The “Real Value of Energy Efficiency, REFEREE” project strongly advocates the principle that energy efficiency measures will be key for delivering the European Green Deal, which sets out the roadmap for making Europe the first climate-neutral continent by 2050 and, in this framework, aims to (1) analyze and quantify the direct and indirect non-energy impacts of energy efficiency investments and to (2) develop easy-to-use tools to support policy makers at the national, regional and local level. REFEREE will help households, businesses, financing institutions, policy makers and other relevant stakeholders to evaluate the multiple impacts of their energy efficiency choices. It will encompass the assessment of energy efficiency investments in a variety of ecosystems, including low income regions and socially imbalanced societies. To fulfil these objectives, the project will design and develop an integrated set of analysis tools from the macro-economic level to the micro level at consumer and firm scale. Through a user-friendly interface, it will then develop a Policy Support System will allow policy makers, businesses, financial institutions and others to better understand the real value of energy efficiency policies and their cost effectiveness. It will also allow them to develop more effective plans, means and measures. To maximise the impact of the REFEREE policy support tool, stakeholders will be involved from the inception of the project, through concrete opportunities for its co-development, pilot studies, and focused dissemination and communication actions. Thanks to a unique consortium structure and strategic partnerships, REFEREE can offer an unprecedented effort of dissemination and exploitation with focus on state, municipal as well as entrepreneurial decision makers in the framework of the multilevel governance approach.

Agricultural policies are widening the scope to contribute to environmental objectives, the Paris climate agreement and the SDG’s. Furthermore, Member States develop their national strategic plans with more attention to the regional implementation of the CAP. Broadening of scope will increase the amount of indicators for monitoring and evaluation. In the current situation, agricultural statistics (among others FSS and FADN) and administrative data (i.e. IACS) are used for monitoring and evaluation. To address the broadening set of needs, it becomes essential to make use of the possibilities of satellite data and sensor data and the increased amount of information flows within the agricultural sector. Despite these new opportunities, it will not be possible to provide all data needs with these new technologies, so there will still be a role for agricultural statistics and farmers’ willingness to give access to data owned by the farmer. MEF4CAP will make an inventory of future data needs, describe the current developments in ICT and data capturing techniques and assess the technological readiness of these solutions. MEF4CAP will make intensive use of workshops and stakeholder interaction to identify best practices, ensure the inclusion of all relevant developments and to discuss the potential of widening their application. MEF4CAP will deliver a roadmap for future monitoring, where the needs of different stakeholders are met and the potential of different approaches is fully exploited, while minimizing the costs and administrative burden and optimizing the value of the collected data. MEF4CAP will strongly benefit from the broad composition of the project team. MEF4CAP will bring together experts on the current agricultural statistics, current administrative systems, evaluations for policy making and on farm advisory as well as experts on remote sensing, sensor data, ICT developments and developments of information flows in the agricultural sector.

Digi-Label will design and deliver digital tools and solutions to compliment the EU energy label. Through these we aim to positively influence consumer buying choices and ultimately deliver greater energy savings and increased market share of the highest performing appliances. The consortium will target 4 of the top 5 EU economies – Germany, Spain, Italy and the UK – leveraging the biggest impact on energy saving – through established commitments from manufacturers and retailers to test and launch the digital solutions. The Digi-Label approach brings together a highly experienced consortium including CLASP, EEB, Fraunhofer, SEVEn and the Energy Saving Trust, with proven expertise in energy labelling of products, dissemination & communication, European and International project management of energy labelling programmes, manufacturer and retailer stakeholder relationship management, evaluation and consumer engagement.

Accounting a climate footprint is an established practice. However, accounting for C capture is largely based on manual methodologies that cannot be easily scaled. The consortium has found a strong market need for a streamlined solution that can be scaled to meet the growing needs of C capture from Land Use, Land Use Change, and Forestry (LULUCF). AgriCapture seizes upon Earth Observation – free and open Copernicus data in particular – to deliver a highly innovative, flexible, and scalable solution for soil C capture projects/initiatives, targeting 1 of the 2 only potential mass C sinks through proven and increasingly popular practices (i.e. Reg Agri). AgriCapture will develop a systematic, robust and flexible platform for quantifying, verifying, and promoting soil C capture, allowing (i) farmers and other landowners to become “carbon farmers”, (ii) food companies to offset their carbon foot print and offer "zero carbon" products, and (iii) certifying organizations to scale up and automatize their processes. This will be accomplished through a co-creation approach with target users – agricooperatives, an agri-processor, a Reg Agri certifier, and an emission balance certifying organisation – within 5 diverse use cases located across Europe. To support uptake of project results, the project will establish a European Reg Agri Community, which will be used to raise awareness of Reg Agri as a high-potential approach to meeting climate pledges, to coordinate and empower farmers as agents of climate mitigation, and to inform product launch of AgriCapture through first-hand market information and a direct channel to potential customers. Finally, the project will also undertake dedicated activities to assess, identify and proactively pursue market opportunities, which will lead to several contracts for post-project service provision by the end of the project.

Agricultural intensification in EU farmland led to the loss of landscape features (LF) which provide ecosystem services (ES) and support for biodiversity. To tackle this, the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 aims to increase the prevalence of LF to 10% of the agricultural area, but there are several technical, administrative, economic and social barriers to achieve this. The overall goal of LAFERIA is to identify the key factors that can promote the reintroduction of LF in intensive agricultural areas, and develop strategies to overcome key barriers to achieving the EU objective. Specific objectives include: (i) Quantify LF coverage and connectivity across different agricultural systems; (ii) Establish a comprehensive picture of the benefits and costs of LF for biodiversity, ES, climate change adaptation, yields, incomes, and society at large; (iii) Explore the drivers and challenges for the reintroduction of LF; (iv) Develop strategies and business models to reintroduce LF. The research plan is organised around three major thematic blocks: A first block focuses on environmental sciences, and addresses the current prevalence of LF across distinct agricultural systems in the EU, their importance for ecological connectivity, and their potential for biodiversity and ecosystem benefits. A second block builds on social sciences, and focuses on the key factors which may lead to the reintroduction of LF in areas of intensive agriculture, through a co-learning process with stakeholders, analysing factors of success and failure in existing initiatives, complemented with detailed research at regional (case study) level. In a final block we will translate the results into the design and development of strategies, encompassing the identification of priority regions and agricultural systems to reintroduce LF, the maximisation of the biodiversity and ES potential from LF, and the development of policy tools, business models and market-based solutions taking advantage of LF.