About BIOGREENET - Boosting Organic Greenhouse Production Through Knowledge and Innovation

BIOGREENET, Boosting Organic Greenhouse Production Through Knowledge and Innovation, is a European initiative dedicated to strengthening organic greenhouse production by bridging knowledge gaps, fostering innovation, and empowering producers and advisors. Through digital platforms, best-practice dissemination, and stakeholder collaboration, the project supports sustainable and competitive greenhouse systems across and beyond the EU.

The project involves 16 partners from ten countries. It is funded by the European Union and the Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI).

What you will find on this page

Context
Objectives
Approach
In a nutshell

Context

Greenhouse production is a key contributor to EU agriculture, covering approximately 175,000 hectares and yielding over 13.6 million tonnes of vegetables annually. Despite its importance, organic greenhouse production remains marginal due to its complex and knowledge-intensive nature. Challenges include maintaining soil health, managing biodiversity and pest control with limited inputs, all while dealing with regional variability and high infrastructure costs. Knowledge transfer is often fragmented and uncoordinated, limiting the adoption of innovative practices.

Objectives

Improving knowledge access
Providing practical, accessible information and training to help producers overcome environmental and socioeconomic challenges.
Promoting digitalization
Encouraging the use of digital tools and practices to improve greenhouse efficiency.
Supporting adoption of innovations
Offering technical and economic guidance to overcome barriers to implementing organic practices.
Strengthening collaboration
Facilitating knowledge sharing and cooperation among producers, advisors, researchers and policymakers.
Stakeholder support
Involving key actors to ensure effective implementation and support for organic practices.
Strengthening AKIS
Reinforce local and EU-wide Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation Systems (AKIS) through integrated and inclusive actions.

Approach

BIOGREENET uses a practical, transdisciplinary approach to gather, evaluate, adapt, and disseminate best practices in organic greenhouse production. The project strengthens knowledge exchange between farmers, advisors, researchers, and policymakers, promoting more resilient and competitive systems through digitalisation and collaboration. Under the guidance of local project partners the collected knowledge is subjected to a technical and social, economic as well as environmental cost-benefit assessment that directly involves practitioners. The most relevant ones are then further developed into practical materials. Over 3,000 producers and advisors engage via digital platforms and workshops to support the adoption of the collected best organic practices in greenhouse production.

BIOGREENET in a nutshell

Duration: 4 years / 48 months (2025-2029)
Agricultural sectors involved: organic greenhouse producers
Practice materials: practice abstracts, videos, business plans, open access knowledge platforms
In-person exchange: events, workshops, policy conference