Nine partner institutions from eight European countries
BIO-CROP unites nine partner institutions from Lithuania, Norway, Sweden, Estonia, Germany, Finland, France and Türkiye. Together, the consortium combines expertise in agroecology, soil science, crop physiology, farm economics, microbial ecology, life-cycle assessment, and participatory innovation. This balanced alliance underpins the project's ambition to co-design and validate Multilayer Relay Cropping Systems (MRCS) tailored to the climates, soils and farming structures of the Baltic and Nordic regions, with complementary learning sites in France and Türkiye.
Each partner leads or co-leads at least one project task and contributes to multiple Work Packages, ensuring a transdisciplinary approach that links field experimentation, farmer-led Living Labs, environmental and socio-economic assessment, and EU policy dialogue.
P1 — Vytautas Magnus University, Agriculture Academy (VMU)
Country: Lithuania
Role in BIO-CROP: Project Coordinator; Lead of WP1 (Coordination and Management) and WP6 (Policy and Market Integration); contributor to WP2, WP4 and WP5.
Team Leader: Prof. Dr. Kęstutis Romaneckas
Website: https://zua.vdu.lt/en/
Vytautas Magnus University, Agriculture Academy, coordinates BIO-CROP through its Department of Agroecosystems and Soil Sciences. The VMU team leads overall project governance and policy and market integration, and contributes to MRCS field trials, soil health assessment, and energy and agro-economic modelling across the project. Building on more than a decade of multi-cropping research in Lithuania, VMU bridges scientific work with farmer-led implementation and EU policy dialogue, ensuring scientific excellence, administrative quality, and impact in line with Horizon Europe and CAP priorities.
P2 — Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research (NIBIO)
Country: Norway
Role in BIO-CROP: Lead of WP4 (Living Labs); contributor to WP2 and project-wide co-creation methodology.
Team Leader: Dr. Tove Ortman/ dr. Thiago Inagaki
Website: https://nibio.no/en
NIBIO contributes deep expertise in soil health, carbon stability, soil fertility, and farmer-driven agroecological innovation. As WP4 lead, NIBIO administers and coordinates BIO-CROP's Living Labs across Norway, Sweden, Lithuania, Estonia and Finland, building on its experience from the Prepsoil project (Soil Deal for Europe Mission). NIBIO also operates a Living Lab with regenerative farms in the Oslo region and contributes to WP2 through field experiments tailored to Norwegian conditions, evaluating relay and intercropping rotations together with on-farm bio-solutions.
P3 — RISE Research Institutes of Sweden
Country: Sweden
Role in BIO-CROP: Lead of WP3 (Environmental and Socio-Economic Trade-Offs); contributor to WP4 (Swedish Living Lab).
Team Leader: Dr. Danira Behaderovic/ dr. Ulf Sonesson
Website: https://www.ri.se
RISE leads BIO-CROP's environmental and socio-economic trade-off assessments. Its Agriculture and Food unit performs Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and social LCA of the MRCS developed across the consortium, alongside farm-level viability analyses and scenario modelling. Through its EU Mission project iCOSHELLs, RISE brings an established Swedish Living Lab network, supporting on-farm validation of mixed cropping systems and stakeholder co-creation with farmers, advisors and policymakers.
P4 — Estonian University of Life Sciences (EMU)
Country: Estonia
Role in BIO-CROP: Lead of WP2 (Relay Cropping Design and Bio-Solutions); contributor to WP4, WP5 and WP6.
Team Leader: Prof. Dr. Evelin Loit-Harro
Website: http://www.emu.ee
EMU, through its Chair of Crop Science and Plant Biology, leads the design and implementation of regionally adapted MRCS and the integration of bio-inputs and allelopathic species. The team contributes long-term Estonian field experiments, assessment of nitrogen flows in soil–plant systems, and microbial profiling of cropping systems. EMU will also lead a Nordic–Baltic meta-analysis of intercropping data — including currently unpublished regional results — to broaden the evidence base supporting agroecological practice.
P5 — Thünen Institute of Organic Farming
Country: Germany
Role in BIO-CROP: Contributor to WP2 (MRCS in organic systems), WP3 (trade-off analysis) and WP6 (policy).
