Europe’s rural landscapes are currently on an unsustainable path, shaped by unequal social and environmental dynamics that harm both biodiversity and human well-being. To address this, we need a major shift in European food systems toward more sustainable and localized models. These models should prioritize agroecological practices, fair value chains, and responsible consumption. At the same time, we must adopt inclusive conservation approaches to stop biodiversity loss, especially as traditional conservation methods often fall short, failing to protect biodiversity and disconnecting people from nature.

In this context, emBrace will support the development of multifunctional protected areas designed as NbS to bring together biodiversity protection and sustainable food systems. These NbS, rooted in principles of environmental justice and inclusivity, will aim to strengthen the relationship between people and nature. By doing so, they can inspire landscape stewardship actions that deliver mutual benefits for biodiversity conservation and sustainable food systems.

Through systematic data collection in emBrace’s four case studies, combined with social learning, knowledge co-production, action-oriented research, cross-cultural learning, and knowledge synthesis, emBrace aims to address key knowledge gaps: (1) How collaboration within landscape coalitions can help resolve trade-offs and conflicts among different stakeholders in multifunctional protected areas; (2) What are the potential benefits of integrating food systems and biodiversity protection within multifunctional landscapes; and (3) What are the effective ways to share and amplify successful approaches, driving meaningful and transformative change.

emBrace will implement an action-oriented research programme where academic partners work closely with non-academic actors to co-produce results. This collaboration is facilitated through Knowledge Hubs established early in the project in the four emBrace’s case studies (The Zwinstreek in Flanders, the Alpujarras in South Spain, Coeur de Condroz in Belgium, and Kristianstads Vattenrike in Sweden). emBrace will begin with participatory visioning workshops, using the Nature Futures framework to create shared visions of desirable futures. These workshops will set the stage for all project activities, which combine well-established methods with innovative techniques to promote social learning. emBrace’s findings will play an important role in supporting the European Green Deal by offering insights into how its components, such as the Farm to Fork Strategy and the Biodiversity Strategy for 2030, can be better integrated. This is possible thanks to the interdisciplinary expertise of emBrace’s partners, whose diverse skills complement one another, and the variety of case studies involved. By using real-world labs, emBrace not only tests scientifically relevant theories but also creates opportunities for critical reflection and deeper insights, paving the way for meaningful progress.

Antonio J. , Castro

Antonio J.

Juan M. Requena Mullor

Juan M.

Cristina Quintas Soriano

Cristina

Reconciling Food Systems Sustainability and Biodiversity Conservation in Multifunctional Protected Areas

The development of sustainable agricultural production systems is an urgent task identified by the UE for Climate Change adaptation. One key target is to reduce by 50% the use of pesticides by 2030. Embracing sustainable pest control practices, such as integrated pest management (IPM), is a frontline in the pursuit of Climate Change adaptation, as it reduces reliance on pesticides, promoting adaptive and environmentally friendly pest management strategies. Artificial Intelligence (AI) methods have emerged as extremely useful tools in advancing IPM strategies in greenhouse settings by automating tasks that have traditionally required human effort and expertise, such as pest monitoring. Early detection of pests both inside and outside greenhouses is crucial for comprehensive IPM strategies, as it allows farmers to implement timely and targeted interventions that prevent pest population outbreaks, thus reducing the reliance on pesticides. Through the oriented research modality, AdapGreenAI will advance IPM strategies by developing AI-driven solutions that efficiently monitor pests in greenhouse settings. While the application of AI  methods in greenhouses for early pest detection has made significant progress, unresolved key technological and socio-economic challenges persist. These challenges include the trade-offs between accuracy and computational requirements, along with divergences between research advancements and their practical implementation in real-world conditions. For example, the cost of installing AI systems is prohibitive and beyond the reach of smallholder farmers, who are largely unfamiliar with this technology. AdapGreenAI will advance AI technology challenges by training a free and open-source algorithm that will operate on minimal computational power. The AI-driven abundance data will be used to generate regionally modeled-based predictions of pest abundance. The project's uniqueness lies in developing a low-cost and scalable early-warning network of pest abundance based on a computationally efficient and affordable AI-driven counting algorithm. Furthermore, AdapGreenAI acknowledges the socioeconomic challenges related to AI implementation, particularly for smallholder growers, and to address this, it will bridge the digital divide by ensuring equitable access to AI-driven technology. This involves not only technological development but also identifying social barriers and opportunities through active engagement with diverse stakeholders, including greenhouse growers, cooperatives, and local institutions. In close collaboration with local stakeholders, the project will demonstrate the potential of AI methods by illustrating a scalable and cost-effective pest early-warning system and identify the stakeholder barriers and opportunities for its further development at the semi-arid coastal plain of south-east Spain, i.e., the largest concentration of greenhouses in the world. Aligned with several key priorities defined by the Horizon Europe missions (adaptation to Climate Change and social transformation for the digital transition) and the Spanish Strategy for Science, Technology, and Innovation (food, bioeconomy, natural resources, and environment), the ultimate ambition of AdapGreenAI is to foster more resilient, cost-efficient, and sustainable pest control strategies that can adapt to the evolving environmental and societal challenges posed by Climate Change.

