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GOALS

Climate change is a major issue for the vine and wine sector. The initial impacts observed prompted scientists from some twenty INRA units (now INRAE), to launch the interdisciplinary LACCAVE project (2012-2016) in 2012 to explore adaptation levers. LACCAVE 2.21 was launched in October 2018 to develop new systemic and participatory approaches.

LACCAVE 2.21 targets the development of climate change adaptation strategies with a focus on systemic options, participatory methods and operational outcomes for the vine and wine sector in France. The general objectives are as follows:

• i) produce scientific knowledge on these strategies and the mechanisms they bring into play in agroecosystems, territories and sectors;
• ii) lead and expand the LACCAVE scientific and partnership network;
• iii) provide operational and methodological knowledge to stakeholders in the sector and contribute to public debates.

These objectives have been specified according to four axes. The first aims to provide expertise on eight themes: water management, biotic environment, soil, varietal ideotypes, data management, territorial approaches, wines of tomorrow, value chains. Axis 2 focuses on ecoclimatic indicators and projections of impacts on vines; Axis 3 includes work on the design and analysis of participatory initiatives at different scales, from local to national; Axis 4 aims to develop an international network on the adaptation of vines and wines, particularly in the Mediterranean.

A wide range of results

The production of new scientific knowledge enabled by LACCAVE2.21 concerns both i) the design, analysis and evaluation of adaptation strategies at different scales, and ii) contributions to the systemic understanding of adaptation conditions, whether geographical, genetic, agronomic, oenological or socio-economic. The major results published concern:

• i) the development of an approach combining modelling and design/evaluation of adaptation options with wine growers on the scale of a Mediterranean drainage basin (Audrey Naulleau's thesis);
• ii) analysis of the construction of a national adaptation strategy for the sector, based on regional forums and foresight, with generic lessons for other sectors;
• iii) identification of factors (regional organisations, training, environmental commitment) explaining winegrowers' perceptions of climate change and the steps they have taken to adapt;
• iv) integrated approaches (genetics, physiology, agronomy, etc.) on vine responses to climatic stresses to guide research strategies, particularly on varieties;
• v) spatialization of climate indicators coupled with analysis or simulation of impact on vineyards to guide adaptation decisions;
• vi) summaries of the issues, modalities and conditions of adaptation within the framework of congresses (OIV, FAO, IFSA, AIC, etc.) or Regional Study Groups on CC (New Aquitaine, Occitania).

The project has contributed to the development and calculation of eco-climatic indicators, the development of models (e.g. yield model integrating response to water status), the production of climate or phenological simulation databases, the OpenAléa and vineas.net platforms, etc. LACCAVE2.21 also provides results in the field of training.

Prospects for research and for actors in the vine and wine sector

The LACCAVE2.21 project provides two levels of recommendations, built collectively:

• for professional and political actors: the project raises awareness about the intensification of impacts on vineyards and underlines the adaptation options to be combined at different scales. It draws attention to soil conservation and improvement, the renewal of plant material, a systemic approach to water management that does not necessarily involve irrigation, new terroir engineering, adaptation of winemaking, taking consumers into account, global management of climate risks and the indispensable contribution to mitigation.
• for scientists and research steering bodies: the analysis of the project shows how the climate issue leads researchers to engage in a new knowledge construction regime that integrates complexity and interdisciplinarity, and becomes participatory and media-oriented. The factors that played a positive role were its duration, interdisciplinarity, the context of an impacted and organised sector, but also the support of INRAE (ACCAF) and the collective choices of its researchers.