Masurian Eco-Ready Living Lab: Co-creating Resilient Food Systems for Central and Eastern Europe
Masuria
The EcoReadyMasuria Living Lab is an open innovation initiative implemented to promote climate change adaptation solutions (agro-ecological practices and technologies) in Masuria, a region of Poland known as the "Land of a Thousand Lakes", characterised by exceptional natural landscapes, rich biodiversity, and deep-rooted agricultural traditions.
About us
EcoReadyMasuria baseline data collection, farmer surveys and workshops will establish the most promising climate adaptation solutions available for Masurian farmers.
The living lab will model the impacts of these solutions on food security and biodiversity, and conduct on-farm trials to evaluate their effectiveness. Throughout the project, policy recommendations will be co-designed along with contingency plans to raise awareness and ensure the relevance and practicality of the proposed solutions.
Lead contact
Dr. Max KochanskiResearch and Innovation Centre Pro-Akademia
Email maksymilian.kochanski@proakademia.euPartners
Research and Innovation Centre Pro-Akademia is an interdisciplinary Polish non-profit research organization with 25+ years of experience in applied research in environmental engineering, agriculture and energy. In EcoReadyMasuria RIC coordinates multi-stakeholder participatory research on food security and climate change adaptation scenarios, including methodology design and modeling activities.
University of Warsaw is Poland's largest and finest university. Its Faculty of Biology operates the Masurian Center for Biodiversity and Education "Kumak" in Urwitałt, which is a nature education and research center. In EcoReadyMasuria UW performs environmental monitoring on experimental farms as well as provides biodiversity expertise.
“Leader in EGO” is a Local Action Group, composed of over 80 farmers, local policymakers, NGOs and companies. It focuses on protecting and promoting the natural environment, landscape, and historical-cultural resources in the subregion of Masuria region, covering three counties: Ełk, Gołdap, and Olecko. In EcoReadyMasuria, EGO ensures wide stakeholder engagement and supports the translation of data into useful knowledge for the public and policymakers.
Mirosław Gontar Farm is a family-owned, quintessential Polish farm located in the Masuria region. Since 1992, it has been engaged in agricultural cultivation combined with animal breeding and rearing, encompassing all products selected for research within EcoReadyMasuria. In EcoReadyMasuria the Farm is involved in the co-design and on-farm testing of scenarios.
Objectives
EcoReadyMasuria geographical focus on Masuria region and its counties: Ełcki, Gołdapski, Olecki and aims to:
- develop a comprehensive knowledge base for co-creation and modeling of climate change adaptation scenarios for production systems of barley, maize, red clover, sunflower, and milk
- model and test the co-designed climate change adaptation scenarios in real conditions to understand their impacts on food security and biodiversity of the targeted food systems
- analyse existing agricultural policies affecting food security and biodiversity in the targeted food systems, propose their enhancements, and provide contingency and sustainability plans that ensure long-term durability and effectiveness of climate change adaptation solutions
- disseminate knowledge about Eco-Ready project and EcoReadyMasuria sub-project among various stakeholders to increase their awareness and understanding of interconnections between food security, climate change and biodiversity
Dissemination channels
RIC Pro-Akademia:
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University of Warsaw:
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Leader in EGO:
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