An article published in *npj Sustainable Agriculture* summarises the consensus reached at the International Conference on Sustainability in Olive Cultivation (ICSOC 2025), organised by the INUO, and sets out an integrated strategy to tackle the climatic, environmental and socio-economic challenges facing Mediterranean olive groves.
The University Institute of Research on Olive Grove and Olive Oils (INUO) at the University of Jaén is continuing to make progress in generating and transferring scientific knowledge in order to contribute to the sustainability and resilience of the olive sector. An example of this is the recent publication of the article ‘Building Climate-Resilient Mediterranean Olive Systems: Integrating Soil, Water, Carbon, Biodiversity and Innovation for a Sustainable Future’, in the scientific journal npj Sustainable Agriculture, which is part of the Nature group.
This paper summarises the contributions and consensus reached at the International Conference on Sustainability in Olive Cultivation (ICSOC 2025), which was organised by the INUO as part of its scientific and outreach activities. The conference brought together researchers, producers, industry representatives, and policymakers from various countries in the Mediterranean basin.
The publication is based on the premise that Mediterranean olive-growing systems are subject to an increasing combination of climatic, ecological, and socio-economic pressures. These include rising temperatures, declining rainfall, soil degradation, loss of biodiversity, the emergence and spread of pests and diseases, water scarcity, and socio-economic changes affecting rural areas.
In light of this, the article emphasises the importance of moving away from fragmented approaches and adopting an integrated vision of the olive-growing system, addressing the various elements that determine its sustainability collectively.
Five pillars for a more resilient olive grove
The scientific proposal is structured around five main themes:
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Soil. The restoration and conservation of soil form the basis of an olive grove’s resilience due to their direct link to organic matter, water retention, biodiversity, and stable yields.
- Biodiversity. Maintaining and restoring biodiversity, both above and below ground, supports the functioning of agroecosystems and provides essential services such as natural pest control.
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Plant health. Strengthening prevention, monitoring, biological control and the development and use of adapted plant material is required to combat threats such as Xylella fastidiosa and other pests and diseases.
- The water–energy–carbon nexus. Efficient management of water and energy, together with carbon farming, the bioeconomy, and the valorisation of by-products from the olive-growing system, are fundamental to moving towards a more circular economy.
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Market and governance. The transition to more sustainable models also requires improved traceability, fraud prevention, market confidence and inclusive governance models that ensure the participation of various regional stakeholders.
These five pillars are complemented by four cross-cutting concepts that run through the entire proposed framework: resilience, sustainability, circularity and innovation. Furthermore, the analysis considers three interrelated levels: the plot or olive grove, the landscape and the socio-ecological system.
In this way, the study highlights that solutions for the future of olive groves cannot be considered in isolation. Restoring soil health, for example, can improve water retention and promote biodiversity, whilst the latter can contribute to natural pest control. Similarly, environmental improvements must be accompanied by market mechanisms and governance arrangements that ensure the benefits of more sustainable management also translate into economic viability for producers.
Productivity as the cornerstone of sustainability
One of the key aspects of the publication is the consideration of agricultural productivity as the operational cornerstone of the transition towards more sustainable olive-growing systems.
The authors point out that sustainability and resilience must translate into outcomes that make agricultural activity viable and enable rural communities to maintain their livelihoods. In this regard, regenerative practices must be capable of contributing to greater production stability in the face of phenomena such as drought and other episodes of climate stress.
The article also highlights that the transition towards a climate-resilient olive grove involves properly managing the potential benefits and tensions between different objectives. These include striking a balance between intensification and biodiversity conservation, the roll-out of agrivoltaic systems and the protection of ecosystems, and the costs associated with the monitoring and certification systems required to develop certain models of carbon agriculture.
Science, innovation and traditional knowledge
The approach advocated in the article combines the development of new technologies with the revival and integration of the traditional ecological knowledge of olive-growing communities, recognising the value of land-specific management practices developed over generations.
In this context, tools such as precision farming, smart irrigation systems, remote sensing, diagnostic and monitoring systems, carbon farming, the circular bioeconomy and new traceability technologies can play a significant role in transforming the sector.
However, the authors emphasise that technological innovation must go hand in hand with inclusive governance models, capable of involving small-scale producers, cooperatives, young people and women, and of promoting the continuity of agricultural activity in rural areas.
The scientific legacy of ICSOC 2025
The publication represents one of the scientific outputs of the International Conference on Sustainability in Olive Cultivation (ICSOC 2025), an event that brought together researchers, producers, industry representatives and policy-makers from different parts of the Mediterranean basin to address the future of olive cultivation from a multidisciplinary perspective.
The consensus reached during the Congress forms the basis of this scientific approach, which aims to overcome the traditional fragmentation of different fields of knowledge and provide a common framework to guide the transition towards climate-resilient, productive and sustainable olive-growing systems.
The proposal is also aligned with European initiatives such as the European Green Deal, the EU Soil Mission and the European framework on Carbon Removals and Carbon Farming, providing a scientific and conceptual basis upon which to develop, evaluate and refine future sustainability strategies for the Mediterranean olive grove.
With this publication, the University Institute of Research on Olive Grove and Olive Oils (INUO) reinforces its commitment to international and multidisciplinary research aimed at tackling the major challenges facing the olive sector and contributing, through science, to building the Mediterranean olive grove of the future: one that is more resilient to climate change, more environmentally sustainable and capable of continuing to generate productivity, employment and vitality in our rural areas.
Article reference:
Manzaneda, A. J., Kyriakides, T. C., Panagos, P., Cerdà, A., Calero, J., Landa, B. B., Díez, C. M., Kabourakis, E. M., Polo, J. A., Rey, P. J., Gallina Toschi, T., Murgado-Armenteros, E. M., Pereira, J. A., La Rubia, M. D., Gkisakis, V., García-Reyes, J. F., Martín-García, J. M., Bajoub, A., Stavrianakis, G., & Barroso, J. B. (2026). Building climate-resilient Mediterranean olive systems: Integrating soil, water, carbon, biodiversity, and innovation for a sustainable future. npj Sustainable Agriculture, 4, 70. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44264-026-00183-4
