University of St.Gallen involved in EU sustainable agriculture projects
St.Gallen/Limassol - Researchers at the University of St.Gallen (HSG) are involved in three European projects to promote sustainable agriculture. Under the leadership of the Cyprus University of Technology, the aim is to sustainably shape agriculture and forestry as well as food production in Europe and Africa.
(CONNECT) According to an announcement, researchers at the School of Humanities and Social Sciences of the University of St.Gallen (HSG) are involved in three projects of the Horizon Europe program. Led by the Eratosthenes Centre of Excellence at Cyprus University of Technology in Limassol, these projects hope to promote innovation and sustainability in the areas of agriculture and forestry as well as food production in Europe and Africa.
The Nostradamus program running from 2024 to 2028 aims to optimally shape European agricultural management using data from earth observation and the Internet of Things as well as through the analysis of large quantities of data with artificial intelligence. This is expected to increase the efficiency and resilience of European food production.
The LandShift project from 2024 to 2028 plans to optimize land use systems with earth observation as well as digital data platforms supported by artificial intelligence. The results of the project applied in five pilot regions across Europe are anticipated to help decision makers to promote sustainable agriculture and focus on climate neutrality targets.
Six networked Living Labs in Africa form the core of the AfroGrow project. This aims to establish and sustainably manage agroforestry systems in Africa. An open data platform is expected to make it easier to choose plants and animals using data-based recommendations and facilitate knowledge transfer between science, politics, and practice. The project will run from 2025 to 2028.
The Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation will be supporting the HSG with a sum of 2.9 million Swiss francs for its involvement.
Sabine Hoidn, head of the interdisciplinary research group at the HSG, commented in the announcement: “Technological innovations alone are not enough – only by embedding them in a sustainable economic and social environment can we create successful digital solutions for fairer and sustainable land use in the long term.” ce/ww