In its first six years, FACCE-JPI has achieved a great deal in terms of research alignment, having launched 10 joint research actions, mobilising approximately €120M of funding for transnational research activities, 80% of which comes from national research budgets. FACCE has also organised a thorough mapping exercise and a number of exploratory workshops amongst its members.
The joint actions launched by FACCE-JPI have relied on different approaches (e.g., networking amongst researchers, linking up existing research projects, new calls for research, etc.). Furthermore, FACCE-JPI has developed innovative instruments (e.g. knowledge hub) that have been duplicated by other JPIs, and 6 out of its 10 joint actions have involved non-EU countries.
To date, the FACCE-JPI actions include:
- 1 Knowledge Hub, MACSUR (FACCE’s pilot action),
- 3 joint calls with EC co-funding, through ERA-Nets (FACCE ERA-Net Plus ‘Climate Smart Agriculture’, FACCE-SURPLUS, FACCE ERA-GAS)
- 4 joint calls with other European initiatives, international partners and non-EU countries (Joint call with the ERA-Net BiodivERsA, Joint call with the Water JPI entitled Waterworks 2015, International call with the Belmont Forum, and a Multi-partner call on agricultural greenhouse gas research with 3 non-EU countries),
- 1 Thematic Annual Programming Network on soil organic matter, and
- 1 Knowledge Network on Sustainable Intensification.
In terms of scientific excellence and impact, the research in FACCE-JPI has helped inform European and international policy decisions, e.g., contributing to the EU Food2030 Strategy and IPCC’s fifth assessment report. In addition, FACCE-JPI has also helped identify new approaches for sustainable agricultural development (e.g. through research conducted as part of the ERA-Net Plus on Climate Smart Agriculture) and to increase the visibility of European research on agriculture, food security and climate change on a global scale.
In the Strategic Research Agenda, the five FACCE-JPI core research themes are defined as follows:
- Sustainable food security under climate change
- Sustainable intensification of agriculture
- Biodiversity and ecosystem services
- Climate Change Adaptation
- GHG Mitigation