Promote social cohesion and territorial and demographic balance in South West Europe (sudoe) through innovation and transformation of productive sectors.

The main objective of smart green water is to promote common responses to the challenges of agriculture in the sudoe area by implementing smart specialisation strategies for a more sustainable and intelligent agricultural sector to strengthen the socio-economic fabric of rural areas. To this end, the partners will work together to implement solutions to accelerate the digital transition of agriculture to a more resilient agricultural sector, adapted to climate hazards, optimised and more sober in the consumption of water resources. The project will develop a transnational strategy that promotes the development, availability and dissemination of digital solutions to build the necessary capacities among key actors in the agricultural value chain and innovation.

More information: Smart Green Water – Euroregion

Specific objectives

• Develop skills for smart specialisation, industrial transition and entrepreneurship.
• Elaborate a transnational strategy that promotes the development of integrated solutions (products, innovative services) to meet the needs of sustainable, smart and digital agriculture according to the priorities of the 3 regions.
• Build the necessary capacities of key actors in the value chain for sustainable, smart and digital agriculture.

The big challenge for agriculture in the sudoe is to deal with the consequences of climate change, in particular the increasingly frequent episodes of drought. The availability of freshwater continues to decrease, making the agricultural sector, highly dependent on water resources, particularly vulnerable. It is necessary to create the conditions to promote the resilience of agriculture by improving the use of an increasingly scarce resource.

To address this challenge, the digital transformation of agriculture is essential. To support this transition, Smart Green Water members will promote responses through the implementation of Smart Specialisation Strategies (S3) for a more sustainable agricultural sector and by increasing digital skills in the sector, which reinforces the Social Fabric. Project members will take advantage of transnational cooperation, a wealth of situations: types of crops and irrigation, water availability, collective water management organisations… solutions, tested through pilot actions, transportable to different contexts, will highlight the best tools to meet farmers’ needs. Innovative irrigation optimisation technologies will be consolidated and disseminated through experimentation in partner regions.

Finally, digital tools will be made more accessible thanks to a transnational training programme and a connection between innovative companies and the agricultural sector. The transnational strategy developed and validated by the tested solutions will connect innovation ecosystems, public administrations and the agricultural sector, the end user. The resulting digitisation support will ensure a more water-efficient agricultural sector and rural territories more resilient to the impacts of climate change.

Actions

• A transnational irrigation digitisation strategy will be built, based on the territorial diagnosis of the regions involved.
• A characterisation method that takes into account the functionalities of digital irrigation solutions based on farmers’ needs will be carried out.
• The assessed digital solutions will be made available to farmers on a transnational platform that will allow them to filter the search for solutions according to their needs.
• Joint pilot-scale and transnational deployment of ‘digital twins’ applied to irrigation and fertigation management.
• Training (technical and online conferences) for farmers will be promoted together to meet the specific needs of each region: water reuse by
• French farmers, for example, and collective water management in Spain and Portugal, for the preparation of contingency plans in the face of drought.
• Linking technology companies with farmers during innovation forums and demonstration days to stimulate supply, demand and adaptation of needs and solutions.