Virtual roadshow 1: Exploring the barriers and levers to agroecology [Webinar Recording]
This first enhanced ‘roadshow’ webinar focusses on the real-life experiences of those transforming our agricultural systems.
We know climate-smart, nature-based farming should be the norm across Europe, for the environment and long-term farm resilience. So what’s helping this ambition, and what's hindering it?
Researchers from Centre Wallon de Recherches Agronomiques (CRA-W) in Belgium, alongside three agriculture-based Innovation Hubs (in Spain, the Netherlands and Slovenia), explore the barriers and levers affecting the uptake of agroecology in farming across Europe.
Speakers:
CRA-W scientific officer Pauline Cassart discusses her research, exploring how each of the project's 11 Innovation Hubs are negotiating challenges and capitalising on successes.
Also from CRA-W, scientific officer Marie-Hélène Delhove and bioengineer Adrien Swartebroeckx discuss the Dynamic Agroecological Systems (DynAEs) survey, which looks at a wide range of agroecological projects across Europe, assessing their progress as well as the issues that have hindered progress.
Maria van Boxel runs a Stripcropping network in the Netherlands, practicing and testing strip-cropping techniques with farmers, to both increase agrobiodiversity, reduce inputs and improve farm profitability.
Alexandra Waldmann manages a veg box scheme, Green Box Čarna in Ljubljana, Slovenia. As well as delivering fresh, local and organic produce, the project works with farmers and growers to share knowledge, and engages with customers about the importance of creating healthy food systems.
Elisa Oteros-Rozas campaigns alongside her community in Sierra de Aracena (Inspira Territorio) in southwest Spain, bringing together agricultural workers, ecological knowledge and agroecological innovations for a more resilient agri-food system.
Recorded in November 2024
Understanding barriers and levers
This short film introduces some of the project's participants and the innovation hub concept. It explains why research is so important alongside farm practice in order to create 'actionable knowledge' to enable the upscaling of agroecology across Europe. The first part of this research is looking at barriers and levers experienced within each of the innovations hubs. This helps each of the projects celebrate their successes and focus on where issues lie, so that they can understand and tackle them strategically.
Keywords: Access to land, Biodiversity, Climate change, Horticulture, Livestock, Local food systems, Low input farming, Organic Agriculture, Policy, Socio economic resilience, Transdisciplinary research
Country: Belgium, Netherlands, Slovenia, Spain, EU, Pan-Europe
