ROYAL AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY

Their core work

The Royal Agricultural University (RAU) is one of the UK's oldest agricultural institutions, specializing in land-based education, rural enterprise, and sustainable food systems. Within H2020, RAU has focused on building and connecting agricultural knowledge networks — curating best practices, creating open-access knowledge platforms, and bridging the gap between research outputs and end users (farmers, foresters, advisors). More recently, they have expanded into sustainability transitions for livestock systems, examining how food production can reconcile biodiversity, nutrition, and climate goals.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

RAU entered H2020 relatively late (2019) with a clear focus on agricultural knowledge infrastructure — collecting, organizing, and sharing best practices across European farming networks. By 2021, their focus shifted toward the deeper challenge of sustainability transitions in food systems, taking on topics like greenhouse gas emissions, biodiversity loss, and circular economy in livestock. This progression suggests a move from knowledge curation toward applied sustainability science.

RAU is moving from cataloguing agricultural knowledge toward actively shaping sustainability pathways for livestock and food systems — expect growing expertise in climate-agriculture intersections through 2026.

How they like to work

RAU operates exclusively as a participant, never leading consortia — consistent with a smaller institution contributing specialized agricultural expertise to larger partnerships. Despite only three projects, they have worked with 60 unique partners across 17 countries, indicating they join broad, multi-country consortia rather than tight bilateral collaborations. This makes them an accessible partner: experienced in large-consortium dynamics without the overhead expectations of a coordinator.

RAU has built a surprisingly wide network for its project count: 60 unique partners across 17 countries, driven by participation in large Coordination and Support Actions. Their reach spans most of the EU, reflecting the pan-European nature of agricultural knowledge networks.

What sets them apart

RAU brings a rare combination: deep roots in practical agricultural education (it is one of the UK's specialist land-based universities) paired with experience in EU-wide knowledge network coordination. Unlike large research-intensive universities, RAU is close to farming practice and end users, making them valuable for projects that need to bridge the research-to-farm gap. Post-Brexit, their continued EU engagement signals strong commitment to European agricultural collaboration.

Highlights from their portfolio

• EURAKNOS
  Largest RAU grant (EUR 147,799) — aimed at connecting all EU agricultural thematic networks into a unified knowledge reservoir.
• PATHWAYS
  Longest-running project (2021-2026), marking RAU's strategic shift into sustainability science covering livestock, biodiversity, nutrition, and climate.