H2020 iSAGE Project: Innovation for Sustainable Sheep and Goat Production in Europe

iSAGE will enhance the sustainability, competitiveness, and resilience of the European sheep and goat sectors through industry-research collaboration. iSAGE has a powerful consortium of 18 industry representatives from diverse production systems and socioeconomic contexts across the EU. The sheep and goat sector will be researched because it is sensitive to broader socioeconomic, demographic, ecological, and market challenges; however, the project's approach and results will be made available and disseminated to other EU livestock industries.

Therefore, at the heart of iSAGE is a participatory approach centered on multi-stakeholder internal and external communication (WP) to build the project from the farmer level. This approach will ensure that relevant issues are addressed and that project outcomes are practically applicable. It will create a farm-level observatory and knowledge-sharing network on livestock sustainability. This WP will also support three assessment work packages that will address the sustainability assessment of sheep and goat farming systems and related supply chains, socioeconomic analyses of demographics and consumption trends, and the impacts of climate change.

The evaluation workgroups will inform the action workgroups that will: (1) redesign holistic farming systems to better reconcile the diverse demands related to productivity, sustainability, and societal values. (2) identify industry solutions that aim to improve the sustainability and productivity of sheep and goat systems through breeding, including new phenotypes linked to sustainable animal productivity. iSAGE, together with stakeholders and end-users, will draft a roadmap for future research and policymaking. Stakeholder groups will be key players in disseminating project results through case studies and demonstrations to act as a model for other producers across Europe and create networks to assist in wider implementation of iSAGE outcomes.