WP 3 - Facilitating the establishment of an International Research Consortium (IRC) (Objective 4)

Co-designing a Strategic Research Agenda (SRA) grounded on scientific evidence (see WP1) and on stakeholders’ knowledge demands (see WP2), a 2020-2025 SRA on agricultural SOC sequestration will be co-designed between the research community, governments, international organizations, research agencies and institutions and various categories of private stakeholders. In this process, a differentiated approach to research priorities could be adopted for different world regions, while defining core strategic global activities as well as short-term and mid-term priorities. A dedicated section will correspond to the EU research landscape, building on the expertise of FACCE-JPI and on consulting with the European Commission. The SRA will also include a section on research infrastructures (e.g. monitoring and experimental networks on SOC, role of agricultural and land management practices, models and decision support tools, big data) and a section addressing the role of online platforms to support collaboration, communication and outreach. It may also include specific issues for some global regions and for some land use and management systems.

Preparatory meetings for an IRC on agricultural SOC sequestration will be organized with support of CIRCASA partners and of participating initiatives (e.g. GSP, GRA, FACCE-JPI and 4 per 1000). During these meetings, the missions and governance of an IRC will be discussed and a 2020-2022 IRC implementation plan will be prepared, covering issues such as funding of research priorities, delivery targets, alignment of funding procedures and guidelines, agreements to share results as much as possible. These preparatory meetings will lead to a final scientific conference to be organized in Brussels. This conference will highlight the key project outputs (including the underlying collaborative process), offer a forum to discuss policy implications, and, if possible, will launch an IRC on agricultural SOC sequestration.