as well as we form part of the reality which any new initiatives / technologies / acknowledgments is to be founded on.
Henrik’s role in the project
Henrik is the project responsible for RUCs obligations in the LEGVALUE project and is engaged in all activities in a very close collaboration with Rikke Lybæk.
Associate Professor, METRIK, Department of People and Technology, Roskilde University
Rikke Lybæk holds her Master degree, as well as her Ph.D. degree, from Roskilde University, and has worked with renewable energy planning - as both a private consultant and as a climate change expert within the municipal of Copenhagen - for several years, before returning to Roskilde University.
Her main qualifications are planning and resource management with focus on transition pathways, utilization of natural resources, circular and bio-economy and public participation. Her professional skills are thus to conduct environmental, economic and socio-technical analysis and surveys within the field of resource utilization, where stakeholder are a core element. This, in order to develop strategies and actions plans of how to pursue transition in the present systems. Overall aim, also when working with developing countries is more decentralized systems based on renewable energy and sustainability with an overall target of achieving decarbonization, dematerialization and to develop more ‘closed-loop’ production’s patterns based on renewable and local biomass waste resources.
Rikke has extensive knowledge about the Kyoto Protocol flexible mechanisms; ‘Joint Implementation' (JI) and ‘Clean Development Mechanism' (CDM). As a result of Rikke’s professional experience she has developed an extensive network to many important stakeholders, including various contacts in the central administration and to provinces and municipalities around the world. Also to NGO's, university researchers, private consultants, farmers, manufactures of energy technology and agricultural equipment, as well as business leaders, etc. - both in Denmark and within selected developing countries.
Rikke is an experienced interviewer, and has conducted interviews in many different contexts and countries applying the qualitative open semi-structures approach, hereunder for example also mapping of the interviewees’ life-form. As an experienced teacher she has organized and carried out training courses for senior university students on climate change issues and materials utilization. Rikke has also provided professional supervision to numerous Danish and foreign students at both bachelor and master level.
Rikke’s role in the project
Rikke is managing all activities conducted by RUC including especially interviewing a variety of stakeholders, value-chain development and characterization and further socio-technical analysis.