The GUARDIANS consortium gathered for its General Assembly from 17 to 19 June 2025 at the historic Ekolsund Castle, in Sweden. Partners shared progress and discussed upcoming milestones, with a particular focus on real-world implementation.
The highlight of the meeting came during the afternoon of 18 June, when participants had the opportunity to experience live demonstrations of two cutting-edge technologies being developed and piloted within the project: Wildlife Herd and Genetic Biodiversity Survey.
The drone demonstrations by Flox Robotics drew significant interest. Attendees observed real-time wildlife monitoring and field protection capabilities, showcasing how autonomous systems are being used to support biodiversity and foster human-wildlife co-existence in agricultural areas.
Later, at Verkestaberg Farm, the group split into smaller teams to explore three key areas:
- Biodiversity in semi-natural grasslands and the restoration potential of these unique habitats were observed, emphasizing their ecological value
- A hands-on tutorial on DNA soil sampling, led by IVL and NATURBETE, showed how the Genetic Biodiversity Survey works, highlighting innovative methods for monitoring soil health and ecosystem dynamics
- A practical session on sustainable beef production from semi-natural grasslands illustrated how traditional practices can generate added value when combined with technological and ecological knowledge.
These field sessions provided an essential bridge between the technologies presented earlier in the day and their tangible applications on farms across Europe, reinforcing GUARDIANS’ mission to align innovation with practical, environmentally responsible farming.
The meeting concluded with renewed commitment from all partners to the next phase of development and deployment.
