The COVERE² project continues to advance scientific and practical understanding in sustainability, carbon accounting, and data-driven environmental assessment. Over the past year, several important publications, conference contributions, and project reports have been completed by partners, showcasing both methodological innovation and real-world application.

International conferences and workshops towards scientific publications

Researchers from our consortium have been active in contributing new knowledge to the field of life cycle assessment (LCA) and climate impacts in agriculture. Moreover, during the past two years, our project has been actively engaging with the international research community.

We contributed to the Soil System Sciences session at the EGU25 General Assembly, highlighting the growing importance of soil processes in climate and sustainability research. A highlight from the conference contributions was our abstract presented at LCA Food 2024: Gao, Y., Roitto, M., Jokiniemi, T., Sandell, M. & Tuomisto, H. Effects of early season drought on the carbon footprint of milk in northern latitudes, this work examines how early-season drought conditions affect the carbon footprint of dairy production -an increasingly relevant question as climate variability intensifies.

New research from the COVERE² project was presented at the 14th international conference LCA Food 2024 by Yajie Gao

We took part in major agriculture and food-sector events such as the World Dairy Forum 2024 in La Défense, Paris and the 2ⁿᵈ European Carbon Farming Summit 2025, where we presented posters and shared our latest findings about carbon footprint of milk. In addition to conferences, we joined scientific workshops including the SoilN-Datacube Workshop in Matera.

PhD Marja Roitto, Research Coordinator at the University of Helsinki (left) and Marie-Lou Manca, Sustainability Consultant at ELEKS (right) were among the 1600 participants from 62 countries attending the World Dairy Summit 2024.

Our work continues beyond conferences. One of our manuscripts is currently under review. This study brings together advanced soil carbon measurements and modelling tools to produce a more accurate and holistic assessment of the carbon footprint of milk production. We look forward to sharing more about it once the review process is complete: Gao, Y., Teng, H., Roitto, M., et al. Towards improved LCA of carbon footprint of milk production: a case study integrating soil carbon stock changes with eddy covariance and DNDC modelling.

Postdocs Yajie Gao and Teng Hu presented their COVERE² poster that highlighted the importance of measuring changes in soil organic carbon (SOC) stock. The case study has results from the Viikki Research Farm at the University of Helsinki.

From science to practice

Alongside academic outputs, the project continues developing practical tools and insights for climate-smart agriculture and sustainability analysis.

European Commission's Horizon Results Platform “Making Results Matter!” promotes EU R&I innovative solutions to public. COVERE² has published key results about the carbon footprint of the milk production at the Viikki Research farm and power flow tracing method. Read more: Carbon footprint of milk at the Viikki Research Farm and Power Flow Tracing

In addition, we’ve published the open-access final reports from our pilot cases — the Double Materiality Assessment at Viikki Research farm and the Power Flow Tracing at Juntos Farm — offering full transparency into the business applications and tangible value of our approach.

These reports demonstrate how COVERE² methodologies, such as power flow tracing, double materiality assessment, and farm-level data modelling, can be applied in real operational contexts to support informed decision-making.

Together, these publications reflect the strong scientific foundation and applied impact of the project, helping advance both research and hands-on sustainability practice across Europe.

COVERE² team surrounded by stakeholders in London (UK) during an exclusive event ELEKS Tech Talk focusing on Sustainability in 2024.