Agriculture is often associated with something traditional, far removed from cutting-edge technology and advanced solutions. But what if these opposites went hand in hand? The GUARDIANS project, of which SHINE 2Europe is a partner, has launched a new video to describe this journey.
In a world threatened by climate change, loss of biodiversity and growth pressure in the food industry, farmers have a crucial role to play in perpetuating traditional knowledge and sustainable agricultural practices.
However, tradition is unfortunately not enough.
To compete in the global market, small and medium-sized farms and rural structures need to reduce the current technological gap that separates them from large farms. The GUARDIANS project, funded by the European Union, aims to understand the challenges faced by farms and farmers in order to empower them through a set of effective, human-centred digital and technological solutions. Twenty-two partners from nine countries are involved in the GUARDIANS journey.
To explain more about this project, GUARDIANS has launched a new video which can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5VDL8b4QYs&feature=youtu.be.
GUARDIANS guides farmers towards the integration of digital technologies and solutions, while preserving local communities and their territories, in order to support a sustainable food industry.
Digital solutions will be applied in 4 test areas (arable crops, woody crops, pastures for cattle grazing and regenerative agriculture) and then on 21 farms: 7 in Spain, 7 in Italy, 1 in the Czech Republic and 6 in Sweden.
Farmers have the power to preserve the biodiversity of their territories. For this reason, GUARDIANS will design a methodological framework for co-creation and ensure a multidisciplinary approach, integrating farmers and agricultural actors in all phases of the project, as well as scientists, technicians and SMEs.
In addition, farmers’ technological acceptance and involvement will be assessed to ensure alignment between key stakeholders and project objectives.
As farmers continue to adopt innovative digital technologies, GUARDIANS aspires to promote new sustainable agricultural approaches and enable related environmental and social impacts. This is the future that GUARDIANS wants to build.