LEIBNIZ-ZENTRUM FUER AGRARLANDSCHAFTSFORSCHUNG (ZALF) e.V.

Their core work

ZALF is a German research centre specializing in agricultural landscape research — how farming systems interact with ecosystems, biodiversity, and climate at the landscape scale. Their core work focuses on designing better agri-environmental policies and contracts that pay farmers for delivering public goods like clean water, carbon storage, and biodiversity. They bring strong capabilities in participatory research methods, working directly with farmers, citizens, and policymakers to co-design practical solutions for sustainable food systems and land management.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

ZALF's early H2020 work (2015–2018) centred on agricultural production systems — legume crops, livestock farming, and improving how research knowledge reaches farmers through AKIS networks. From 2019 onward, their focus shifted decisively toward governance, policy design, and societal engagement: cooperative governance models, agri-environmental contracts, citizen empowerment, food system transitions, and participatory methods. The move is from "what to grow and how" toward "how to govern and incentivize sustainable landscapes."

ZALF is moving upstream from agricultural production research into policy design and societal engagement — expect future work on CAP implementation, nature-based contracts, and citizen-driven land use governance.

How they like to work

ZALF operates primarily as an active partner (8 of 9 projects), joining large European consortia rather than leading them — though their one coordinated project (Contracts2.0) was their largest by funding, suggesting they take the lead when the topic closely matches their core governance expertise. With 163 unique partners across 25 countries, they are a well-connected hub in European agricultural research, comfortable working in diverse, multi-country teams. Their broad partner network makes them a reliable consortium member who brings both scientific depth and an established European contact base.

ZALF has collaborated with 163 distinct organizations across 25 countries, indicating a deeply embedded position in European agricultural research networks. Their reach spans most of the EU, with no obvious geographic concentration beyond their German home base.

What sets them apart

ZALF sits at a rare intersection: they combine hard agricultural science (crop systems, soil, biodiversity) with social science methods (co-design, serious games, social network analysis, governance research). Most agricultural research centres focus on either production or policy — ZALF bridges both, which makes them especially valuable for projects that need to translate scientific findings into workable farmer incentives and policy instruments. As a Leibniz institute, they carry institutional credibility and long-term research continuity that smaller partners cannot offer.

Highlights from their portfolio

• Contracts2.0
  ZALF's only coordinated project and largest funding (EUR 628K) — directly reflects their core mission of designing agri-environmental contracts and cooperative governance models.
• FoodSHIFT2030
  Second-largest funding (EUR 561K) and marks ZALF's expansion into urban-rural food system transitions and citizen empowerment, signalling a broadening scope beyond traditional agriculture.
• SHOWCASE
  Longest-running project (2020–2025) with strong funding (EUR 574K), focused on the agriculture-biodiversity-ecosystem services nexus — a topic likely to dominate EU funding in coming years.