The COAST Chair of MBS kick starts its first Horizon Europe project ENFASYS with a research grant of 406 000 euros
A research project to encourage the adoption of more sustainable farming systems
The MBS team, including Prof. Domenico Dentoni, co-Chairholder of the COAST chair, Drs. Marija Roglic, a postdoctoral scholar and Dr Elsa Kassardjian, Head of Valorization, started MBS’s first research project financed through the prestigious EU research program Horizon Europe in partnership with 12 research institutions and practitioners’ organisations from Belgium, Serbia, Greece, France, Norway, Ireland, Italy, Germany and Switzerland.
The project ENFASYS, standing for “ENcouraging FArmers towards sustainable farming SYstems through policy and business Strategies”, aims to support the European Green Deal and, in particular, the Farm to Fork ambitions. It will do so by stimulating a just and robust transition to Sustainable, productive, climate-neutral, biodiversity-friendly and resilient Farming Systems (SFS).
“This will be done by strengthening public strategies (policies) and private strategies (business models and social innovations) that encourage farmers to change their production systems. More specifically, this project will aim to overcome multiple lock-ins in current food systems that prevent farmers from moving to SFS.” explains Dr. Domenico Dentoni.
A four-year project supported by a €406,000 grant
The role of MBS in the project will be central. The MBS team will identify leverage points and strategies for farmer behavior shifts through a participatory system mapping approach (from case level to food system level incentives). Based on this methodological framework, the MBS team will propose an approach to develop participatory, systems-based theories of change that are locally relevant.
The project will last four years, until the summer of 2026. It will involve broad collaboration with the French public and business sector actors, including the Institute De L’elevage (IDELE), engaged in supporting innovation and sustainability in the French dairy sector, as a formal consortium partner. The research grant, equaling 406,000 EUR in four years, will fund the recruitment of new searchers and the implementation of all MBS project research and coordination activities.