Antonio J. Castro

Enrica Garau

Enrica 

Álvaro Peláez

Álvaro

Overcoming Barriers to Implementing an AI-Based Pest Early Warning Network in Greenhouses for Climate Change Adaptation

Biocultural diversity is the notion that biological and cultural diversity are dependent on each other, and that biological diversity is managed, conserved, and created by different cultural groups. Agricultural landscapes are visibly shaped by human practices, and in these areas the relationship between nature and culture runs deep, where everyday practices and traditions have coevolved with the environment over millennia. This is especially true in Mediterranean agricultural landscapes where the traditional management of the land have endured over millennia. However, these landscapes depend on human interventions and currently are threatened by their abandonment, driving by migration to more urban areas, intensification processes, or aging of population, having a direct impact on the human well-being of local communities.

Through an interdisciplinary methodology SCALABLE will identify how gender equity can promote pathways for future conservation of mountain agricultural in the biocultural regions of the Sierra Nevada mountain range in South of Spain. To this end, SCALABLE will:

evaluate current and future biocultural practices developed by local communities in the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range.

map biocultural practices as elements for conservation of landscapes and the ecosystem services provided using a gender perspective.

identify future pathways to secure the maintenance of local well-being and the conservation of biocultural landscapes to foster gender equity and landscape sustainability.

By considering traditional ecological knowledge, perspectives and needs, SCALABLE will inherently address broader societal issues such as gender and environmental justice, with the last goal to support future development of rural areas in south of Spain.

Daniela Alba Patiño

Daniela

Youssra El Ghafraoui

Youssra

Evaluating Biocultural Diversity and Socio-Ecological Vulnerability for the Conservation of Rural Areas in Spain (EmBraCe)

Ensuring sustainable food systems requires vastly reducing its environmental and health costs while making healthy and sustainable food affordable to all. In current food systems many of the costs of harmful foods and benefits of healthful foods are externalized, i.e. are not reflected in market prices and therefore not in decision making of actors in food value chains. Solving the externality problems means to determine current costs of externalities and redefine food prices (true pricing) to internalize them in daily practice. Policy makers, businesses and other actors in the food system, lack sufficient information and knowledge to internalize externalities to achieve a sustainable food system. The recently started Horizon Europe Project FoodCost (spans from 2022 – 2026) responds to this challenge by designing a roadmap for effective and sustainable strategies to assess and internalise food externalities. FOODCoST provides approaches and databases to measure and value positive and negative externalities, proposing a game-changing and harmonised approach to calculate the value of climate, biodiversity, environmental, social and health externalities along the food value chain based on economic cost principles.

