Reaching net zero Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions by 2050 is key to limit global warming to 1.5 °C and achieve the targets set out in the Paris Climate Agreement. Mitigation approaches such as renewable energy sources, improved energy efficiency and forest preservation, need to be combined with active carbon dioxide (CO2) removal (CDR). Low-cost nature-based solutions need to be identified, assessed and promoted on a large scale for both CO2 sequestration and biodiversity conservation. WILDCARD will, for the first time in Europe, assess the overall potential impact of natural rewilding of abandoned agricultural land and proforestation on carbon sequestration and biodiversity at multiple spatial and temporal scales. Combining field observations, remote sensing, and vegetation modelling with economic, societal and political analyses, WILDCARD will inform national and European policy makers on the contribution potential of nature-based solutions to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. The project will investigate the regulatory, cultural and economic barriers to natural rewilding and proforestation, and identify which social innovation mechanisms, models and incentives can better support our CDR approach. WILDCARD will use a dedicated cross-scale analysis, linking site-based in-depth knowledge on rewilding impacts and socio-economic consequences to a European-scale assessment, embedded in the current EU policy context and informed by global scenarios from IAMs and ESMs. The final project’s aim is to offer concrete and realistic policy options aimed at enhanced uptake of rewilding as a significant solution to achieve global climate objectives.

Agroforestery (AF) has already proven its potential for farm sustainability, climate change mitigation & adaptation, biodiversity preservation, and soil conservation. However, AF performances are context-dependent, and many barriers hinder its adoption, such as lack of tools for decision-making, assessing economic, environmental, social benefits, and monitoring of policies and their impact on AF. DigitAF will boost AF implementation in the EU and beyond thanks to the co-development of digital tools tailored to the needs and concerns of DigitAF target groups. To engage actors whose decisions impact AF implementation,DigitAF will: (1) Support policy-actors at various scales to design more efficient policies supporting AF adoption & carbon farming; (2) Provide tools helping practitioners (farmers…) deal with the complexity of AF systems. DigitAF will allow them to optimize the design and management of agroforestry systems at field and farm scale; (3) Enhance capacities of actors to assess, quantify and market the economic, environmental and social performance and benefits of AF. The end-user centred multi-actor approach of DigitAF will be made possible by implementing 6 living labs (LL) in Italy, Germany, Netherland, United Kingdom, Finland and the Czech Republic. Open-source tools will be co-developed thanks to the existing or novel practical knowledge, scientific evidence and models. They will be tested with the end-users from LL and improved thanks to their feedback. Larger dissemination to target groups will be ensured through DigitAF partners gathering members and networks across EU. DigitAF consortium brings together 25 partners from 20 countries from the EU, Associated Countries and beyond, composed of RTOs (9), universities (5), SMEs (6), European and international organisations (4), NGO and cooperative (1). DigitAF consortium and the LL cover all AF value chain actors, thus efficiently supporting AF implementation in the EU.