Support for Policy Relevant Modelling of Agriculture (SUPREMA) is expected to increase and improve the capacity of existing agricultural models to answer the new policy questions, therefore better meeting the expectations by policy makers. SUPREMA is a meta-platform for agricultural modelling supported by three main pillars (needs, tools and testing), based on a stakeholder foundation to bridge the gap between expectations of policy makers and capacity of models.
The SUPREMA project has four coherent objectives:
- A SUPREMA roadmap of future directions for modelling will be developed. The needs for improving the capacity of current models or a linked system of models to deliver on an increasing variety of policy objectives are defined. This science-policy interaction will bridge the gap between the expectations of policy makers and the capacity of models in a more complex environment by improving the mutual understanding and clarifying research needs and feasible strategies.
- An enhanced and strengthened SUPREMA model family will be created. The performance and capacity of current tools, individually and as a linked system, will be enhanced in a few focus areas for integrating new policy challenges (e.g. climate change, SDGs, supply chains). The capacity of the modelling network will be strengthened by an enhanced infrastructure for database improvements and model interaction, strengthening of existing and establishing new linkages among models, targeted technical improvements and consolidation activities (i.e. model testing and versioning).
- Future directions of modelling in agriculture will be explored and tested through scenario applications involving the SUPREMA models in a coordinated fashion. The testing will enable a better understanding of the functioning of the SUPREMA model family and the EU agricultural sector at different spatial scales (e.g. European, national, regional and farm level) for different applications. A baseline and two selected policy case studies will be implemented to showcase the potential and limitations of the model suite to represent different scales of agriculture, various agricultural activities, different aspects of upstream and downstream sectors, bilateral trade and multiple policies affecting agriculture directly or indirectly.
- A SUPREMA meta-platform will be established, to share and discuss the findings of the work with existing model platforms, research communities, and policy makers. The SUPREMA meta-platform will be open towards existing platforms and policy makers and will host three science-policy workshops to discuss existing capacity in modelling agriculture, identify the needs for modelling and explore future directions for modelling.