The LegumES project, “Valorizing and balancing the ecosystem service benefits offered by legumes, and legume-based cropped systems”, responds to urgent European and global challenges in agriculture, biodiversity, climate resilience, and food system sustainability. Legumes are uniquely positioned to deliver multiple ecosystem services (ES), including biological nitrogen fixation, enhancing soil fertility and function, supporting biodiversity, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Yet, the potential of legumes remains underutilised due to a fragmented knowledge and evidence base, limited policy support, and insufficient stakeholder engagement. Hence, the overarching goal of legumES is to deliver the tools to monitor ES indicators (ESIs), and evidence ES delivery across scales from field- and farm, to national and global. This facilitative framework seeks to see levels of legumes inclusion increase to values capable of delivering the highest agroecological standards; standards which see improved soil- and water-qualities, climate impact resilience, and enhanced biodiversity; and delivered in an equitable manner – in support of a variety of EU-policies. LegumES is structured around seven interlinked Work Packages (WPs), each addressing a strategic objective.
1. Stakeholder Engagement & Capacity Building (WP1, WP2): empower farmers, advisors, students, and value chain actors through participatory research, Living Labs, and training.
2. Quantification of Ecosystem Services (WP2, WP3, WP4): develop practical tools and methodologies to measure ES and ecosystem service indicators in environmental and economic terms.
3. Environmental Assessment & Policy Integration (WP2–WP5): evaluate legume benefits at cropping system and value chain levels and inform policy solutions.
4. Economic Valorization (WP2, WP4): demonstrate the economic potential of legumes across scales, from field to EU level.
5. Policy Enablement (WP1, WP5): support legislative and regulatory frameworks that facilitate ES delivery from biodiverse legume systems.
6. Multi-Scale ES Assessment (WP2–WP6): Improve ES delivery at local, regional, and national levels through decision-support tools and advisory instruments.
7. Coordination & Exploitation (WP7): ensure effective data management, dissemination, and exploitation of results.
LegumES is designed to deliver scientific, economic, environmental, and societal impacts:
• Scientific Impact: through harmonised ES integration into Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), development of farmer-accessible indicators, and robust data from 28 pilot studies and 28+ participatory farmer trials.
• Economic Impact: by quantifying ES in monetary terms and demonstrating profitability and resilience of legume systems, the project supports market uptake and policy incentives.
• Environmental Impact: Legumes contribute to reduced nitrogen inputs, improved soil health, carbon sequestration, and biodiversity enhancement.
• Societal Impact: through educational activities, consumer engagement, and cultural valorisation, LegumES fosters public awareness and behavioral change.
Social sciences play a critical role in stakeholder engagement, policy analysis, and behavioural modelling (e.g. Delphi surveys, agent-based models), while humanities contribute to cultural valorisation and educational outreach.
