A

Accelerator programmes:

Startup accelerators are short, intensive programs that provide education, resources, and mentorship if you’re an early or mid-stage founder.

AKIS:

Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation Systems; the combined organisation and knowledge flows between individuals, organisations, and institutions who use and produce knowledge for agriculture and interrelated fields.

B

Biodiversity:

the variability among living organisms from all sources including, inter alia, terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are part; this includes diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems.

Biomass energy:

Biomass originates from organic material from forestry and agriculture (such as trees and plants), from waste and residues of biological origin as well as the biodegradable fraction of waste. It can be used for heating, electricity generation, and the production of transport fuels.

Biofuel:

Biofuels are liquid or gaseous transport fuels, such as biodiesel and bioethanol, made from biomass. They serve as a renewable alternative to fossil fuels in the EU's transport sector, helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve the EU's security of supply. 

Biopesticides:

naturally occurring biological agents used to kill pests by causing specific biological effects rather than by inducing chemical poisoning. 

Bioeconomy:

the knowledge-based production and utilization of biological resources, innovative biological processes and principles to sustainably provide goods and services across all economic sectors.

C

Climate Smart Farming:

an approach that helps guide actions to transform agri-food systems towards green and climate resilient practices.

Carbon Farming:

Climate-friendly practices implemented by farmers and foresters to enhance carbon sequestration and storage in forests and soils, as well as reduce greenhouse gas emissions from soils.

Conditionality:

In order to receive EU income support, farmers must respect a set of basic rules. The interplay between this respect for rules and the support provided to farmers is called conditionality. 

CSP:

CAP Strategic Plan; the key tool for supporting EU agriculture in the transition to a sustainable farming model.

E

ESG:

Ratings on environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors provide information about the sustainability performance of a company or a financial instrument, by assessing its exposure to sustainability risks and/or its impact on people and the environment.

EIP Programme:

 European Innovation Partnerships bring together relevant parties at EU, national and regional levels to streamline, simplify and better coordinate existing financial instruments and initiatives. They focus on challenges that can benefit society, modernise sectors and markets.

G

Green Deal:

Climate change and environmental degradation are an existential threat to Europe and the world. To overcome these challenges, the European Green Deal will transform the EU into a modern, resource-efficient and competitive economy, ensuring:

1. no net emissions of greenhouse gases by 2050

2. economic growth decoupled from resource use

3. no person and no place left behind.

H

Horizon Europe:

the EU’s key funding programme for research and innovation. It tackles climate change, helps to achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and boosts the EU’s competitiveness and growth.

Horticulture:

the science and practice of growing, managing, and processing fruits, vegetables, flowers, and ornamental plants

K

Knowledge management:

Knowledge Management comprises a range of practices used by organisations to identify, create, represent, and distribute knowledge for reuse, awareness and learning.

Knowledge Transfer: 

the term for the overall process of moving knowledge between knowledge sources to targeted potential users of knowledge. Knowledge Transfer consists of a range of activities which aim to capture, organise, assess and transmit knowledge, skills and competence from those who generate them to those who will utilise them.

Knowledge exchange:

Knowledge Exchange (KE) is the two-way exchange of knowledge, expertise, and capabilities between higher education institutions (HEIs) and external partners (businesses, government bodies, non-profits, and communities).

Knowledge output:

A unit of knowledge or learning generated, usually by or through research activity and may include new methodologies/processes, adaptations, insights, alternative applications of prior know-how/ knowledge. 

L

Lighthouse:

Lighthouses are hubs and platforms that support the development and deployment of transformative, innovative solutions across various domains – technological, social, business, and governance.

Living Labs:

open innovation ecosystems in real-life environments based on a systematic user co-creation approach that integrates research and innovation activities in communities, placing citizens at the centre of innovation

M

Multi-species swards:

swards that have a variety of plants including grasses, clovers, brassicas and herbs. When combined in a sward setting the various species root at varying depths allowing them to access more nutrients and moisture in the soil and promote better soil health and even decreased GHG emissions from grazing livestock.

MRV:

Measurement, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) refers to the multi-step process to measure the amount of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduced by a specific mitigation activity, such as reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, over a period of time and report these findings to an accredited third party.

O

Operational group (OG):

Operational Groups are intended to bring together multiple actors such as farmers, researchers, advisers, businesses, environmental groups, consumer interest groups or other NGOs to advance innovation in the agricultural and forestry sectors.

P

Pilot:

a structured and controlled endeavour to validate and test a project's feasibility before full-scale implementation.

R

Remote Sensing:

the measurement of an objects properties on the earth's surface using data acquired from aircraft, drones and satellites. 

Regenerative agriculture:

a system of crop and/or livestock production based on Indigenous knowledge that recognizes that natural ecosystems are complex networks that support farms and societies in multiple ways.

Rural development:

a strategy designed to improve the economic and social life of a specific group of people - the rural poor. It involves extending the benefits of development to the poorest among those who seek a livelihood in the rural areas. 

S

Startup Incubators:

A startup incubator helps develop and refine high-potential startup ideas. Incubators often operate locally and provide a host of resources—such as physical space to access as needed—over a span of one to five years. 

T

Tillage:

Tillage refers to the mechanical manipulation of soil through various implements, tools, or equipment to prepare seedbeds, control weeds, manage crop residues, and facilitate seed germination, root growth, and crop establishment in agricultural fields. 

W

Wetland Restoration:

the manipulation of the physical, chemical, or biological characteristics of a site with the goal of returning natural/historic functions to former or degraded wetland.