EURO-AGRIWAT: Assessment of EUROpean AGRIculture WATer use and trade under climate change

The COST Action EURO-AGRIWAT will focus on the assessment of water footprint (WF) and virtual water trade (VWT) of key food and no-food agricultural products, including their uncertainties, as well as scenarios concerning WF and VWT under future climatic conditions. The use of advanced tools and data such as remote sensing, updated climatic databases, climatic projections/scenarios and agrometeorological models represents the base of the activity. The use of such instruments will allow a detailed analysis of interactions between crops, climate and management that will be taken into account in the WF assessment. An important component of the Action will be the preparation and dissemination of recommendations and guidelines for enabling a more efficient water resource management in relation with agricultural activities under climate change and variability. The framework of a COST Action represents the most suitable way for facing the outstanding and multi-faceted problem of sustainable water use, being characterized by a non-competitive and interdisciplinary environment of high scientific level. These features will allow a collaboration between scientists and stakeholders and the development of common strategies to broaden the available research expertise.