Clim4Vitis

Inspiration

In the light of climate change impacts on vegetation, European viticulture might face critical pressures such as increased temperatures and the outbreak of new diseases or pests. In order to assess, and thus mitigate those impacts on grapevine, European countries need to develop their knowledge and expertise, but also to create an integrated approach.

However, they do not have at their disposal the same knowledge and skills in the fields of viticulture and climate. Furthermore, the existing viticulture models differ greatly from a country to another depending on e.g. the region and its environmental conditions.

In this context, there is a pressing need for an international knowledge transfer and a collaboration between leader and Widening countries of the sector.

Innovation

Within Clim4Vitis, the project partners will strengthen and raise the capacity and performance of the Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro (UTAD - coordinator) based in Portugal (Widening country) in its research in viticulture and climate. The objectives of the knowledge transfer will be focused on grapevine modelling as well as on the methods and the tools for assessing climate change impacts on European viticulture, and on grapevine productivity, quality attributes and risk of diseases and pests in particular.

To do so, LIST and its European partners will work closely to ensure transfer knowledge towards UTAD. Clim4Vitis partners will share their existing knowledge and complementary skills to develop a commonly usable synchronised database and a standardised grapevine model family for different European viticulture areas. It will allow the simulation of the impacts of climate change on grapevine phenology, as well as on the biology and epidemiology of grape diseases and pests.

With their strong expertise in viticulture, in close collaboration with the Luxembourg’s Wine Institute “Institut Viti-viticole” (e.g. TerroirFuture and Biovim projects), but also in climate research and in environmental informatics (e.g. big data analyses, modelling, integration), LIST researchers will actively contribute to this transfer.

LIST will also ensure the future sustainability of the Clim4Vitis project by taking the lead of one work-package that aims to define the details of future joint collaboration on beyond the project and of the ways to exploit project outcomes.

Impact

Clim4Vitis will enable UTAD to significantly raise its capacity and performance in the fields of viticulture and climate. In addition, it will allow partners to exchange their existing knowledge and increase the awareness of methods and tools used, but also to discuss how those various data could be implemented in an integrated approach. Therefore, Clim4Vitis places itself as a robust foundation for future European research projects. 

At the European scale, this innovative Coordination and Support Action will lead to a strengthen network and a long-term collaboration between the different partners. As a result, Clim4Vitis will increase the international visibility of LIST and all partners.

From a national and an international point of view, climate change impacts on grapevine could be critical for winegrowers and could have important societal and economic effects. The international transfer of knowledge made and the consultation for an integrated approach will thus be from great interest for Luxembourg and all the European Union countries concerned by the climate change impacts on viticulture.

Clim4Vitis project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation programme, under the Grant Agreement number 810176.