From July 2012 to June 2016
The Project Manager will take care of the contacts between the Consortium and the Commission. As stated in the LIFE+ Common Provisions, the coordinating beneficiary must regularly inform the Commission on the progress and on the achievements of the LIFE+ project.
Communication between partners will take place with video-conferences, e-mails and meetings. Moreover, a dedicated project website will allow secure sharing of project data as well as posting of public information.
The IPNOA consortium will make a big effort for the networking with other projects, especially LIFE+ projects, during the whole duration of the project.
At this time, several LIFE+ projects have been identified with IPNOA project could networking with, because of their topic:
a) SEQ-CURE - Integrated systems to enhance sequestration of carbon, producing energy crops by using organic residues (December 2006 to February 2010): this was a three-year Life Environment project coordinated by CRPA S.p.A. aiming to contribute to the reduction of CO2 atmospheric emissions and increase carbon sequestration in the soil. The main goals of the project were: (i) the promotion of the use of organic residues (manure, sewage sludge, other materials) to fertilize energy crops, limiting their environmental impact; (ii) the monitoring of different agro-energy production cycles, starting with the production of biomass up to its conversion into energy and the disposal of the residues; (iii) the making of a method of calculation available for the estimation of greenhouse gas emissions/carbon sequestration deriving from changes in soil use; (iv) the increase of the knowledge of farmers and technicians in relation to greenhouse gas emissions/carbon sequestration resulting from farming practices and from agro-energy production cycles; (v) the facilitation of the start-up of agro-energy production cycles which are sustainable both from the environmental and economic point of view.
b) The BIOAGRO Project: this project, co-founded by the EU LIFE Environment Program, was carried out from 1 January 2006 to 30 November 2009. It was targeted towards developing and implementing an innovative method to reduce greenhouse gas output from the agricultural sector. The project involved the seed industry, combustion technology industry and academia. It resulted in a complete facility for agricultural waste reduction, renewable energy supply, carbon neutral fuel production, as well as a demonstration system.
c) AGRICARBON: This is a Life+ project (January 2010 to December 2013) aimed to encourage the progressive establishment of sustainable agricultural techniques (Conservative and Precision Agriculture), contributing to GHG emission decreases and the adaptation of the agricultural system to the new climate conditions.
d) ACCION AGROCLIMATICA: This is a LIFE+ project (September 2010 to December 2013) aims to develop a tool for carrying out energy and GHG audits on farms, and for identifying the most suitable crops and best practices for mitigation and adaptation to climate change. It seeks to provide a methodology that will be widely accepted by the EU-27 farming sector and applicable to most of the different agricultural systems. The project should be capable of providing local assessments and a framework for comparing systems and practices across European farms and countries. Four training courses will be provided on how to use this tool and a technical manual will be published. The project will also develop pilot demonstration action plans for energy efficiency and reduction of GHGs emissions. These will be implemented in different farming systems - including mixed dairying, cereals, intensive fruit and vegetables, ecological and subtropical farming.
Other projects related to the IPNOA project although founded by the European Union through other programs are:
a) NITROEUROPE (FP6 Project): The project addressed the major question: What is the effect of reactive nitrogen (Nr) supply on net greenhouse gas budgets for Europe? The objectives were to: (i) establish robust datasets of N fluxes and net greenhouse-gas exchange (NGE) in relation to C-N cycling of representative European ecosystems, as a basis to investigate interactions and assess long-term change: (ii) quantify the effects of past and present global changes (climate, atmospheric composition, land-use/land-management) on CN cycling and NGE; (iii) simulate the observed fluxes of N and NGE, their interactions and responses to global change/land-management decisions, through refinement of plot-scale models, (iv) quantify multiple N and C fluxes for contrasting European landscapes, including interactions between farm-scale management, atmospheric and water dispersion, and consideration of the implications for net fluxes and strategies; (v) scale up Nr and NGE fluxes for terrestrial ecosystems to regional and European levels, considering spatial variability and allowing assessment of past, present and future changes; (vi) assess uncertainties in the European model results and use these together with independent measurement/inverse modelling approaches for verification of European N2O and CH4 inventories and refinement of IPCC approaches (completed project).
b) CARBON EUROPE (FP6 Project): The project aimed to understand and quantify the present terrestrial carbon balance of Europe and the associated uncertainty at local, regional and continental scale. This means to determine the European carbon balance with its spatial and temporal patterns; to understand the controlling processes and mechanisms of carbon cycling in European ecosystems and how these are affected by climate change and variability and human management develop an observation system to detect changes in atmospheric CO2 concentrations and ecosystem carbon stocks related to the European commitments under the Kyoto Protocol. In order to achieve these aims, CarboEurope-IP addresses the three major topics: (i) determination of the carbon balance of the European continent, its geographical patterns, and changes over time; (ii) enhanced understanding of the controlling mechanisms of carbon cycling in European ecosystems, and the impact of climate change and variability, and changing land management on the European carbon balance; (iii) design and development of an observation system to detect changes of carbon stocks and carbon fluxes related to the European commitments under the Kyoto Protocol.
c) ICOS – Integrated Carbon Observation System (FP7 Project): The project provides the long-term observations required to understand the present state and predict future behaviour of climate, the global carbon cycle and greenhouse gases emissions. ICOS mission statement: (i) to provide the long-term observations required to understand the present state and predict future behaviour of the global carbon cycle and greenhouse gas emissions; (ii) to monitor and assess the effectiveness of carbon sequestration and/or greenhouse gases emission reduction activities on global atmospheric composition levels, including attribution of sources and sinks by region and sector (ongoing project).
Expected results
Participation to 3-4 meetings and events of other related LIFE+ and/or EU projects. Consequent meetings among the IPNOA beneficiaries are also foreseen.
