Project description
Understanding the social aspects of plant disease
Plant health is essential for sustainable development, but current research on plant diseases focuses mainly on ecological and economic factors, neglecting social aspects such as farmers’ vulnerability and adaptability. Thus, it is challenging to develop equitable solutions for managing plant diseases. With the support of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the PROPS project will develop a new approach to understanding the political ecology of plant disease by focusing on Xylella fastidiosa, an invasive bacterium posing a severe threat to EU plant health. It will conduct fieldwork in the Balearic Islands and the Valencian Community, both affected by Xylella fastidiosa. The findings will help inform more equitable plant health policies.
Objective
Plant health is vital for sustainable development. Plant pathogens threaten economies, food security, and rural livelihoods. Existing plant disease research focuses on ecology, epidemiology, and economic losses. This overlooks social questions such as what makes farmers vulnerable to plant disease and what enables them to adapt. Without this knowledge, it is difficult to develop equitable solutions to manage plant disease.
During my MSCA fellowship, I will work with the Laboratory for the Analysis of Social-Ecological Systems in a Globalised World (LASEG) at the Autonomous University of Barcelona. Working with experts on environmental governance and rural wellbeing, I will develop a novel approach to understanding the political ecology of plant disease. My empirical focus is Xylella fastidiosa, an invasive bacteria that is considered the most serious threat to EU plant health in generations. I will conduct fieldwork in two regions of Spain facing an outbreak of XF: the Balearic Islands and the Valencian Community. During preliminary research in these regions in 2019 and 2022, I built a team of stakeholders that includes farmers, government officials, agricultural cooperatives, scientists, and more.
I will 1) use Q-method to map stakeholder perspectives on Xylella governance; 2) interview farmers to understand Xylellas impacts in terms of differential vulnerability and ability to adapt; and 3) conduct participatory Photovoice workshops to engage rural communities in envisioning possible rural futures for living with Xylella. Through a six-month traineeship with the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), my findings will feed into ongoing science and policy dialogues on Xylella. By foregrounding place-based knowledge, my approach will help inform more equitable plant health policies. Specifically, we will answer calls to merge top-down efforts to manage plant pathogens with bottom-up approaches that take into account farmers lived experiences and realities.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- agricultural sciences agriculture, forestry, and fisheries agriculture agronomy plant protection
- social sciences sociology governance
- natural sciences biological sciences microbiology bacteriology
- medical and health sciences health sciences public health epidemiology
- natural sciences biological sciences ecology
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
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Topic(s)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
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Call for proposal
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Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2023-PF-01
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
08193 Cerdanyola Del Valles
Spain
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