Authors: Miranda García (AEIDL) & Ana González (WSER)
On 25 September 2025, Tools4CAP participated in the clustering workshop “Models and tools supporting agricultural policies: a Horizon update”, jointly organised by the Research & Innovation unit at DG Agri and the European Research Executive Agency (REA). The event took place in Brussels, Belgium, bringing together policymakers and Horizon-funded projects focused on providing a toolbox of data and models to support evidence-based agricultural and rural policies.
The workshop aimed to:
- Showcase how innovative data and modelling tools can foster sustainable agriculture and rural development.
- Facilitate the exchange of insights between researchers and policymakers on emerging policy needs and research directions.
- Strengthen collaboration to ensure that scientific evidence informs future EU frameworks, including the post-2027 Common Agricultural Policy.
Tools4CAP contributions
As part of the programme, Tools4CAP delivered a presentation highlighting its work on fostering the use of modelling tools for evidence-based policymaking, drawing on findings from the Dutch case study.
Ana González-Martínez (Wageningen Social & Economic Research) presented the Dutch case study, which explored the integration of several tools to prioritise, design, and monitor eco-schemes. Her presentation focused on the use of the IOI Matrix and the joint ‘Eco-scheme-farm income’ model to support evidence-based policymaking. The combination of these tools help identify policy pathways and assess their impacts on both government and farmers.
Ana highlighted the strengths of the IOI matrix, such as its ability to detect incoherences early and support the design of more sustainable agricultural practices. She also discussed challenges, including the complexity of participation, while recommending to involve a broad range of stakeholders to improve the legitimacy of the outcomes. On the quantitative side, her presentation showcases how the combined use of modelling tools can enrich the outcomes. The findings illustrate how innovative modelling can inform the transition toward more resilient and sustainable farming systems.
Strengthening science-based policymaking
This year’s edition of the workshop was particularly timely, aligning with the publication of the Vision for Agriculture and Food and the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), and the preparation of the post-2027 CAP. It was organised under the 2025 Feedback to Policy plan, an initiative that promotes the uptake of research findings to strengthen science-based policymaking.
A wide range of Horizon Europe projects participated, including AgEnRes, ACT4CAP27, BrightSpace, and LAMASUS, fostering collaboration and knowledge exchange across the EU research and policy ecosystem.