FOODCoST provides an analytical toolbox to experiment, analyse, and navigate the internalisation of externalities through policies and business strategies providing tools and guidance to policy makers and businesses to assess the sustainability impact of their internalisation actions. MAGNET CGE model is an important element in the FoodCost integrated toolbox as it can provide a broader macroeconomic assessment of the impact of policies effective in internalizing externalities.

Cynthia Gianocavo

Antonio J. Castro Martínez

FOOD – Costing and Internalisation of Externalities for System Transition

BONEX project aims to provide practical and adapted tools, examine concrete and context-adapted technological innovations, enhance policies and governance and facilitate 

WEFe Nexus practical implementation that balances the social, economic, and ecological trade-offs.

With this purpose, the project aims to produce a novel, robust, transdisciplinary, and diagnostic WEFe Bridging Framework (named WEFeF) to serve the production of context-specific Nexus Bridging Plans (NBPs). These NBPs will be concise and practical context-specific plans guiding the transdisciplinary implementation of the proposed WEFe solution approaches targeting policy makers and practitioners. NBPs will consist of context-adapted strategies to implement WEFe solution approaches and create an enabling environment in their regard.

Within BONEX, WEFeF will be implemented and validated in 7 Demonstration Projects (DPs) in the MedRegion. NBPs will be built in a participatory way with the active involvement of local actors that will be engaged in Regional Working Groups (RWGs). As a result, BONEX will provide policymakers and practitioners with an interactive decision-making tool to evaluate trade-offs and synergies and nexus solutions approaches in a transdisciplinary manner. WEFeF modules will be strengthened with the development a Water Accounting Tool: REWAS.

Boosting Nexus Framework Implementation in the Mediterranean

Rural areas as places where culture and nature have a deep linkage, coevolving together, and creating biocultural diversity refugia. This is truly true in the Mediterranean agricultural landscapes where traditional management of the land have endured over millennia. However, rural areas are currently threatened by their abandonment, driving by migration to more urban areas, intensification process, or aging population.

There is an urgent need to promote economically and environmentally viable alternative in rural regions, while exploring the future stability of the cultural landscape in order to guarantee its functionality and the attractiveness of these regions for rural tourism.

Three main objectives are defined within BioDIV:

To develop a literature review of biocultural diversity practices in the Mediterranean

Where and why can be found biocultural diversity practices?

Are there specific indicators for assessing biocultural diversity?

Are there variables determining the provision of biocultural diversity?

3. To develop in-depth evaluation of biocultural diversity and its social-ecological roots

What are the socio-ecological roots of biocultural diversity?

What type of local ecological knowledge determines biocultural diversity?

Irene Otamendi Urroz

Irene 

Antonio J Castro

Fostering social-ecological resilience to preserve biocultural diversity in rural Spain (BioDIV)

The Urdaibai Biosphere Reserve covers an area of 220 km2. In 1984, Urdaibai was designated part of UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme.

Urdaibaï is a Natura 2000 nature reserve with a vast natural heritage: 729 fauna species, 821 flora species, 86 habitats, 52 sites of geological interest, 3 Special Areas of Conservation (SAC), and one Special Protection Area (SPA) for birds. Today, the reserve provides habitats for 85 endangered species/species of community interest.

In addition to this pilot site, the Spanish Ornithological Society (SEO) will implement action within Santoña Marshes Natural Park, located in the community of Cantabria.

Santoña Marshes Natural Park was declared a nature reserve in 1992, a natural park in 2006, a RAMSAR site in 1994, and Natura 2000 site. Santoña, Victoria, and Joyel Marshes Natural Park is located on the Eastern Cantabrian coast and encompasses 6.678 hectares. In summer, the population increases significantly, and some cities can see their population grow from 2.000 to 90.000 people. This sharp change has a significant impact on the economy, but also on the environment since thousands of visitors go to the beach or walk in fields and wetlands.

This Natural Park is one of the most important protected areas in the North of Spain. Indeed, marshes, wetlands, and dunes are the main ecosystems and cover more than 50% of the protected area. In other words, about two-thirds of the whole area is occupied by three Sites of Community Importance (SCI); two of them for estuarine waters and shallow tidal waters, and one for forest habitats.

