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Although sheep grazing was a tradition in the Beskid mountains, it significantly declined at the end of the twentieth century. This led to land degradation, loss of biodiversity and economic decline. A local programme ‘Sheep Plus’ has been restoring this pastoral culture, bringing farmers back to the area, protecting the environment and boosting tourism.

Ekoto is an organic farm in the south of the Netherlands set up by young farmer Ivar van Dorst. His motivation was to provide local, organic alternatives to everyday products. Ekoto has developed an innovative, viable and sustainable business model based on agroecology, making efficient use of natural resources while reducing the dependency on external inputs.

Less than two months to go until the EU CAP Network conference which will gather over 450 project participants from the EU CAP Network to celebrate EIP-AGRI Operational Groups. An awards ceremony will be held on the first day of this event to present the EIP-AGRI Innovation Awards to Operational Groups.

Global recycling day aims to make us think about what we throw away – seeing not waste, but opportunity. On this occasion, why not take a look back at a few activities from the EIP-AGRI and EU CAP Network Focus Groups on reducing food loss on farm, nutrient recycling, circular horticulture, renewable energy, or workshops on circular bioeconomy and circular water management.

Browse Horizon 2020 projects on the EIP-AGRI project database, which have recently been updated with some of the latest practice abstracts. On each project page there is a tab specifically dedicated to practice abstracts. Abstracts from Horizon Europe projects will be available from summer 2024.

The H2020 MOVING project has produced a podcast. From October 2023 to August 2024, they are delving into the diverse challenges and opportunities within Europe’s mountain regions, presenting research results from the project. Episodes cover topics on change and vulnerability in the mountains, and revitalising mountain economies. 

The CAP Networks from Estonia, Finland and Latvia recently organised their first joint brokerage event (online) to foster potential international EIP-AGRI Operational Groups. Tuija Kallio, Rural Network Finland, explained: “Participants had the chance to present their innovative ideas and expertise, while also gaining insights into the planning of a transnational EIP initiative.”

COACH was a Horizon 2020 project which has recently ended. It was set up to drive innovation in territorial food systems and improve outcomes for producers and consumers. A number of their activities were specifically looking at sustainable public sector food procurement, and costs and benefits in short food supply chains.

You can re-watch EU-FarmBook’s pre-launch event held on 8 February 2024. Discover the main features of their platform, an EU-wide open-source interactive database gathering and sharing knowledge on agriculture and forestry, and find out how it can benefit users.

IPMWORKS and IPM Decisions, two Horizon 2020 projects, are organising a conference on Integrated Pest Management (IPM) in Brussels on 14 May 2024. This event will showcase examples of successful IPM implementation and offer practical solutions aimed at reducing reliance on pesticides. Attendees can expect presentations highlighting the results and tools developed by the projects, as well as inspiring success stories shared by farmers and advisers.

In an effort to reduce the burden weighing on farmers' shoulders, the Commission has launched a survey to gather the views of EU farmers. This target consultation aims to identify farmers’ main administrative concerns stemming from the CAP rules. The survey is available in all EU languages and open from 7 March to 8 April.

If you are looking for funding for topics related to soil issues, keep an eye on EU Mission Soil, which will soon release topics for its 2024 calls. You can also save the date for its online info days event on 25-26 April 2024.

The European Partnership ‘AGROECOLOGY’ has launched its first co-funded call to support research and innovation projects driving the transition to agroecology. Key topics include resilience, resource efficiency and agrobiodiversity. A webinar was held on 5 March which you can re-watch. The deadline for pre-proposals is 26 April 2024, 14:00 CEST. The webinar link and application information are on their webpage.

📢 Pre-announcement for the 2024 ERA-NET ICT-AGRI-FOOD research funding call! Stay tuned for further updates!

#ICTAGRIFOOD #ResearchFunding #Digitalization #Agriculture #FoodSystems #Innovation

Innovation, Knowledge Exchange | EIP-AGRI newsletter: Call for input

If you have relevant information for the EU CAP Network based on innovation in agriculture - e.g. a video, a funding opportunity, an inspirational idea, a call for contributions, a survey, a report, then please do send it to us: innovation-knowledge@eucapnetwork.eu.

Newsletters go out on the second Thursday of every month, so please send the information to us at least four weeks before that date.

In Spring 2024, we will publish a thematic newsletter on bees and pollinators. If you have relevant news related to this topic, please send it to us!

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