Research

Austria’s Pannonian region is an important agricultural area that is facing increasing climatic stress and soil degradation. Diversifying crops and landscape structures—such as strip cropping combined with functional strips of woody and non-woody perennials—can improve crop resilience and the provision of ecosystem services, provide habitat for biodiversity, and simultaneously promote the bioeconomy. Therefore, with the goal of creating a productive landscape for the food and bioeconomy: How can landscape diversification under Pannonian conditions affect microclimate regulation, the provision of ecosystem services, the promotion of biodiversity, and the development of climate-resilient landscapes? Specific objectives include planning and conducting an experiment on landscape diversification using strip intercropping and the integration of non-woody and woody perennials, as well as quantifying the effects of landscape diversification measures on agroecosystem performance, microclimate buffering, and the promotion of biodiversity. In the Marchfeld region (BOKU “Groß Enzersdorf”), a long-term, 20-hectare experiment with three replicates is being established, comprising the following treatment variants: i) monocultures; ii) strip cropping + non-woody perennials; iii) strip cropping + woody perennials, with a 5-year cereal-legume rotation. Multidisciplinary data will be collected using sensors and through soil analyses. The results will serve as the basis for multifunctional, resilient designs that enhance ecosystem services, mitigate stress, promote biodiversity, and preserve future productive landscapes in a climate-neutral Austria.

Urban foraging, the practice of picking unmanaged or hardly managed plants and fungi in public urban green spaces, has an important role in the procurement and consumption of food in cities worldwide. Yet, case studies have also shown that competing interests relating to public urban green space use may lead to conflicts – rooted in different value systems – between urban foragers, green space managers and citizens, constraining the practice of urban foraging within urban food systems. This research aims to advance the understanding of plural values of urban residents towards urban foraging, and to explore the potential of urban foraging in relation to urban food systems transformations and edible city initiatives. We use a pioneering approach across four European cities that combines assemblage ethnography, photovoice, arts-based focus groups, Q-methodology, online surveys and visioning workshops. Moreover, we use participatory and inclusive ways of involving socio-culturally diverse groups of foragers in research processes.

In the spring of 2026, an agroforestry trial site was established on a 24-hectare arable plot in Fuchsenbigl, managed by Bundesversuchwirtschaften GmbH. The project aims to determine the production-related and ecological effects of agroforestry structures on arable farming in arid regions, as well as the impact of agroforestry strips on wind reduction and crop yields across varying widths of arable strips. The agroforestry area comprises 11 rows of woody plants and three distinct system types featuring different arable strip widths (81 m, 45 m, and 22 m). The spacing between the rows of woody plants is the primary factor in analyzing their effects on yield, wind reduction, and soil water dynamics. Additionally, the varied design of the woody rows—ranging from single rows of high-value timber with intermediate woody species to multi-row multi-purpose hedges and single rows of fruit-bearing trees—allows for the investigation of how different agroforestry systems influence arable crops and ecological parameters at the field level (such as erosion, biodiversity, and carbon sequestration).