The Ebro Delta Natural Park is the largest protected wetland in Catalonia. In total, 7.736 hectares provide habitat for a rich flora and fauna with more than 800 plant species. The wildlife of the Delta, basically birds, attracts birdwatchers. In fact, between 50.000 and 100.000 specimens of exactly 343 species of birds are quantified.

This Natural Park is located in one of the coastal and marine hotspots in the Western Mediterranean. It covers 34.000 hectares of land and 12.000 hectares of marine area. Designated Special Protection Area (SPA) for birds, the Park represents a Wetlands of International Importance – Salinas del Cabo de Gata (RAMSAR), UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.

Juan Gisbert

Saving Seabirds from Marine Litter

Mediterranean agricultural landscapes are visibly shaped by human practices where traditional land management has endured over millennia. These landscapes are currently threatened by factors including urban migration and ageing populations, which are directly impacting local communities. The EU-funded SCALABLE project will identify how gender equity can promote pathways for the future conservation of mountain agricultural landscapes in the biocultural regions of the Sierra Nevada mountain range in southern Spain. It will evaluate current and future biocultural practices, map biocultural practices as elements for landscape conservation and the ecosystem services provided using a gender perspective, and identify future pathways to secure local well-being and biocultural landscape conservation to foster gender equity and landscape sustainability, helping support the future development of rural areas in the south of Spain.

Every landscape on Earth is influenced to some degree by people, and in turn, societies and cultures are shaped by landscapes. Biocultural diversity is the notion that biological and cultural diversity are dependent on each other, and that biological diversity is managed, conserved, and created by different cultural groups. Agricultural landscapes are visibly shaped by human practices, and in these areas the relationship between nature and culture runs deep, where everyday practices and traditions have coevolved with the environment over millennia. This is especially true in Mediterranean agricultural landscapes where the traditional management of the land have endured over millennia. However, these landscapes depend on human interventions and currently are threatened by their abandonment, driving by migration to more urban areas, intensification processes, or aging of population, having a direct impact on the human well-being of local communities. In this project, I propose an interdisciplinary methodology to identify how gender equity can promote pathways for future conservation of mountain agricultural in the biocultural regions of the Sierra Nevada mountain range in South of Spain. To this end, I will first (1) evaluate current and future biocultural practices developed by local communities in the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range. Then (2) I will map biocultural practices as elements for conservation of landscapes and the ecosystem services provided using a gender perspective. Finally (3), based on participatory approaches, I will identify future pathways to secure the maintenance of local well-being and the conservation of biocultural landscapes to foster gender equity and landscape sustainability. By considering traditional ecological knowledge, perspectives and needs, the project will inherently address broader societal issues such as gender and environmental justice, with the last goal to support future development of rural areas in south of Spain.

Social-Ecological Pathways and Gender Perspectives for Future Conservation of Biocultural Mountain Agro-Ecosystems (SCALABLE)

XPaths, which is short for Science in action: Intersecting pathways to the SDGs across scales in the drylands, is a collaborative research project that explores how to create an inclusive pathway that will lead to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

More specifically, XPaths aims to better understand the barriers and leverage points that will either push us further away or closer to reaching SDGs. XPaths takes a broad perspective - bridging local to global scales, contrasting narratives about desired futures.

Working in the context of drylands, which cover 41% of the Earth’s surface, XPaths will use a science-action research process. XPaths will look at semi-arid regions in Brazil, Senegal, and Spain as case studies, which all have different levels of income, institutional and historical contexts.

Drylands are susceptible to land degradation and droughts, which are exacerbated by climate change, and have severe impacts on food security, livelihoods, human wellbeing, and also peace and security. Through better understanding how to work towards the SDGs from the Brazil, Senegal, and Spain case studies, XPaths hopes to be able to apply findings to other dryland regions.

XPaths researches will combine cutting-edge qualitative and quantitative modeling approaches to represent pathways to the SDGs.

