Mitigating climate change by circular synergies between crop and livestock farms

Farms and farming systems in North and Western Europe are generally highly specialised, with little integration between crop and livestock
production within farms and between farms within a region. Yet, improved integration, be it at farm or landscape level, offers substantial
potential for enhanced circularity of utilization of biomass, especially for co-products (e.g. residues, manure, waste). The main objective of
this research project is to co-design locally improved, innovative circular crop and livestock systems in North and Western
Europe. To reach this objective, we will assess alternative utility options of biomass and co-products in integrated crop-livestock systems at
field, farm and landscape level. Alternatives will be assessed in terms of nutrient cycling, greenhouse gas emissions, carbon sequestration
and agricultural productivity. It is hypothesized that co-product utilisation options can be identified that are beneficial in terms of climate
change mitigation and lead to more resilient and adapted systems. We will apply our systems approach and participatory and quantitative
methods in four European case study regions situated in the Netherlands, Denmark, Scotland and France. All four case regions are
characterised by highly specialized crop and livestock farming systems, with innovation and transition pathways towards integration of crop
and livestock production being initiated. We expect these pathways to benefit from a systematic, science-based and participatory
assessment of current and alternative utilisation options of co-products across crop and livestock activities and farms, in a landscape
context.