A transformation of our agriculture and food systems is urgently needed to combat climate change and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations. For that reason, the European Commission has initiated several policies to make the EU food systems sustainable and climate-neutral by 2050. High targets have...

The PPILOW project aims to co-construct through a multi-actor approach solutions to improve the welfare of poultry and pigs reared in organic and low-input outdoor production systems. The project will target nonconventional and outdoor rearing systems with reduced (notably drug) inputs and organic systems (as defined by EU, so considering defined...

What is agroecology? The AEEU understanding: As a science, it gives priority to action research, holistic and participatory approaches, and trans disciplinarity that is inclusive of different knowledge systems. As a practice, it is based on sustainable use of local renewable resources, local farmers’ knowledge and priorities, wise use of biodiversity to provide...

Sustainable, ecological approaches to European farming, the heart of the European Green Deal, are needed to safeguard food supplies for EU citizens and protect the long-term livelihoods of rural communities. The emergence of more support for organic systems as a form of agro-ecological production can help address these policy challenges...

The ongoing RELACS research into alternative gastro-intestinal nematodes (GIN) control strategies including the use of heather as a bioactive forage and the nematophagous fungus Duddingtonia flagrans, as a biocontrol agent was discussed in focus groups in four European countries. Farmers interested in trialling either alternative volunteered to participate in the...

ALL-Ready is a Coordination and Support Action (CSA) funded by the European Commission with the aim of preparing a framework for a future European Network of living labs and research infrastructures that will enable the transition towards agroecology throughout Europe. Based on the premise that agroecology can strengthen the sustainability...

The past months were exciting for the ALL-Ready project and we have been working hard to prepare the future network of Agroecology Living Labs and Research Infrastructures. We are pleased to give you some insights on the project’s activities in this second edition of the ALL-Ready newsletter. Our recent activities...

The European Network for Rural Development (ENRD) and National Rural Networks (NRNs) are part of the second pillar of the Common Agricultural Policy since the 2007-2013 programming period. The ENRD brings together stakeholders from across the EU and facilitates the exchange between national networks, organisations, and administrations with an interest...

All 27-EU Member States had to submit their Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) national Strategic Plans (SP) by 1 January 2022 to the European Commission (EC). As of 3 March, one country has still not submitted its two CAP Strategic Plans (Belgium for Wallonia and Flanders). With this evaluation of the...

The EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) supports sustainable land use including the establishment and maintenance of agroforestry systems. The new CAP Strategic Plans (CSPs) for 2023-2027 provide Member States with options and opportunities to support agroforestry systems where trees are grown on agricultural land to help boost farm incomes while...

This study provides an overview of the effect of the decline in the number of farms across the EU on the European farming model (EFM), which is built around the notion of multifunctionality and provision of public goods by agriculture. It concludes that in order to foster sustainability and resilience,...

On 4 May 2017, the European Committee of the Regions’ Commission (CoR) for Natural Resources (NAT) and the Rurality-Environment-Development (RED) international association held a conference in Brussels entitled “RURAL post-2020: more ambitious, more transversal! A Rural Agenda to re-enchant the European project”. One of the aims of the conference was...

The 2nd thematic group (TG) meeting shared Member State policy experiences aimed at growing the organic value chain and identified potential areas of intervention that can support collective actions across the organic value chain and in doing so strengthen the role of organic farmers.

Women play a crucial role for the development and economic growth of EU rural communities. Yet their key role is too often ‘invisible’. The workshop Advancing gender equality in rural areas in the EU aims to enhance the understanding of their challenges and explore solutions. Women play a crucial role for...

Ensuring poultry and pig welfare has become a crucial issue for low-input outdoor and organic farms, currently threatened in Europe by the international sanitary and economic crisis contexts. The PPILOW project helps providing keys for proposing and testing strategies and practices favouring welfare in these production systems. In this 6...

It never ceases to amaze me why it’s so difficult to buy locally produced food that is tasty, seasonal, fresh and chemical-free directly from farmers. Why do government policies and programmes always seem to favour big agro-business and supermarket culture? It’s Thursday. I’m on my way to collect this week’s food...

Small farms are a key component of the EU rural economy. In fact, over three quarters of farms in the EU are classified as small with holding sizes below 10 hectares, and a large proportion of these small farms are below five hectares in size. The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP)...

 In the context of the ‘‘European Green Deal”, the European Commission adopted a comprehensive Farm to Fork Strategy, which recognises the inextricable links between healthy people, healthy societies and a healthy planet and aims to address comprehensively the challenges of sustainable food systems.  During the last decades the EU has...

MIXED is a project funded by the EU Horizon2020 programme. MIXED will explore the benefits of mixed farming and agroforestry systems (MiFAS) to climate, environment and society in general and support the further development of such systems. MIXED explores different types of MIFAS. The assumption is that MiFAS have the...

Documenting and analyzing the development of agroecology in different countries and context is important to enhance up and out-scaling of agroecology at the European level. Based on the AE4EU project (Agroecology for Europe https://www.ae4eu.eu), a mapping of agroecology in Austria and Germany in its different dimensions was achieved to provide...