Ibrahim Prazeres

MED is a R&D unit set up in 2020, based at the University of Évora with 2 poles, one at CEBAL, in Beja, and the other at the University of Algarve, in Faro. MED is based on a long tradition of multidisciplinary, brought from the former unit ICAAM (since 1991), now strengthening inter- and transdisciplinarity combining complementary knowledge to foster innovation. MED contains 171 researchers and 122 PhD students. MED is focused on the Mediterranean context and its specific challenges, namely those posed by resource use and climate change. Its Mission was to promote ecosystem sustainability and food security, contributing to territorial cohesion and human wellbeing. The research centre is organized in 7 Thematic Lines (Sustainable crop production; Animal production and health; Montado and forest systems; Mediterranean food and diet; Governance and development; Biodiversity and conservation and Environmental and climatic changes) and 6 Research groups formed around a disciplinary area, methodology or study object, that feeds the TLs. MED seeks to increase excellence in research and contribute with solutions to the sustainability of agroecosystems, the environment and the supporting territories of Mediterranean, through: Improving resource use efficiency and competitive agriculture; Improving sustainability of food system while preserving the mediterranean diet; Assuring biodiversity conservation and landscape multi-functionality; Promoting organizational capability and governance mechanisms; Identifying pathways towards resilience and adaptation under known climate change scenarios. To reach these goals, MED carries out research driven by problem-based questions that arise from practice and also, those related to the new reality in the face of climate change.