SLAM-B

To achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 and build more sustainable production systems, we need to develop a bioeconomy in which the production and processing of foods and non-food products is balanced with the conservation of natural resources. To this end, we must encourage regional approaches that combine diverse strategies, including agroecological practices, optimised resource use, collective action, and virtuous circles of interactions (e.g., circular economies, stronger rural-urban links).

Integrated assessment models (IAMs) are a powerful approach that stakeholders can use when creating regional socioeconomic structures, such as bioeconomies. Such models can integrate general pluridisciplinary knowledge together with the empirical knowledge gathered by stakeholders. They can then be used to simulate and evaluate ex ante scenarios in which regional structures undergo endogenous or exogenous changes.

 SLAM-B  aims

to unite French researchers currently developing and employing IAMs and to collaboratively design a sustainable bioeconomy that is based on agroecology. SLAM-B will examine the influences of different bioeconomic forces, including the diversity of production systems, raw materials and finished products, biorefineries, recycling loops, and industry architecture. SLAM-B will tackle major scientific challenges via three specific actions: (1) developing generic IAM approaches for simulating bioeconomy transitions and predicting their consequences; (2) demonstrating the practical utility of these approaches by applying them within exploration-oriented living labs, what we call scenario labs; and (3) producing customised knowledge for French and European policymakers.

To carry out these tasks, SLAM-B is organised into three interconnected work packages (WPs). WP1 will develop new functionalities for the MAELIA platform (maelia-platform.inra.fr). Specifically, it will integrate a range of simulation modules, including those focused on contrasting livestock systems, environmental biorefineries, biobased materials, spatiotemporal optimisation of industry structures, life cycle analysis, and global resource limitations. To provide proof of concept for MAELIA-based IAMs, WP2 will establish and run six scenario labs in Armorique, Vosges, Vaucluse, Greater Reims, Réunion Island, and Northern Senegal. These labs cover a vast range of pedoclimatic, agricultural, forestry, urban, and socioeconomic conditions. Finally, WP3 aims to create and apply IAMs at national and European scales. The objective is three-fold: clarify the quantities of crop residues and cover crops available to different bioeconomic industries, assess the degree of ecological intensification possible in forestry and agricultural systems, and evaluate biogas production potential. SLAM-B will rely on the expertise of more than 90 researchers from INRAE, IRD, CIRAD, CNRS, and a variety of French universities.

Their work covers an array of topics: agricultural systems and regions, socioecological modelling of multiagent systems, chemical and bioprocess engineering, sustainability assessment and decision-making tools, political science, economics, and informatics. SLAM-B’s success will enhance the reputation of French researchers working on IAM approaches and improve our understanding of the transitional pathways we can take towards a sustainable bioeconomy.

Project coordinators : Olivier Therond (INRAE, LAE), Bernard Kurek (INRAE, FARE), and Lorie Hamelin (INRAE, TBI)

Partner institutions: National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food, and Environment (INRAE), Paris Institute of Technology for Life, Food and Environmental Sciences (AgroParisTech), VetAgroSup, French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development (CIRAD), French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development (IRD), Paris Cité University (UParisCité), University of Reims Champagne-Ardenne (URCA), University of Toulouse Capitole (UTC), University of Montpellier (UM), Cheikh Anta Diop Dakar University - Senegal (UCAD)