Project Title: MACSUR - Modelling European Agriculture with Climate Change for Food Security - Phase II – MACSUR II

About the Project

FACCE MACSUR is a knowledge Hub project which aggregates research groups specialized on modelling grasslands, livestock, crops, farms, and agricultural trade. Researchers explore jointly how climate change will affect regional farming systems and food production in Europe and what adaptation and mitigation options exist.

In the first phase of FACCE MACSUR (June 2012-May 2015), a greater understanding for requirements of different existing approaches used in the modelling communities was achieved. In MACSUR II, the main purpose is to build upon the strong links established by networking in MACSUR1 and strive for even greater precision in the scientific work of project activities. Models, techniques and methodologies already improved during MACSUR1 will be applied, to carry out a new state-of the art Europe-wide climate change risk assessment for farming and food security. The methodology of upscaling of integrated models to European scale builds on the results of MACSUR1. This level of integration is therefore the pinnacle of the work of MACSUR2.

Given the scientific excellence of the Knowledge Hub MACSUR II will address to a greater extent the interests of policymakers and the agro-food chain, especially farmers. For the implementation of MACSUR II a stronger engagement of a wide range of stakeholders is envisaged as well as a case study research approach.

Dates: July 2015- June 2017

Source of funding: Ministero delle Politiche Agricole Alimentari e Forestali, Roma, Italy in the context of the FACCE (Food, Agriculture and Climate Change) Joint Programme Initiative

Role of NRD UNISS: Leader of the Italian partnership

NRD Scientific Responsible: Prof. Pier Paolo Roggero

NRD members and staff involved: Prof. Luciano Gutierrez, Dr. Giovanna Seddaiu, Dr. Ileana Iocola, Dr. Roberta Lobina, Dr. Laura Mula, Dr. Pietro Giola

Partnership:

• AUSTRIA: Austrian Institute of Economic Research; International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis; University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences
• BELGIUM: University of Liège; Walloon Agricultural Research Centre
• CZECH REP.: Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic
• DENMARK: Aarhus University; University of Copenhagen
• ESTONIA: Estonian University of Life Sciences
• FINLAND: MTT Agrifood Research Finland
• FRANCE: Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique
• GERMANY: Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH; Leibniz-Zentrum für Agrarlandschaftsforschung e.V.; Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research; Karlsruhe Institute of Technology; Thünen-Institut; University of Bonn
• HUNGARY: MTA Centre for Ecological Research
• ITALY: University of Sassari; EURAC
• NORWAY: Norwegian Inst. for Agricultural and Environmental Research
• POLAND: Institute of Soil Sci. and Plant Cultivation – State Res. Inst.; Institute of Technology and Life Science at Falenty; Polish Academy of Sciences; Polish Academy of Sciences; University of Technology and Life Sciences
• ROMANIA: Nat. Agricultural Research Development Institute; Univ. of Agricultural Sci. and Veterin. Medicine
• SPAIN: Centro de Investigación y Tecnología Agroalimentaria; Institute for Food and Agriculture Research and Technology; Technical University of Madrid
• SWEDEN: Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Lund University
• NETHERLANDS: Wageningen UR, Livestock Research; Wageningen UR, Plant Sciences; Wageningen UR, LEI
• UK: Aberystwyth University; Cranfield University; Moredun Research Institute; Rothamsted Research; SRUC; The James Hutton Institute; The Pirbright Institute; University of Aberdeen; University of Leeds; University of Reading; Centre of Ecology and Hydrology.