XPaths science-action research process includes researchers helping to build 

 with local and regional actors, which are meant to be catalysts for change. Once coalitions are built, 

 are meant to provide perspective about how the SDGs could or should be realized in their respective country. Once the dialogues have concluded, coalition members will collaboratively create 

 that target policies that will help realize the SDGs within their specific context.

In addition to better understanding how to achieve the SDGs in the context of drylands, XPaths will also consider how local actions can have faraway impacts, and vice versa. Particularly, XPaths will investigate how the Brazil, Senegal, and Spain case studies are connected to each other, and how these case studies link to the EU and Sweden.

Finally, XPaths will aim to make sense of commonalities and differences across the case studies, recurrent cause and effects, and barriers and leverage points that could transform the dryland regions. This will allow XPaths to understand what aspects of each case study are context-specific, and what aspects can be applied to other dryland regions.

Science in Action: Intersecting Pathways to the SDGs across Scales in the Drylands (XPaths)

LIFE The Green Link “Restore desertified areas with an innovative tree growing method across the Mediterranean border to increase resilience”.

Mediterranean societies are increasingly facing floods, water scarcity, heat waves, prolonged droughts, flows variability, temperature rises and decreased rainfall with related impacts on vegetation. The impact of these phenomena is expected to intensify the existing risks of desertification and forest fires, particularly in regions where water scarcity is already a concern. Developing adaptation measures aimed at reducing the vulnerability of these ecosystems and strengthening their resilience is therefore of crucial importance.

The Green Link project seeks to contribute to the development of effective adaptation strategies across the Mediterranean region by testing an innovative growing method to restore desertified areas. This consists of replacing traditional irrigation techniques with the Cocoon, a water-efficient, low-cost and 100% biodegradable, through six trials in three different Mediterranean countries suffering from desertification.

In addition, the project has a strong European added value since it is in line with current EU policies and legislation such as: the EU Adaptation Strategy to Climate Change (carbon sequestration, soil conservation), EU Strategy on Green Infrastructure (contribution to Natural and Semi-natural Areas Network), EU Cross-Border Cooperation, EU Rural Development Policy (Green Jobs), Common Agricultural Policy (“Greening”) and EU Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 (ecosystem services, landscape biodiversity, agro-sylvo-pastoral systems).

 aims to demonstrate the environmental and economic benefits of an innovative tree growing method that has the potential to restore desertified areas across the Mediterranean border.

Through six trials in Spain, Italy and Greece in areas that suffer from desertification, the project will:

Demonstrate that Cocoon technology can help combat desertification and climate change

Demonstrate the economic feasibility of an improved and more sustainable technology to plant trees

Design specific ecological interventions (study of assisted migration of species)

Integrate novel methodologies for the assessment of climate change impact and resilience in the future.

Map ecosystem services for adaptation strategies in order to gain a better understanding of the positive outputs of the project.

Replicate the project experience and actively engage stakeholders

 by especially addressing climate resilience and carbon sequestration. Halting desertification processes in 3 Mediterranean countries through the creation of 

; a corridor that will interconnect habitats and help the system 

 so that they are less likely to experience disturbances. In addition, the landscape features between habitat patches, have a role in enhancing connectivity and the capacity of the ecosystem to provide goods and services.

Restore Desertified Areas with an Innovative Tree Growing Method Across the Mediterranean Border to Increase Resilience

Promover la sostenibilidad ambiental, económica y social de los servicios ecosistémicos marinos (SEM) en áreas naturales protegidas .

Identificar y potenciar sinergias en el seno del consorcio y fuera del mismo.

Evaluar el estado de los SEM empleando variables ambientales, sociales y económicas.

Analizar la contribución de los SEM al cumplimiento de los objetivos del 2020 de la Directiva Marco de la Estrategia Marina Europea y a los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible.

Sensibilizar sobre la relevancia de los SEM para el bienestar humano.

