Supporting Climate-Resilient European Agriculture by Translating Future Climate Risks into Actionable Guidance
Context
Droughts, heatwaves and compound flooding are putting pressure on traditional farming systems. Yet existing planning tools often focus on the short term, overlook compound extremes and struggle to translate complex climate data into practical advice.
ClimAurea aims to bridge this gap by combining a simulation-driven Digital Twin with an AI-powered, multilingual advisory interface. Building on European climate and Earth Observation Infrastructure, Open-Source Agricultural Models and EU Digital Ecosystems such as DestinE and CEADS, the project will translate complex climate projections into field-specific adaptation guidance for crops, grasslands, and livestock.
Objectives
European agriculture needs to prepare for changing climate conditions and more extreme weather. ClimAurea aims to support this transition with a pan-European digital platform that combines a simulation-driven Digital Twin with an AI-powered, multilingual advisory interface.
By translating climate projections into locally relevant adaptation strategies for crops, grasslands and livestock, the platform will help farmers, advisers and policymakers make informed decisions based on future climate risks, with a view to 2100.
Specific Objectives:
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Assess Future Agroecological Suitability: Map Europe-wide bioclimatic suitability for major crops, grasslands, and livestock across future timeframes (2030–2100) under climate change scenarios.
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Generate Climate Risk & Sustainability Indicators: Develop harmonised spatial indicators capturing extreme event exposure (droughts, floods, heatwaves), system vulnerability, and long-term sustainability.
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Model Extreme Event Impacts: Establish thematic modelling hubs (drought, flood, heatwave) to quantify impacts on agricultural systems across regional Use Cases.
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Co-Design & Simulate Adaptation Strategies: Test context-specific adaptation options (e.g., variety shifts, adjusted sowing dates, water management) co-designed with regional stakeholders.
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Evaluate Socio-Economic Feasibility: Assess the financial viability, labour impacts, and CAP/EU Adaptation Mission policy alignment of adaptation pathways.
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Build an Interactive Digital Twin: Deploy a modular Digital Twin enabling interactive "what-if" scenario exploration, integrated with EU digital ecosystems like DestinE and CEADS.
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Deliver an LLM-Powered Advisory Interface: Provide a conversational AI assistant that translates complex simulation outputs into plain-language advice.
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Ensure EU-Wide Transferability & Open Access: Publish reproducible open-source workflows, meta-modelling frameworks, and FAIR-compliant datasets for European replication.
Highlights
VITO leads the Geospatial and Earth Observation pillar of this project, providing expertise on climate information, Earth Observation & European ecosystem data products, and generating Europe-wide crop-climate risk and suitability maps.
Facts
Duration: September 2026 - August 2029
Budget: 4,938,424 EUR
Funded by: Horizon Europe, European Union
Implemented by:
- ILVO (Institute for Agricultural, Fisheries and Food Research) (project lead)
- VITO (Flemish Institute for Technological Research)
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NETC (Netcompany S.A.)
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HAU (Harper Adams University)
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UOA (University of the Aegean)
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AUA (Agricultural University of Athens)
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UNIBO (University of Bologna)
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FSH (Future Systems Hub)
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GSC (Green Supply Chain - Digital Innovation Hub)
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INRAE (Research Insitute for Agriculture, Food and Environment)
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Boerenbond (Belgian Farmers’ Association)
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ALPA (Agroecological Practices and Bioregional Regeneration)
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ANPOC (National Association of Cereal, Protein Crop, and Oilseed Producers)