Team Leader: Dr. Nora Honsdorf
Website: https://www.thuenen.de/en/institutes/organic-farming
The Thünen Institute of Organic Farming contributes expertise in organic cropping systems, relay and mixed cropping, and long-term soil health. The team focuses on optimising MRCS for organic farming contexts, integrating cover crops, legumes and forage crops to enhance soil fertility, nitrogen fixation and overall resilience. Drawing on a 600-hectare experimental farm and extensive field-trial infrastructure, Thünen evaluates the long-term effects of MRCS on soil organic matter, nutrient cycling and carbon sequestration, with strong participatory engagement of organic farmers.
P6 — Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU)
Country: Sweden
Role in BIO-CROP: Lead of WP5 (Knowledge Transfer and Capacity Building); contributor to WP3 and WP6.
Team Leader: Dr. Katharina Meurer
Website: https://www.slu.se/en/departments/soil-environment/research/soil-nutrient-cycling/
SLU's Department of Soil and Environment leads BIO-CROP's knowledge transfer and capacity-building activities, developing multilingual training materials, webinars, MOOCs, and farmer-friendly decision-support tools. SLU also contributes to WP3 trade-off modelling, allelopathy studies and biofertilizer efficacy trials, and brings strong links to Swedish stakeholders through its leading role in the EJP SOIL programme and complementary projects (CircularNP, AgroMixNorth, N2CROP).
P7 — University of Helsinki
Country: Finland
Role in BIO-CROP: Contributor to WP2, WP3 (LCA), WP4 (Finnish Living Lab) and WP5.
Team Leader: Prof. Mari Pihlatie
Website: https://www.helsinki.fi/en/researchgroups/environmental-soil-science
The University of Helsinki, Department of Agricultural Sciences, contributes long-term plot experiments, drought-shelter facilities and the SMEAR-Agri research station to evaluate the impacts of MRCS on soil health, carbon and nitrogen cycling and greenhouse-gas emissions in boreal conditions. The Finnish Living Lab is coordinated in close partnership with the Baltic Sea Action Group (BSAG), drawing on the Carbon Action farmer network to ensure stakeholder-driven trials, peer-to-peer learning and policy-relevant outcomes for Finland and the wider Nordic–Baltic region.
P8 — Alanya Alaaddin Keykubat University (AAKU)
Country: Türkiye
Role in BIO-CROP: Knowledge-transfer and learning site; contributor to WP2, WP3, WP4 and WP5.
Team Leader: Prof. Dr. Atilgan Atilgan
Website: https://www.alanya.edu.tr/en
AAKU, through its Department of Biosystem Engineering, serves as BIO-CROP's southern learning and knowledge-transfer site. On-campus trial plots demonstrate bio-fertilizer and biological-control practices to farmers, and the team adapts MRCS protocols to Mediterranean conditions, including water-saving strategies relevant to climate change. AAKU also develops modular training materials, digital guides and video content, organises national workshops in alignment with the TR61 Smart Specialisation Strategy, and supports farmer-to-farmer learning across Türkiye.
P9 — Chambre d'agriculture de Région Pays de la Loire (CA-PdL)
Country: France
Role in BIO-CROP: Living Lab site and farmer engagement; co-lead of WP4 demonstration activities and lead of WP5 Task 5.4 (farmer-led peer learning).
Team Leader: Ms. Louisa Bouzoubaa
Website: https://pays-de-la-loire.chambres-agriculture.fr/
CA-PdL leads farmer engagement, peer learning and policy outreach in western France. As a key representative of the farming community in Pays de la Loire, CA-PdL coordinates a Living Lab site that functions as a European learning node, linking Baltic, Nordic and French farming contexts. The team organises field days, training sessions and cross-border farmer exchanges, produces farmer-led videos and learning materials, and supports WP6 through the national French roundtable and the EU-level final policy event.
Funding
The project is funded by the European Union and national funding bodies.
In Lithuania, the project activities are funded by the Research Council of Lithuania.
Project No. LMT – S-Agroecology 26-1.
Project duration: 2 March 2026 – February 2029 (36 months).
BIO-CROP — AGROECOLOGY Partnership, Call 2 (Horizon Europe co-funded European partnership).