Lusignan, France | 1–2 July 2026
The DairyPathS consortium officially launched the project during its Kick-Off Meeting, held on 1–2 July 2026 at the INRAE Nouvelle-Aquitaine Poitiers research centre in Lusignan, France. The meeting brought together partners from across Europe to establish a shared vision, strengthen collaboration, and prepare the first steps towards supporting the agroecological transition of dairy farming.
Over the two-day meeting, partners discussed the project’s overall objectives, work plan and governance, while focusing on the strong interaction required between the Living Labs, modelling activities, biodiversity assessment and multi-criteria sustainability assessment. A common understanding of the project’s methodology and the collaboration between work packages was established to ensure that scientific activities remain closely connected with stakeholder needs throughout the project.
Important discussions also addressed the organisation of the seven Living Labs, the co-development of agroecological transition scenarios, farm data collection, and the harmonisation of methodologies that will be applied across the different regions. The consortium agreed on the importance of maintaining a common project framework while allowing sufficient flexibility to reflect the diversity of dairy production systems and regional contexts across Europe.
The second day included a technical visit to the INRAE Ferlus/OasYs Research Infrastructure, where participants explored innovative research facilities and exchanged ideas that will support future scenario development and project activities. The consortium also discussed the project’s dissemination, communication and capacity-building strategy, highlighting the importance of making project results accessible to farmers, advisors, policymakers and the wider scientific community.
The Kick-Off Meeting marked an important milestone for DairyPathS, providing a strong foundation for the collaborative work that will continue over the coming years. The consortium would like to thank all partners for their active participation, valuable contributions and enthusiastic engagement, and looks forward to sharing the first project developments in the near future.