The Espace-Dev laboratory of the University of Guiana wishes to set up a Twinning project with three objectives: to increase skills in the intelligent management of the solar resource using artificial intelligence, to build a European scientific network and to improve support for the management of European projects. French Guiana, by its geographical location has a strong solar potential. Several aspects are essential for the proper management of this potential: estimation of sunshine, prediction of the availability of the resource, integration of the energy produced into the energy distribution system, etc. The research team has understood the interest of exploiting this resource, particularly in order to increase the energy transition and the energy independence of the territory. Thus, research is conducted in the laboratory not only on the estimation of irradiance from satellite images, which allow to obtain the irradiance at any location covered by the satellite, but also on the prediction of irradiance and energy production of photovoltaic power plants using methods of artificial intelligence. The setting up of a Twinning project will enable the university to network with leading European institutions. Three European institutions have been targeted for their concordance with the laboratory's project but also for their complementarity. The research center for energy, environment and technology, a research organization in Spain, will provide expertise in the estimation of irradiance from satellite images and the processing of time series. The University of Freiburg will be involved in the field of artificial intelligence. The institute of systems engineering and informatics: research and development in Lisbon with whom the collaboration will focus on the prediction of the production of photovoltaic plants. The networking with these institutions will allow the team to increase its skills in the above-mentioned fields. This network will help the research team to improve its skills in the selected themes and to increase its competitiveness on the European level. In addition, this project will allow the development of research management skills within the newly created European project support unit within the university. In addition, this project will enable the development of research management skills within the university's emerging European project support unit. The Twinning project will have scientific impacts at the local and regional level. The recognition of the laboratory by companies, whose field of action is solar energy, will allow the construction of CIFRE theses and expert missions. Moreover, the territory will radiate on the Guiana Shield and will become a reference in the themes addressed by the project.

INTENSE will respond to several of the “Great Challenges” for the 21st century, which are global food security, use of renewable raw materials and production of energy from biomass, for which the agricultural sector is important. INTENSE will contribute to sustainable increase in food production, novel products for agriculture and new perspectives for European rural landscapes. Future land use must embrace efficient production and utilization of biomass for improved economic, environmental and social outcomes. In the “International Year of Soils” at least 30 % of the agricultural soils in Europe need to be transformed to a state of higher quality. Accordingly, INTENSE will contribute to reconverting poor, abandoned and polluted sites including grassland, set aside land, brownfields, and otherwise marginal lands into sustainable agricultural production across Europe. Innovative systems-based tools for the development and implementation of integrated food and non-food production serving for intensified land management of these land areas will be constructed. These tools open up a wide range of novel products and services across farming communities in Europe. Thus utilizing and developing models characterizing fluxes of matter, productivity and socio-economy, the INTENSE project responds to central questions of FACCE-JPI Core theme 3: Sustainable intensification of integrated food and non-food systems of agriculture. Specifically, recovery of soils from pollution, drought or other reasons for low productivity requires research on (a) identification of crucial soil components and processes (b) identification and assessment of plant species producing high biomass on marginal and/or contaminated soil, (c) the optimum composition for composting and biogas production, (d) degradation and absorption of pollutants by selected species and to demonstrate their potential. INTENSE will combine cropping and soil amendment experiments, precision agricultural and crop modeling tools, experimental biomass conversion to energy, the assessment of greenhouse gas and nutrient emission and other environmental indicators, as well as socioeconomic models. Stakeholders including farms and farm associated biogas enterprises will be an integrated part of the project to serve to facilitate the implementation of sustainable and financially attractive production alternatives. The holistic approach of the project will enable the identification of common traits and at the same time enable the development and dissemination of production chains for sustainable intensification which are adapted to the environmental and socio-economic diversity within Europe.