Project description
Training for environmentally sustainable livestock production systems
Ruminant farming impacts the environment through land use change, methane emissions, deforestation, and biodiversity loss. In addition, the consumption of livestock proteins exceeds total human protein requirements for a healthy diet in many EU Member States. However, ruminants can convert biomass into valuable food and contribute to maintaining the landscape. Consequently, the development of environmentally sustainable livestock production systems is required. The EU-funded HEARTLAND project will train PhD graduates in the multidisciplinary topic of soil-to-society, design, implement and evaluate a soil and grazing farm management system to maximise the positive impact on the environment, improve the nutritional and sensory quality of meat, and disseminate the findings.
Objective
Livestock farming is increasingly in the spotlight because of its impacts on the environment and human health. Global livestock production, specifically ruminant farming, has been associated with land use change, methane emissions, climate change, deforestation and biodiversity loss. At the same time, consumption of livestock proteins exceeds total human protein requirements for a healthy diet in most European Member States.
However, ruminants can convert biomass unsuitable for direct human consumption (e.g. grass resources) into valuable food, including essential macro and micro-nutrients for humans. While grazing, ruminants contribute to: maintaining the landscape and, in specific local conditions, to; enhancing biodiversity and increasing carbon sequestration.
The contemporary industry challenge is therefore to develop livestock production systems that simultaneously enhance environmental sustainability and support a healthy diet. This is a knowledge-intensive process. Therefore, this European Industrial Doctorate (EID) programme – HEARTLAND+ will connect one of the most notable industry to the cutting-edge scientific knowledge while maximising the impact of the programme by working closely with experts in communication (to multiple audiences) and dissemination (to potential end-users).
The objectives of HEARTLAND+ can be summarized as follows:
1. To train a new generation of creative, entrepreneurial and innovative PhD graduates in the multidisciplinary topic of soil-to-society
2. To design, implement and evaluate a soil, sward, and grazing farm management system aimed at maximising the positive impact on the environment, improving the nutritional and sensory quality of meat, and consequently improving human health in component and systems research
3. To upscale the findings to contribute to the sectoral development of sustainable production systems and land management
4. To communicate, disseminate and exploit the findings
Fields of science
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesbiochemistrybiomoleculesproteins
- medical and health scienceshealth sciencesnutrition
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesecologyecosystems
- agricultural sciencesanimal and dairy sciencedomestic animalsanimal husbandry
- social scienceseconomics and businesseconomicssustainable economy
Programme(s)
Coordinator
6708 PB Wageningen
Netherlands