Project description
Social tipping points to tackle the freshwater crisis
The increasing global demand for agricultural products is straining water resources and exacerbating groundwater depletion. Agricultural land conversion and rising irrigation needs disrupt atmospheric moisture recycling, essential for climate regulation. The ERC-funded TIP-FRESH project aims to tackle the freshwater crisis in the global food system using the concept of social tipping points. It seeks to promote less water-intensive diets that are emerging in niche markets. The project will create an integrated framework that combines disciplines, using mathematical tools to analyse dietary patterns and historical tipping dynamics. Hydrological modelling will assess the freshwater impacts of diets, especially those linked to livestock-driven deforestation. Additionally, a system dynamics model will support the transition to sustainable diets.
Objective
The increasing global demand for farmland products is placing unprecedented pressure on the global agricultural system and its water resources. Landscape conversion for agriculture (of which 75% is used for livestock) and increasing irrigation demand (accounting 70% of global water withdrawals) are exacerbating water stress and groundwater depletion, while altering atmospheric moisture recycling (i.e. the process of water evaporating from land, flowing through the atmosphere, and falling out again as precipitation over land), which is vital for regulating the climate and the Earth’s system stability.
To accelerate the food system transition toward sustainable diets, TIP-FRESH will pioneer a groundbreaking approach to reversing the freshwater crisis through social tipping points in the global food system. The concept of Social Tipping Points that this project exploits offers an opportunity to escape the current dominant food regime and spread the adoption of less water-intensive diets that have already been adopted in niches. Individual and collective dietary shifts can trigger cascading impacts across international trade networks and production systems, ultimately reshaping the way freshwater is consumed and preserved.
By leveraging the concept of social tipping points, TIP-FRESH project will develop a novel framework integrating multidisciplinary approaches: mathematical tools will be employed to analyse dietary patterns and diagnose how tipping dynamics have manifested over past decades; hydrological modelling will provide a deeper understanding on the diets’ freshwater impacts by newly quantifying the hydrological repercussions of livestock-driven deforestation; and system dynamic model describing behavioural change will pave the way to sustainable diets and their potential to spread from niche behaviours to the dominant food regime through social networks.
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.
- engineering and technology civil engineering water engineering irrigation
- medical and health sciences health sciences nutrition
- agricultural sciences agriculture, forestry, and fisheries agriculture
- agricultural sciences animal and dairy science domestic animals animal husbandry
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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.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
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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
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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.
10129 Torino
Italy
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