Presentation of SLAM-B

  To achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 and build more sustainable production systems, we must develop a bioeconomy in which the production and processing of foods and non-food products is balanced with the conservation of natural resources. To this end, we must encourage territorial approaches that combine diverse strategies, including agroecological practices, optimised resource use, collective action, and virtuous circles of interactions (e.g., circular economies, stronger rural-urban links).

Integrated Assessment and Modelling (IAMs) are a powerful approach that stakeholders can use when creating regional socioeconomic structures, such as bioeconomies. Such models can integrate general multidisciplinary knowledge together with the empirical knowledge gathered by stakeholders. The resulting models can then simulate and evaluate ex ante scenarios in which regional structures undergo endogenous or exogenous changes. As FairCarboN’s second target project, SLAM-B aims to unite French researchers currently developing and employing IAMs and to collaboratively design a sustainable bioeconomy that is based on agroecology. SLAM-B will examine the influences of different bioeconomic forces, including the diversity of production systems, raw materials and finished products, biorefineries, recycling loops, and industry architecture. SLAM-B aims to tackle major scientific challenges via three specific actions: (i) developing generic IAM approaches for simulating bioeconomy transitions and predicting their consequences; (ii) demonstrating the practical utility of these approaches by applying them within exploration-oriented living labs, which we will call scenario labs; and (iii) producing tailored knowledge for French and European policymakers.

To carry out these tasks, SLAM-B is organised into three interconnected work packages (WPs). WP1 will develop new functionalities for the MAELIA platform. Specifically, it will integrate a range of simulation modules, including those focused on contrasting livestock systems, environmental biorefineries, biobased materials, spatiotemporal optimisation of industry structures, life cycle analysis, and global resource limitations. To provide proof of concept for MAELIA-based IAMs, WP2 will establish and run six scenario labs in Armorique, Vosges, Vaucluse, Greater Reims, Réunion Island, and Northern Senegal. These labs cover a vast range of pedoclimatic, agricultural, forestry, urban, and socioeconomic conditions. Finally, WP3 aims to create and apply IAMs at national and European scales. The objective is three-fold: clarify the quantities of crop residues and cover crops available to different bioeconomy industries, assess the degree of ecological intensification possible in forestry and agricultural systems, and evaluate biogas production potential.

SLAM-B will rely on the expertise of more than 90 researchers from INRAE, IRD, CIRAD, CNRS, and a variety of French universities. Their work covers an array of topics: agricultural systems and territories, socioecological modelling of multiagent systems, chemical and bioprocess engineering, sustainability assessment and decision-making tools, political science, economics, and informatics. SLAM-B’s success will enhance the reputation of French researchers working on IAM approaches and improve our understanding of transitional pathways towards a sustainable bioeconomy.

WP0 : Coordination and evaluation évaluation

WP0 aims to establish effective collaboration between all project participants and to articulate research activities. This WP will also be responsible for formulating key performance criteria (KPIs) for the bioeconomy, from local to EU level.

WP1 : Extending MAELIA's functionalities

Towards integrated modelling and assessment of green circular bioeconomy systems

WP1 aims to develop new generic functionalities for the MAELIA platform and its use. Considering MAELIA's current functionalities, it focuses on :

• restructuring the IT architecture of the platform and of GAMA to ensure IT robustness and stability, numerical performance and the ability to couple with existing models as simply as possible,
• the development of automatic sensitivity analysis and uncertainty assessment procedures,
• the development of an architecture for managing the data and references (e.g. emissions) required to carry out territorial LCAs,
• the development and integration into MAELIA of a set of biorefinery models: on the one hand, environmental biorefineries for energy and agricultural purposes, and on the other, biorefineries for biobased products,
• development of a generic model of livestock farming systems,
• the development of simulation procedures for the spatio-temporal organization of commodity chains, with a model for the spatial optimization of commodity chain organization and a simulation model for bridging networks,
• the coupling of the MAELIA and CAPSIS platforms to jointly consider agricultural and forestry production chains,
• finalization of the integration of the YieldSAFE agroforestry model and the HerbSIM grassland model,
• the integration of the metabolism of urban spaces into MAELIA,
• development of an economic performance model for value chains,
• the formalization and discussion of multiple governance options to achieve carbon neutrality.

25 laboratories will be involved in this working group (in black in the figure below). This working group will interact with the ALAMOD project, FairCarboN's target project n°1.

WP2 : Scenario labs of territorial bioeconomy

Proof of Concept and carbon neutrality scenarios

The objectives of WP2 are set out in six Scenario Labs, which have been selected to cover a very wide range of pedoclimatic, agricultural, forestry and urban situations, as well as socio-economic issues. They all correspond to territories in which previous research initiatives have enabled interdisciplinary teams to be deployed, numerous biophysical, socio-technical and economic data to be collected, and sustainable science-society arenas to be established. Four scenario labs are located in mainland France (3 under the responsibility of INRAE and one CNRS), while the other two will be located on Reunion Island (CIRAD) and in northern Senegal (IRD).

WP3 : Bioeconomy scenarios for France and the European Union

Modelling and assessment of green circular bioeconomy scenarios

The objectives of WP3 are to develop and assess the sustainability of bioeconomy scenarios in contrasting territories on a large scale, i.e. that of France and Europe. Its main aim is to support public decision-making, both through the development of tailor-made indicators for setting up and investing in bio-economy sectors in territories, and through solutions applicable on a large scale for mobilizing and sustainably using additional agricultural and forest biomass, and sequestering carbon in soils. WP3 will build on dynamic and spatially explicit data, but at a lower resolution than WP1, which will not allow the same level of variability to be captured; the repercussion this could have on the results in terms of guiding public decision-making will be assessed by comparing the modeling approaches of WP1 and WP3 for a given territory. The WP3 tasks are detailed as follows:

• Bare soil cover: potential on an EU scale,
• Interactions between crop residues and the bioeconomy: simulation of crop residue production on an EU scale, co-product valorization and long-term evolution of soil organic carbon,
• Analysis and modeling of the energy efficiency of agricultural systems,
• Agricultural intensification scenarios on an EU scale,
• Forest management and new uses for wood in France,
• Potential level and consequences of biogas production in the EU,
• Development of a MAELIA instance for France and comparison of the strengths and weaknesses of the different modeling approaches implemented in WP3.

16 laboratories will be involved in this working group (in black in the figure below). This working group will interact with the ALAMOD project, FairCarboN's target project n°1.