CONCAT LL
CONCAT LL
Catalonia holds an agrifood industry that produces over 8 million tons of agricultural products. Its diverse landscape supports key products including high-quality olive oil, various fruits, nuts, a variety of vegetables, staple cereals vineyards, livestock and fish. CONCAT LL is a dynamic Living Lab that explores how to make Catalan food production not only resilient but also capable of mitigating climate impact through improved management. This innovative approach enables real-time data collection and hypothesis testing, allowing the ecosystem to extract actionable insights and apply them to practical solutions
About us
In the last five years, similar to other Mediterranean and South Western European Regions (MSWER), Catalonia has witnessed the accentuating effects of climate change, which has strongly impacted its agricultural production capacity. Severe droughts, extreme temperatures, changing rainfall patterns, and soil degradation have had a cumulative impact on the production, quality, availability, and prices of the main agricultural products.
The CONCAT Living Lab in Catalonia aims to accelerate R&D in climate change mitigation, focusing on food security and resilience. It addresses immediate and long-term challenges faced by local producers, developing adaptive strategies through scenario testing and data-driven insights. Key objectives include assessing vulnerabilities, enhancing agricultural resilience to extreme weather, and collaborating with stakeholders to create contingency plans, robust datasets, and policy recommendations for sustainable food systems in the face of climate change.
Location
The living labs is located in Catalonia (Spain).
Partners
Partners & Expertise
IRTA: IRTA is a public research institute operating under the Government of Catalonia and the Department of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Food. Its primary mission is to facilitate the modernization and enhancement of competitiveness in the agricultural, food, agroforestry, aquaculture, and fishing sectors, along with related areas involved in the distribution of healthy and high-quality food to consumers.
FCAC: FCAC is the largest and oldest federation of agri-cooperatives in Catalonia, incorporating 189 cooperatives and more than 30.000 members, and representing one-third of the catalan agricultural sector. Represents cooperative agriculture in Catalonia, so it has experience in different sectors: 95 olive cooperatives, 38 cereal cooperatives, 2 rice cooperatives, 39 pome fruit (apple, pear, peach, etc.) cooperatives, 8 citrus fruit cooperatives, 13 vegetable garden cooperatives, 70 dried fruit (nuts) cooperatives, 59 wine cooperatives, 13 livestock cooperatives, and 18 animal feed cooperatives.
NAKED: NAKED is a Barcelona-based innovation consultancy dedicated to driving food-system transformation, with a multinational and multidisciplinary team of expert innovators, co-creators, fresh-thinkers, and disruptors working to create a regenerative food system that aligns planet & people. NAKED is experienced in building collaborations among corporates, government organizations, non-profits, research institutions, communities, and startups, and co-creating solutions grounded in research, structured knowledge, and scientific evidence.
Objectives
Assessment of vulnerabilities present within the MSWER food security system by identifying and thoroughly evaluating challenges and drivers related to climate change, natural resources, and biodiversity.
Create and test climate-related scenarios that project the potential impacts of climate change on aspects of the food security system related to the studied products.
Develop adaptive strategies that not only address the pressing food security challenges of Catalonia, but also align with long-term sustainability goals.
Enhancing agricultural resilience to climate shocks and extreme weather events.
Contingency planning for the selected products by co-designing viable alternative actions to mitigate negative impacts of climate change with other related stakeholders.
Generation and management of robust datasets encompassing climate, agricultural, and ecological data.
Actively engage in policy advocacy
Project engagements
The LL will foster a collaborative community of researchers, farmers, food industries, retailers, policymakers, and other local key stakeholders. This community not only contributes to data collection, but also offers valuable insights into key challenges and opportunities within the agricultural sector. Their expertise will be invaluable in co-designing the Living Lab and shaping policy recommendations.
Additionally, the CONCAT LL will collaborate with other LLs from the EcoReady network, in particular with the LLs located in similar climatic zones, Greece and Italy, in addition to Poland. The collaboration aims to align the scenarios in a manner that allows a broader data collection and more informed development of mitigation strategies around common products. This also aims to prepare the grounds for a continuous collaboration among the LLs after the conclusion of EcoReady.
Dissemination channels
IRTA :
Web page
LinkedIn
Facebook
Instagram
Youtube
Twitter / X
Naked Innovation:
Web page
LinkedIn
Twitter / X