Postdoc Facilitating and monitoring agroecological living labs in the North of The Netherlands

AELLs are framed at a sub-regional or regional level and are composed of a network of actors (multi-actor teams, MATs) already engaged in agroecological practices/value chains or willing to do so. These actors include: (i) farmers (organic and conventional), either individual or associated (e.g., in a bio-district or other farm network); (ii) agricultural advisors; (iii) upstream and downstream companies (e.g., producers of agricultural inputs like seeds, fertilisers/amendments, biopesticides, machinery; food/feed processors or retailers); (iv) civil society organisations (e.g., NGOs, consumers associations); (v) regional/national policy makers; (vi) researchers.

In all areas where AELLs are active, there is one or more research infrastructure (e.g., research centre, experimental farm, long-term experiment, laboratory) already engaged in agroecological research, where some of the co-created innovations (i.e., agroecological practices) are tested (on-station research). To facilitate knowledge exchange and establishment/fine-tuning of a co-creation culture, testing of innovations will also take place at one or more of the commercial farms (on-farm research). Research infrastructures and/or commercial farms where research/innovation testing is conducted will be the target sites for dissemination/demonstration activities (e.g., field days, hands-on workshops), thus representing the lighthouses of AELLs.

The University of Groningen participates in this European project with one research infrastructure (De Wersteresch), a network of farmers (Friesland), and an interdisciplinary expert team, all of which constitutes the regional AELL. The core of the proposal is to co-design, co-test, co-evaluate and co-validate novel agroecological solutions (i.e., practices) aimed to overcome key agronomic problems that impede or delay the agroecological transition, addressing the most important cropping/farming system in the north of The Netherlands.

Responsibilities

The primary responsibilities of the postdoctoral researcher are to engage with the project team members and the participating farmers to coordinate the project activities in the field and lab, analyse existing data from past activities in the framework of this AELL to produce scientific publications, supervise MSc students doing their research within the project and contribute to project administration (reporting, planning meetings) and communication. The primary objective of SUNRISE is to facilitate agroecological transitions by implementing innovative, science-based solutions in real farming contexts.

This will be achieved through:

–     Facilitating agroecological co-innovation with farmers in living labs.

–     Developing and applying a multicriteria indicator framework (based on TAPE experience) to monitor productive, ecological, environmental, social and economic performance of agroecological farms during the transition.

–     Developing an enzymatic soil health index to track and quantify soil regeneration through agroecological practices.

–     Evaluating ecosystem services in relation to biodiversity/watershed restoration.

–     Facilitating knowledge exchange between researchers, farmers, and policymakers through living labs and stakeholder workshops.

–     Disseminating best practices via communication strategies that target farmers, policymakers, and the public.

The selected candidate is expected to contribute to the above-mentioned tasks in collaboration with the rest of the team members.