Project description
A biocentric approach to sustainable agriculture
Countless unnoticed life forms, including plants and soil microbes, support agriculture. The ERC-funded BIOTA project aims to create a biocentric ethic for farming, forming a subfield in environmental ethics. Specifically, the project rethinks the rules of farming by focusing on all living things, including those that do not have senses, in moral reasoning. This project combines philosophy and studies plant agriculture, soil biota, and new biotechnologies, while engaging with farmers. The project’s goal is to offer moral advice that supports sustainability and the use of technology, giving a detailed framework for farming that respects all life.
Objective
BIOTA will develop a biocentric ethic of sustainable agriculture to address the lack of biocentric theorising in agricultural ethics and thereby promises to create a new sub-field in environmental philosophy. This necessary theoretical innovation will provide appropriate normative guidance for agricultural practices by reflecting on the plurality of different nonhuman lifeforms that are either the objects – like plants – or enablers – like soil microbes – of agricultural activities. Therefore, BIOTA pays particular attention to the often-overlooked non-sentient organisms facilitating agricultural practices, with a specific focus on plant agriculture (grain, vegetable and fruit farming) – which is frequently attributed a key role in sustainability transitions. Three interlinked layers (representing three objectives) form the core of BIOTA and – ideally – of any adequate biocentric agricultural ethic:
(1) Biocentric theories argue that all living beings (incl. non-sentient organisms) are morally considerable. BIOTA will improve existing biocentric accounts by rethinking their main premisses in a more nuanced and relational way.
(2) By developing agricultural ethics from a biocentric perspective, BIOTA will not only consider the farmer as a moral agent but put myriads of life forms that make agricultural practices possible into the centre of moral theorising (plants, the soil biota incl. bacteria, fungi and insects).
(3) By theorising biocentrism in an empirically informed manner, BIOTA will develop its agricultural ethic in a way that reflects on environmental and technological change. That entails introducing systemic aspects beyond the typical scope of biocentrism – by reflecting on sustainability and socio-ecological resilience –, theorising on novel biotechnologies, and interviewing plant farmers themselves.
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.
This project's classification has been human-validated.
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.
This project's classification has been human-validated.
- agricultural sciences agriculture, forestry, and fisheries agriculture sustainable agriculture
- agricultural sciences agriculture, forestry, and fisheries agriculture grains and oilseeds
- agricultural sciences agriculture, forestry, and fisheries agriculture horticulture fruit growing
- humanities philosophy, ethics and religion ethics
- social sciences social geography
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.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
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.
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-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2025-STG
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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.
3000 LEUVEN
Belgium
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.