Postdoc - Multi-criteria analysis of agricultural landscapes in agroecological landscapes

In this postdoc position you will contribute to the development of agroecology on farms in Europe by bringing together scientific and experiential knowledge.

You will get involved in shaping and scientifically analyzing research-in-action projects that aim to support 'innovation hub' actors in their efforts to overcome barriers and lock-ins. You will act in a vibrant European network with a focus on addressing climate change, biodiversity, and socio-economic sustainability.

Your position
You will contribute to i) mapping of the socio-technical systems in the IHs and ii) the development and implementation of the multi-criteria analysis (MCA) framework for the project. Your core focus will be on elaboration of the MCA framework, which will be developed by selecting indicators with stakeholders in diverse landscapes, making the indicators operational, and guiding and joining data collection efforts to quantify indicators. The performance of landscapes and the synergies and trade-offs among indicators will be assessed using a range of statistical methodologies. Intensive collaboration is foreseen with the sibling work package on scaling up and out, as well as with the other work packages that work on co-innovation and development of the agroecology conceptual basis.

This is what you are going to do:

• Review literature on existing MCA frameworks for agriculture and agroecology
• Develop and apply the project MCA framework and identify relevant indicators
• Supervise MSc thesis students
• Participate in project workshops
• Write scientific papers

The project
The "Trans-disciplinary approaches for systemic economic, ecological and climate change transitions" (Agroecology-TRANSECT) Horizon Europe research and innovation project aims to contribute to releasing the full potential of agroecology for European agriculture by strengthening the knowledge base for farmers and advisors and supporting decision makers. It aims to deliver robust evidence of the benefits of agroecology on climate change mitigation, biodiversity and farm socio-economic resilience. To achieve these objectives, Agroecology-TRANSECT supports the transition to agroecology through co-innovation methodology including a transdisciplinary collaboration between researchers and stakeholders. The project operates in European landscapes with a diverse range of crop, animal and integrated crop-livestock systems, and strongly contrasting biogeographical and socio-economic contexts.

The project develops and applies a multi-criteria analysis (MCA)-based framework for prediction and evaluation of agroecological systems at the farm and value chain levels which will be based on sets of indicators. In addition to this overarching framework, the project will propose or develop indicators specific to the local context of IHs. Methods and tools for monitoring performances should provide generalizable answers to policy makers willing to support the transition towards agroecology, while at the same time being sensitive enough to provide references in a specific context.