About — Precilience

Helping agriculture and forestry adapt to climate change in the Nordic-Baltic region

European boreal regions are warming three times faster than the global average.

Severe weather, drought, pests and disease are already taking a toll on farms and forests in Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Norway and Sweden, with food production, biodiversity, water security and rural livelihoods also at risk. Many of the region’s dominant land-use systems — from crop monocultures to clear-cutting — are both especially vulnerable to, and exacerbating, these pressures.

Working with farmers, foresters, landowners and other actors, Precilience’s 16 partners are co-developing practical solutions to protect soil, water, crops, trees and ecosystems.

Forest fieldwork, Estonia © J.Aosaar

How?

Precilience is being delivered by collaborative teams working across different packages of work, from detailed climate modelling to hands-on trials on farms and in forests. Solutions we are exploring include: diversifying agricultural production; sustainable water management; enhancing soil function; forest regeneration; and closer-to-nature forest management.

At the heart of Precilience is stakeholder collaboration: farmers, foresters, landowners and other actors are directly involved and consulted in shaping solutions.

Explore our work-streams here and take a look at our expert partners below.

The Risks and Opportunities team is laying the foundation for the Precilience project by identifying climate risks and vulnerabilities in the Nordic-Baltic Boreal region, engaging local actors. Through interviews and workshops, they gather data on risks, opportunities, and potential biophysical and socio-economic impacts.
Key activities include compiling regional climate data, developing risk indices for crops and forests, and co-creating tools to assess and communicate climate risks. These efforts aim to inform resilient adaptation strategies and support informed decision-making by regional actors and authorities.
The adaptation strategy team will build on the work of the risks and opportunities team, co-developing adaptation plans with local actors to address current and future climate risks. Strategies for forestry and agriculture will be developed through workshops and evaluated using simulation modelling in vulnerable test sites. This process will provide opportunities to refine and adjust adaptation strategies to ensure that proposed methods are optimally suited to the local environment and those impacted, as well as being assessed for cost-effectiveness, efficiency and risk.
Precilience’s agricultural demonstration team will test nature-based and engineered solutions in crop, water, and soil management to minimise climate impacts of drought, flooding, disease and other extreme events.
Aiming to strengthen crop resilience, enhance soil health and moisture retention, and improve water storage and irrigation, the team will test methods such as crop diversification and rotation, cover crops, land use optimisation, water drainage, storage and infiltration structures, and various soil tillage method at test farms in the Nordics and Estonia.
Solutions will be adapted to regional conditions, with ongoing stakeholder involvement. Educational materials, including factsheets and videos, will support wider adoption.
The forestry demonstration team will explore climate risks to boreal forests and promote adaptive, transformative solutions for forest management.
Research will identify forest types most vulnerable or resilient to climate impacts, considering factors like structure, management history, and surrounding landscapes. Demonstrations in Finland, Sweden, Norway, and Estonia will test forest regeneration on sensitive sites, focusing on diversification to increase forest health.
The team will evaluate forest management methods and test disease susceptibility of species like Scots Pine and Norway Spruce.
Designing and implementing solutions for boreal agriculture and forestry must involve those most affected—farmers, landowners, foresters, and local communities. The stakeholder engagement team will ensure these voices shape the Precilience project at every stage.
Engaging stakeholders across Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Norway, and Sweden will follow a tailored approach led by a stakeholder taskforce. The team will also focus on scaling solutions, overcoming adoption barriers, and ensuring stakeholders have the tools and knowledge sustaining impact beyond the project's lifecycle.