Olive Sustainability Website
Research - Projects
The soil biodiversity and functionality of mediterranean olive groves: a holistic analysis of the influence of land management on olive oil quality and safety (SOIL O-LIVE)
Soil O-live aims (i) to analyze the impact of pollution and land degradation on soils from olive groves in terms of multi-biodiversity, ecological function at different levels of organization and scales; (ii) to investigate the relationship of soil health status with quality and safety of olive oil; (iii) to implement effective soil amendments and ecological restoration practices that promote manifest soil biodiversity and functionality enhancements in permanent Mediterranean olive orchards across its native range of distribution, that should be translated to improvements in olive oil quality and safety; (iv) to define rigorous ecological thresholds that allow to implement future clear norms and regulations in order to design a novel certification for healthy soils in European olive orchards.
Coordinator: Antonio Manzaneda Dávila (INUO member, University of Jaén)
Funding: 6.988.660 €
Novel approaches to promote the SUSTAInability of OLIVE groves in the Mediterranea (SUSTAINOLIVE)
The main goal of SUSTAINOLIVE is to improve the sustainability of the olive oil sector, through the implementation and promotion of a set of innovative sustainable management solutions, based on agroecological concepts, as well as in the exchange of knowledge and participation of multiple associates and end users.
Coordinator: Roberto García Ruíz (INUO member, University of Jaén)
Funding: 2.032.640,17 €
LIFE OLIVE ALIVE
Olive Alive. Toward the design and certification of olive groves reconciled with biodiversity.
This is an initiative to increase the profitability of the olive grove by recovering its biodiversity. It is a demonstration project that will implement profitable and biodiverse olive growing models. Scientifically sustained models that will generate oils identified and certified by a trademark of added value.
Coordinator: José Eugenio Gutiérrez (SEO/BirdLife)
Funding: 2.856.005 €
Profitable and Sustainable artisanal olive oil industry in the Mediterranean (ARTOLIO)
ARTOLIO aims at establishing, in each participating region, a Native Olive Regional Knowledge Center (NOReKC) which will provide up-to-date training on how an artisanal EVOO should be produced in order to remain competitive; and, at defining a networking management model for artisanal EVOO through a Pan-Mediterranean Platform comprising all NOReKC, which will assist MSMEs across the Mediterranean region in marketing, sales, finance, policy and legislation, at national level and in entering new global markets.
Coordinator: Giora Ben-Ari (National Agricultural Research Center, Israel)
Funding: 2.900.000 €
Mobilization of Olive GenRes through pre-breeding activities to face the future challenges and development of an intelligent interface to ensure friendly information availability for end users (GEN4OLIVE)
The overall objective of GEN4OLIVE project is to accelerate the mobilisation of Olive GenRes and enhance olive pre-breeding activities through a multi-actor approach, by:
- Developing easy-to-use tools to leverage the information collected through a smart user-friendly interface that will implement big data and machine learning utilities.
- Involving SMEs through the launching of specific calls and financial support.
Coordinator: Concepción Muñoz Díez (University of Córdoba)
Funding: 7.385.558,36 €
Integrated novel strategies for reducing the use and impact of pesticides, towards sustainable mediterranean vineyards and olive groves (NOVATERRA)
NOVATERRA is focused on ensuring food security and healthy food access for the increasing population. Through a series of case studies in Mediterranean olive groves and vineyards, the project aims to understand whether it is possible to maintain current yields and quality in Europe and in other regions while eliminating or significantly reducing the use of contentious plant protection products (also known as pesticides).
Coordinator: Institut de Recerca i Tecnologia Agroalimentàries (IRTA, Spain)
Funding: 5.507.110,20 €
Beyond Xylella, Integrated Management Strategies for Mitigating Xylella fastidiosa impact in Europe (BEXYL)
BeXyl is an EU-funded research project involving more than 40 scientific institutions, NGOs, companies, governmental agencies, and farmers’ and nurseries associations worldwide that is designed to improve the management of diseases caused by the quarantine plant bacterium Xylella fastidiosa. The aim of BeXyl is to promote a multidisciplinary approach and innovative solutions to go beyond emergency measures and develop new strategies for sustainable control of Xylella fastidiosa in Europe.
Coordinator: Blanca Landa del Castillo (Instituto de Agricultura Sostenible , CSIC, Spain)
Funding: 7.089.069 €
The ClimOliveMed project acknowledges that tomorrow’s Mediterranean olive growing will have to link the issues of adaptation to climate change, biodiversity and sustainable production.Based on a partnership between academic and professional actors of the olive sector on the northern and southern shores of the Mediterranean, we are betting on diversity as a bulwark against global changes: diversity of varieties, diversity of production systems and diversity of olive actors: olive growers, processors, olive interprofessions, genetic resources managers and researchers.
Coordinator: Bouchaib Khadari (CIRAD, France)
Funding: 1.750.000 €
Innovative system for olive leaf upcycling
The olive oil producing countries in the Mediterranean basin also produce 4.5 million tonnes of olive leaves each year. These leaves – a source of bioactive compounds – need to be removed from fields and the olive mills. The EU-funded OLEAF4VALUE project has set up a consortium of highly experienced partners to develop a valorisation system for this biomass. The consortium will address all levels of the value chain: raw material, biorefining, post-extraction technologies, market validation and sustainability assessment. OLEAF4VALUE will install the foundations of a smart value chain based on the recently developed 4.0 concept Smart Dynamic Multi-Valorisation-Route Biorefinery, or SAMBIO, for the cascade valorisation of olive biomass.
Coordinator: NATAC BIOTECH SL (Spain)
Funding: 5.687.060 €
The BIOVEXO Project is a Bio-Based Industries Joint Undertaking (BBI-JU) Innovation Action .
The BIOVEXO Project aims to produce and test innovative biopesticides, bringing them to a TRL 7-8 (close to market entry) for use in organic and non-organic production systems, specifically:
- Reducing Xylella pressure and disease severity in olive cultivation
- Protecting and securing long-established olive orchards
- Preventing Xylella infections and disease in new olive plantations
- Securing and sustaining jobs in disease affected areas
- Ensuring continued olive and almond cultivation
Coordinator: Stéphane Compant (Austrian Institute of Technology AIT, Austria)
Funding: 8.025.112,41 €
Tackling Multi-Host Pathogenicity of Xylella by Assisted Immunity
Saving Europe’s olive trees
The EU-funded MultiX project aims to reduce disease in crops without yield losses. The project will use a multi-host method combined with dual transcriptomics to systematically analyse bacterial and plant signatures related to disease caused by X. fastidiosa. It will identify virulence factors and plant immunity determinants to understand host susceptibility and reveal immune receptors controlling X. fastidiosa infection. Consequently, it will assist the immune system at different levels of plant tissue organisation with the targeted expression of immune receptors.
Coordinator: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet Muenchen (Germany)
Funding: 2.499.260 €
New generation of bioCOMPosites based on OLIVE fibers for industrial applications (LIFE COMPOLIVE)
LIFE COMP0LIVE project aims to develop a new generation of biocomposites based on olive pruning waste for industrial applications, by boosting the substitution of non-renewable resources through sustainable product design of wood-based fibers.
Coordinator: Manuela Cano Garey (ANDALTEC, Spain)
Funding: 1.818.362 €
The Biodiversity Nexus – Triggering transformative change for sustainability (BIONEXT)
BIONEXT will develop knowledge, tools, and guidance for mainstreaming biodiversity into policy making and provide concrete options on how to initiate, accelerate and upscale biodiversity relevant transformative change in society.
Coordinator: Anna-Stiina Heiskanen (SYKE)
Funding: 4.100.000 €