El proyecto ECOSER se plantea con el fin de identificar y potenciar sinergias en el seno del consorcio y fuera del mismo, además de evaluar el estado de los servicios ecosistémicos marinos (SEM) de tres áreas naturales protegidas objeto de estudio (Parque Nacional Marítimo-Terrestre Illas Atlánticas, Parque Natural Marítimo-Terrestre de Cabo de Gata-Níjar y Reserva Marina de Interés Pesquero Os Miñarzos), a través de la aplicación de variables ambientales, sociales y económicas. Asimismo, busca analizar la contribución de los SEM al cumplimiento de los objetivos de la Directiva Marco de la Estrategia Marina Europea y de los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible (ODS) de Naciones Unidas; y, por último, sensibilizar a la sociedad sobre la relevancia de los SEM para el bienestar humano.

Los SEM, que han sido evaluados de forma sistemática y homogénea en los tres casos de estudio, son la pesca profesional, el turismo y actividades recreativas, la conservación de la naturaleza y gobernanza y planificación costera. Asimismo, se ha elaborado una guía para el manejo y monitoreo de estos servicios ecosistémicos en el contexto de las áreas naturales protegidas y se ha organizado un simposio internacional sobre la materia, en el que se presentaron los resultados del proyecto.

El proyecto ECOSER se ha orientado a promover la sostenibilidad ambiental, económica y social de los SEM en tres áreas protegidas del litoral atlántico y mediterráneo: Parque Nacional de las Islas Atlánticas y la Reserva Marina de Interés Pesquero “Os Miñarzos” (Galicia) y el Parque Natural de Cabo de Gata-Nijar (Andalucía).

Los resultados obtenidos se presentan a continuación:

Búsqueda de información sobre SEM: análisis del estado del conocimiento científico sobre SEM, creando una base de datos formada por los artículos científicos, libros, informes técnicos y proyectos sobre información biofísica, económica y sociocultural de servicios ecosistémicos marinos de SEM realizados hasta la fecha en España y un listado de fuentes de información y bibliografía consultadas.

Se han realizado entrevistas y organizado tres talleres de trabajo, uno por cada caso de estudio, bajo un enfoque de trabajo deliberativo y participativo, con agentes del sector académico, administración y gestores de ANP, organizaciones de pescadores, entidades sin ánimo de lucro con ámbito de trabajo en las ANP. Asimismo, se ha elaborado un mapeo de los servicios ecosistémicos analizados.

Se han diseñado indicadores ambientales, económicos, sociales e institucionales para el monitoreo de SEM en áreas naturales protegidas y para obtener información sobre el grado de cumplimiento de los ODS y de la Directiva Marina Europea.

Guía para el manejo y monitoreo de los servicios ecosistémicos marinos en el contexto de las áreas naturales protegidas

, ​que contiene un protocolo para la evaluación de los SEM en áreas naturales protegidas, incluyendo las dificultades y buenas prácticas, con potencial replicabilidad en otras áreas protegidas del territorio español, como uno de los principales resultados del proyecto.

Se ha celebrado un simposio virtual sobre Servicios Ecosistémicos Marinos, celebrado en dos jornadas, para mostrar los resultados alcanzados durante el proyecto, proporcionar una mayor sensibilización ciudadana sobre la relevancia de los servicios ecosistémicos marinos y determinar los pasos a seguir para dar continuidad a los resultados del proyecto.

Contribution of Marine Ecosystem Services in Protected Natural Areas to Human Well-being (ECOSER)

Javier Cabello Piñar

Environmental Controls of Spatial and Temporal Variability in Primary Productivity Dynamics in Mediterranean Ecosystems: A Spectral Index-Based Approach

Pedro Aguilera Aguilera

Functional Diversity and Human Well-being: Modeling the Linkages Between Ecosystem Services and Socioeconomic Structure in a Watershed of the Semi-Arid Southeast

Development of Predictive Models and a Monitoring and Alert System on the Effects of Global Change on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functioning in Southeastern Iberia (SEGALERT)