Work Package 2

Advanced Farmer Clusters will establish and coordinate 11 pilot studies (Table 1.3a). It will facilitate the creation of each Advanced Farmer Cluster including the Cluster Stakeholder Groups and their interaction, and oversee biodiversity management activities including implementation, monitoring, and evaluation. Standardised methods will be used across the partners to monitor outcomes, including biodiversity, ES, farm operations and productivity. The Clusters will also operate as living-labs, providing ‘real-world’ platforms for landscape ecological studies to inform the development and testing of methods and tools for the management, monitoring and evaluation of biodiversity (WP5); the design of incentives to encourage biodiversity management by Farmer Clusters (WP6); and share information and data for systems analysis (WP7). Each Pilot Study will be used to instigate change in the region by demonstrating best-practice and inspiring other farmers, thereby establishing a self-sustaining and growing Advanced Farmer Cluster Network across Europe.