The agricultural European Innovation Partnership (EIP-AGRI) launched a call for 3 new Focus Groups:
- Enhancing the biodiversity on farmland through high-diversity landscape features: the Focus Group should contribute to reaching at least 10% of agricultural area under high-diversity landscape in the European Union. The group will collect good practices and research knowledge and identify innovative actions to be implemented by farmers. First meeting: 1-2 February 2023.
- Recovery of abandoned agricultural lands: this Focus Group will promote innovative and sustainable maintenance and restoration strategies and showcase best management practices for reclaiming abandoned agricultural land. It will focus on overcoming barriers that hinder the re-use or regeneration of abandoned land. First meeting: 24-25 January 2023.
- Social farming and innovations: this Focus Group will approach social farming from the point of view of innovation, looking at the innovations that social farming can bring to farm enterprises and how it can benefit users and surrounding communities. Experts will explore the successful practices from all over Europe and identify the barriers and opportunities for further development of social farming. First meeting: 25-26 January 2023.
These three topics are particularly relevant for mountain farming. Mountain farmers, foresters and researchers can provide useful knowledge on the management of high-diversity landscapes. Moreover, mountain areas being more affected than others by land abandonment, many successful examples of land restoration in mountains can inspire other actors. In addition, mountain stakeholders can share examples of social innovation and social farming, which are multiplying especially in the most remote areas as previously demonstrated by our SIMRA project.
Who can apply and how?
The purpose of a Focus Group is to explore practical innovative solutions to problems or opportunities and to draw on and share experience gained from relevant innovative projects. The group discusses and documents research results and implications for further research activities that will help to solve practical issues in the sector.
Farmers, foresters, advisers, scientists, and other experienced stakeholders are encouraged to apply as members of these Focus Groups in order to share their knowledge.
Please note that no interpretation will be provided, meetings will be held in English.
Application is open here until 19 September 2022. More information on the topics and the application process is available in the call text.
6 July 2022
