Research

Digital data processing and the possibilities of data and knowledge management have massively changed the way we work in daily life. Whereas previously all information had to be recorded manually on paper, the information and communication technologies (ICT) allow a largely automated documentation and processing of the data necessary for the daily work process. The opportunities that this ultimately opens up for agriculture must be seized at all costs in order not to lose touch with international developments. The foundation of the platform "Digitisation in Agriculture" in 2017 has taken this challenge into account. The report of the same name, published in November 2018, not only described the state of development, but above all proposed a number of measures that could contribute to the further development and benefit of new technologies in agriculture. The planned project takes up the objectives set out in the cluster call with a comprehensive package of measures. On the one hand, the project aims to make the new technological developments more visible to farmers (Project II). In further sub-projects, solutions for simplifying extension services and farm management (project III) as well as concepts for simplified assessment of environmental impacts with the help of new technologies (project V) are to be developed. A general, extremely sensitive and important topic is the legal framework conditions, which will be analysed in Project IV and presented in the form of illustrative use cases. These extensive tasks can only be dealt with through the cooperation of experienced and competent experts and institutions. The new and innovative approach in the cluster project represents the bundling of the competences of the most important actors in the field of digitisation in agriculture. Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

With the European Climate Law, the achievement of the EU's climate target formulated in the European Green Deal to reduce emissions in the EU by at least 55% by 2030 becomes a legal obligation. The Fit for 55 package includes a number of proposals to revise and update EU legislation and aims to ensure a coherent and balanced framework for achieving the EU's climate goals. With the presentation of this package, the European Commission proposes a net carbon storage target of 310 Mt CO2 eq in the LULUCF sector for the EU by 2030, and a binding national target of 5,650 kt CO2 eq applies to Austria. In this context, the European Commission proposes to establish a carbon storage certification scheme to provide additional incentives to increase net carbon storage. Within the framework of a study, the potentials for increasing net carbon storage in land use are to be evaluated with a view to achieving the target proposed for Austria. To this end, the willingness of farmers to implement possible additional measures of land management and land use changes with regard to agricultural land will be examined. With the support of the expertise of suitable partners, a practical questionnaire will be developed that asks about the willingness to implement additional measures for additional carbon storage in soil and biomass (compared to the current state) on farms. In addition, a research and presentation of conducive and inhibiting socio-economic framework conditions in Austria for the implementation of measures for carbon storage on agricultural land is carried out.

In the Austrian Circular Economy Strategy adopted in 2022, one goal is defined as the reduction of Austria's material footprint from 24 t/cap/a (2019) to 7 t/cap/a by 2050 (BMK 2022). The material footprint is calculated by Statistics Austria as part of the MFA reporting using a calculation tool provided by the Institute for Social Ecology (see Schaffartzik et al. 2014). This tool will be revised and further developed along the following milestones: 1. Workshop #1: Discussion of options for updating and improving the Excel tool developed by BOKU Vienna for calculating raw material equivalents and material footprints as well as assessment of feasibility and decision on implementation. 2. update of the tool: support and contribution to the revision process of the input-output model and implementation in the Excel tool. 3. Workshop #2: Evaluation and discussion of the results of the updated Excel tool in comparison with results from the previous RME tool and with results from the calculation with the Eurostat country tool. Decision on the future procedure.