Consortium

Wageningen University & Research brings real scale to BALANSED. Home to more than 7,000 staff and 12,000 students, WUR tops the QS rankings for agriculture and forestry and has been UI GreenMetric’s most sustainable university nine years running. Its work spans food, land, coasts, water and the bio-based economy, and for years it has brought scientists, government and businesses together. In our consortium, Wageningen Research coordinates the project and grounds our policy recommendations in field-tested research, while Wageningen University leads our work on deliberation tools for each study region.

IIASA thinks in whole systems, not single issues. A fix for one problem often breaks something else, so systems thinking matters. Member organisations back IIASA across four continents and the institute has run research for more than fifty years. This integrated approach turns broad research into practical policy insight ready for the real world. That’s the lens BALANSED needs when land and sea resource decisions affect so many different lives.

As Germany’s national research centre for Earth sciences, researchers at GFZ study how rock, water and climate connect across the whole planet. Helmholtz Centre is also known for treating public dialogue as part of the job, not an extra step as well as building knowledge based communication into their work which is a spot-on match for BALANSED’s approach.

OGS works to build resilient, sustainable communities and ecosystems on a changing planet. The institute turns ocean and Earth data into knowledge people can use. Five research missions guide OGS, covering seas, Earth processes, disaster risk and polar areas, joined by a strong commitment to open science. BALANSED needs this kind of science, rigorous and built to reach the communities involved.

STEP is a Bulgarian NGO built around a simple belief that rural communities and natural resources thrive together, not apart. STEP focuses on High Nature Value farming and common land use and helps farmers build sustainable livelihoods while protecting biodiversity. For BALANSED, STEP brings the voice of rural communities into the room and keeps our commitment to leaving no one behind grounded in real practice.

Pensoft is an independent academic publisher with a long track record in open access journals and books. It has spent years building the tools that make open science work. Its platforms cover next-generation publishing and its services include stakeholder engagement and policy science dialogue, turning research into real-world impact. With rich experience across EU-funded projects, Pensoft knows how to move science into the hands of the people who need it. For BALANSED, Pensoft helps communicate our deliberation processes clearly, reach the right audiences and make the work land.

SFS is the public service behind every forest in Slovenia, regardless of who owns it. Around 730 staff work down to district level, guiding natural forest regeneration and educating forest owners. Their close to nature approach has guided Slovenian forestry for over 50 years. SFS knows what sustainable land management looks like in daily practice.

GIS studies forests in depth, from biodiversity and climate resilience to forest management and sustainable use. As Slovenia’s national forestry research institute, the institute shapes policy and practice and works closely with foresters, industry and environmental groups. For BALANSED, GIS brings solid land based expertise and a track record of turning research into real decisions on the ground.

Since 1992, CEET has connected scientists, policymakers and farmers in Estonia. Organic farming, sound policy and healthy rural economies work as one goal, not separate. As one of the country’s oldest ecological organisations, CEET has spent decades turning good ideas into everyday practice, from hands-on study circles on real farms to advising government on agri-environmental policy. This three-way bridge is what BALANSED aims to build at scale and CEET proves this model works.

CoopsAgroES speaks for the people who work the land. Over 3,600 agri-food cooperatives and more than a million members make up this organisation, supporting 123,700 jobs that keep rural Spain running. CoopsAgroES connects individual farmers to national and European decisions that shape their livelihoods. BALANSED needs this on the ground perspective to make sure no one gets left behind.

Cooperativas Agroalimentarias de Castilla-La Mancha (CALCM) represents agri-food cooperatives across the region, built on a model where success means more than profit. CALCM builds equality, work-life balance and community wellbeing into daily practice and runs nutrition programmes for school-age children through Spain’s NAOS strategy. For BALANSED, CALCM brings a rural, community-first perspective grounded in real, lived practice.

URCACYL represents 150 agricultural cooperatives across Castile and León. Together, these cooperatives bring more than 30,000 farmers, generate over 1.6 billion euros in annual turnover and support 3,000 jobs. The organisation defends the interest of these cooperatives, trains their members and connects the region’s agricultural sector to national and European bodies. For BALANSED, URACYL brings the voice of Castile and León’s farming communities to the table.