The XIVth STICS Seminar took place from 17 to 19 March 2026 on the outskirts of Louvain-La-Neuve. The proceedings of the seminar are available here.

STICS Seminar Programme

Tuesday 17 march 2026

8h45 Introduction by Authorities

ULiege-GxABT : Dean Prof. Fauconnier M.L. - Vice-Dean Research Prof. Bindelle J.

INRAE-AgroEcoSystem : Head of Dpt. Prof. Nesme T.

UMRt BioEcoAgro : Prof. Jacques P. - FairCarboN : Prof. Clivot H 

9h45 Introduction by the STICS Project team (Chairs : Buis S. & Dumont B.)

Opening by "Le Bureau" of the STICS Project team "Review of activites relating to the STICS model"  

10h45 Coffee break

11h15 Keynote speaker I (Chairs : Dumont B.)

Prof. Philippe Baret
Agroecology : from plant to systems 

12h30 Lunch break

14h00 Session 1 : Agroecology [Chairs : Clivot H. & Ferchaud F.] 

De Freitas et al. - Modelling cereal–cowpea intercropping to close the yield gap while reducing N demand under climate variability and climate change in West Africa 

Damien et al. - Building on a process-based modelling framework to assess CO₂ exchanges in a grazed grassland–maize rotation

Strullu et al. - Assessing low-input crop rotations to reduce nitrate leaching in water catchment area with the STICS model 

Desmarez et al. - Territorial food self-sufficiency under climate change through optimised crop rotations and STICS simulations

Delandmeter et al. - Large-scale multi-criteria evaluation of agroecological strategies with the STICS model  

15h45 Flash talk Poster [Chair : Le Bas C. & Combes D.]

• Favaro et al. 

• Gawinowski et al.  

• Philippart et al. 

• Jego et al. 

• Dejonckheere et al. 

• Mesbah et al. 

16h15 Coffee break

16h45 - 18h00 Session 2 : System Approach [Chairs : Clivot H. & Ferchaud F.]

Speeckaert et al. - Simulation of the nitrogen effect of legumes as a tool to unravel their non-nitrogen benefits 

Lenoir et al. - Upscaling STICS to management zones: a way to enhance N use efficiency? 

Nyaga et al. - Use of the STICS model to evaluate nitrogen leaching in perennial forage and annual crop based rotations

General discussion

Wednesday 18 march 2026

8h45 Keynote speakers II [Chairs : Garcia de Cortazar Atauri I. ]

Prof. Xavier Draye & Prof. Guillaume Lobet

Les racines des plantes dans les modèles de cultures : pourquoi s'y intéresser et comment les gérer ? 

10h00 Coffee break

10h30 Session 3 : STICS & Friends [Chairs : Vidal T. & Jego G.]

Braud et al. - ArchiCrop, adding the 3D dimension to STICS 

Colbach et al. - The contribution of STICS to modelling the impacts of weeds and climate change on crop production and biodiversity in FLORSYS  

Deheinzelin et al. - Disease regulation in intercropping systems depends on spatial arrangement – a modelling study  

Houballah et al. - Development of ORCHIDEE-CROP v1.0: a nitrogen-explicit agro-land surface model and its evaluation across European wheat sites  

Lesquoy et al. - Coupling MAELIA and STICS: toward new opportunities for agricultural modelling approaches 

General discussion

12h30 Lunch break

14h00 Session 4 : New Formalisms & Tools [Chairs : Strullu L. & Mollier A.]

Pardon et al. - Evaluating the STICS model for simulating grapevine development and new formalisms across contrasting soil types at a local scale in Saint-Émilion 

Clivot et al. - Evaluation of STICS performance for predicting C and N mineralization kinetics and N₂O emissions from contrasted litter types on urban lawn soils 

Gawinowski et al. - Evaluating calibration strategies for a new winter wheat cultivar in the STICS crop model 

Kebalo et al. - Tropicalization of the STICS model: insights from sugarcane calibration and nitrogen dynamics in tropical volcanic soils 

Buis et al. - AgMIP Calibration Protocol: results, implementation and new directions 

General discussion

15h45 Flash talk Poster [Chair : Le Bas C. & Combes D.]

• Strullu 

• Bruhwyler et al. 

• Flutre et al. 

• Clivot et al. 

• Gaudnik et al.
• Ruillé et al. 

16h15 Coffee break

16h45 - 18h00 Poster session

Thursday 19 march 2026

8h45 - Session 5 : Climate Change [Chairs : Graux A.-I. & Léonard J.]

Giraudo et al. - Global Sensitivity Analysis of STICS Soil Input on CO₂ Net Ecosystem Exchange in Burgundy Vineyards 

Lacroix et al. - Impact of climate changes on the main Belgium cash crop 

Nambinina et al. - CLIMODIF: simulating crop rotations with STICS under climate change in the Barrois area in France 

Gawinowski et al. - Assessing crop model adequacy for future climates 

General discussion

10h45 Coffee break

11h15 - General assembly and Conclusion [Chairs : Buis S. & Launay M.]

Wrap-up of sessions by chairmen and chairwomen

Open-discussion with assembly

12h30 Closure of seminar by "Le Bureau" of the Stics project team