TAPELINE 

Transitioning to Agroecology through participatory Learning, Implementation of TAPE Tool, strategizing and Networking, and Enrolling 

TAPELINE is a 36-month research and innovation project (01/04/2025 – 31/03/2028) selected by the AGROECOLOGY Partnership, a European Partnership co-funded by the European Union under Horizon Europe, and coordinated by the University of Lausanne (UNIL). Eight organisations from Belgium, Cyprus, Germany, Italy and Switzerland work with farmers, advisers, researchers, public authorities and civil society in five territories (Valais, Troodos, Lazio, Saxony-Anhalt and Wallonia) to take agroecology from individual farms to whole landscapes. In each territory, local actors assess how far their agrifood system has moved towards agroecology, using the Tool for Agroecology Performance Evaluation (TAPE) of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and then agree on a shared strategy for the next steps of the transition. In Cyprus, Citizens in Power (CIP) and the MountMed Institute set up a pilot agroecology Living Lab in the Troodos mountain region. 

The challenge 

Agroecology applies ecological and social principles to the way food is produced, processed and consumed. The FAO’s 10 Elements of Agroecology provide a common framework, and both the European Green Deal and the Farm to Fork Strategy recognise the importance of food systems for ecosystems, biodiversity and health. Most of the available evidence, however, concerns individual plots and farms. Putting agroecology into practice across a whole territory, where farms, value chains, land use, public policy and local communities interact, remains limited, and research at this scale is only starting to gain momentum. 

Two gaps stand out. First, territories lack a shared, evidence-based picture of where they stand: TAPE has so far been applied mainly outside Europe and does not yet fully capture the landscape dimension. Second, moving from evidence to action requires the people concerned (farmers, advisers, local authorities, businesses and civil society) to agree on what should change and how it can be financed, which calls for a structured, participatory process. At the same time, farming communities face climate change, low farm-gate prices and the low attractiveness of farming for young people. TAPELINE responds by combining stakeholder engagement with the co-creation of evidence, strategies and practical guidance. 

What the project does 

TAPELINE follows the four-step pathway that gives the project its name, L-I-N-E: Learn, Implement, Network and strategise, Enrol. 

Learn. Facilitators from each country are trained in the theory and practice of agroecology by experts identified through the FAO, using a common syllabus that is then translated into the local languages. In each territory they run three co-learning events for the members of a Multi-Actor Platform (MAP): 8 to 12 people who represent the diversity of the local agrifood system, from farmers and advisers to public officials, researchers and civil society. 

Implement. Together with the FAO team responsible for TAPE, the partners adapt the tool to the European context and apply it in each territory. The assessment starts with a review of the local context, continues with a farm survey that measures how far the transition has progressed and how farms perform in terms of governance, economy, health and nutrition, society and culture, and the environment, and ends with workshops in which MAP members interpret the results together. 

Network and strategise. Building on this evidence, each MAP co-designs a strategic roadmap for its territory, selects concrete interventions (for example reintroducing ancient crop varieties, setting up composting facilities or extending low-input farming) and identifies sources of funding for them. A dashboard based on TAPE indicators allows each territory to monitor its progress. In Lazio, the University of Tuscia pilots a landscape approach that tests agroecological transition scenarios for the Regional Agricultural Plan. 

Enrol. A mentoring programme supports local innovators in scaling up agroecological initiatives; links with the Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation Systems (AKIS) and with the Erasmus+ programme extend the learning beyond the consortium; and the pilot Living Lab in Cyprus tests agroecological interventions in real-life conditions, as a model for the other territories. 

Throughout the project, the partners pool the lessons from the five territories, develop a method for including ecosystem services in the TAPE assessment and turn the experience into guidelines that other European territories can follow. 

What the project will deliver 

• Five Multi-Actor Platforms, one per territory, supported by trained facilitators and a training syllabus available in English and in the local languages. 

• A TAPE tool adapted to the European context and upgraded for the landscape level, including a method for integrating ecosystem services. 

• An assessment of agroecological performance in the five territories: reviews of the local context and reports on the multidimensional performance of agroecology. 

• Five participatory strategic roadmaps, each with a list of concrete interventions and their funding sources, and five territorial dashboards for monitoring progress. 

• A pilot agroecology Living Lab in Cyprus, with guidelines for establishing living labs and sustaining them in the long term, and an exchange on replication in the other territories. 

• A mentoring programme with five to ten mentors and at least three mentees per territory, links with AKIS, and an Erasmus+ project proposal on agroecological transition pathways. 

• The TAPELINE Guide for replication, at least three online training modules for practitioners outside the consortium, and at least two scientific publications and five conference presentations. 

The partnership 

TAPELINE brings together eight organisations from five countries. The University of Lausanne (UNIL, Switzerland) coordinates the project. The partners are the Research and Development Institute for the Mountain Regions of the Mediterranean Islands – MountMed Institute (Cyprus), UCLouvain (Belgium), the University of Tuscia (Italy), Martin-Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (Germany), Associazione Agricoltura è Vita (Italy), Citizens in Power (Cyprus) and Farm For Good (Belgium). The FAO, whose team developed TAPE, is an associate partner of the project. 

CIP’s role 

Citizens in Power is the host organisation of the Cypriot consortium, which also includes the MountMed Institute and is funded by the Research and Innovation Foundation. CIP co-leads the work package ‘Enrolling’ and is responsible for three of its tasks. Together with the MountMed Institute, it leads the establishment of the pilot agroecology Living Lab in the Troodos mountain region. The Living Lab builds on the stakeholder engagement of the National Strategy for the Development of Mountain Communities and connects the members of the Cyprus Multi-Actor Platform with local researchers, public authorities and practitioners, so that agroecological interventions are co-created and tested with the people who will use them. CIP also prepares the guidelines for establishing living labs and sustaining them in the long term, and leads the exchange on replicating the Living Lab in the other territories. Finally, it connects TAPELINE with the Erasmus+ programme by coordinating a project proposal on agroecological transition pathways. In Cyprus, CIP also contributes to the co-learning events, the TAPE assessment and the strategic roadmap, supports the project website and social media, and co-organises the consortium meetings. 

Funding statement and disclaimer (italic on the live page, below the co-funding logo): 

TAPELINE is a project selected by the AGROECOLOGY Partnership (European Partnership ‘Accelerating Farming Systems Transition: Agroecology Living Labs and Research Infrastructures’), co-funded by the European Union under Horizon Europe. In Cyprus, the project (EP/AGROECOLOGY/0424/0004) is funded through the Research and Innovation Foundation. 

Co-funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Research Executive Agency (REA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them. 

The project is implemented under the programme of social cohesion “THALIA 2021-2027” co-funded by the European Union, through Research and Innovation Foundation.