Mountain pastures and livestock farming facing uncertainty: environmental, technical and socio-economic challenges
Zaragoza, Spain
From: 14.06.2016 to: 16.06.2016
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) - International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies (FAO-CIHEAM) subnetwork on Mountain Pastures aims to share scientific and technical knowledge on mountain pastures and livestock farming, for which, among other activities, it organizes biennial meetings in singular European mountain areas.
The 19th Meeting of the FAO-CIHEAM Mountain Pastures Network will be held in Zaragoza, Spain, a city close to the Pyrenees. It will be co-organized by the Centro de Investigación y Tecnología Agroalimentaria de Aragón (CITA), the University of Lleida and the Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Zaragoza (IAMZ-CIHEAM), with financial support from the National Institute for Agricultural and Food Research and Technology (INIA) of the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness.
Livestock farming is facing major challenges at a global level due to increasing uncertainty in markets, policies, socio-cultural trends and the environment. One of the main focus in research and policy design is to reconcile the sometimes conflicting objectives of delivering both animal products and environmental services. Therefore, focus has been placed on the design of more "sustainable" farming systems, emphasizing the multifunctional role of livestock in the preservation of natural resources and the socio-economic development of rural areas.
On mountain pastures in particular, adequately conducted livestock can be a tool for the efficient management of large areas of high natural value. At the same time, it can sustain a viable economic activity and provide differentiated products that fulfill societal demands for quality and environmentally-friendly production. Optimizing these aspects requires a multidisciplinary approach, combining research and development on ecology, animal, plant, social and environmental issues. Exchanging information on these aspects is the overall objective of this meeting.
The meeting will be held at the Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Zaragoza, Spain. It will last three days, providing a forum for scientific and technical exchanges and a one-day field trip. The scientific sessions will be structured on four topics with a concluding session. They will consist of conferences presented by keynote guest speakers and free contributions as oral presentations or posters. The working language of the meeting will be English.
The conference proceedings, including the text of the keynote lectures, theatre presentations and posters accepted by the scientific committee will be published in the CIHEAM journal, Options Méditerranéennes. The volume will also be published on line on the websites of the congress and of IAMZ-CIHEAM.
Before 15 April 2016 registration fees will be 250 euros for senior experts and 150 euros for young participants under 35, after which fees will be 300 euros.
Photo: FAO-CIHEAM
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