Farms4Climate partners discussed carbon farming approaches at influential national and international events
Experts from Spain and Italy presented their
insights and Farms4Climate project advancements at the first European Carbon Farming
Summit and the leading MacFrut Fair 2024.
The first European Carbon Farming Summit, co-organized by Farms4Climate (F4C) partner Soluciones Agrícolas Ecoinnovadoras (SAE), took place last March in Valencia, Spain, with more than 600 participants attending both in person and online. During the event, SAE also hosted a breakout session focused on developing a fit-for-region approach to carbon farming, led by Ricardo Beck. This session saw the participation of around 80 stakeholders from a wide array of sectors, including individual farmers, policymakers, project developers, and members from agricultural cooperatives, advisory services companies, banks, research centres, and public administration.
The session aimed to connect case regions and carbon farming clusters across Europe, each presenting a unique context and showcasing different elements of a carbon farming scheme as exemplary models. The discussion explored strategies for designing multi-stakeholder approaches that can assist different EU regions in effectively implementing the Carbon Farming Certification Framework (CRCF), meeting relevant criteria, and minimising the burden on farmers. This workshop represents an important contribution for the F4C blueprint on carbon farming scheme implementation pathways and governance setting, which is currently under development.
More recently, Alba Mininni and Bartolomeo Dichio from the University of Basilicata (UNIBAS), along with Teodoro Berloco from Agreenment, participated in the Macfrut Fair 2024, a leading trade fair for professionals in the Italian and international fruit and vegetables sector that took place in Rimini in May and had over 50,000 visitors. The F4C project was featured at the Italian Society for Horticultural Science (SOI) stand, where numerous networking activities facilitated the exchange of knowledge, methodologies, and goals related to the Living Lab approach, generating significant interest.
Additionally, during a dedicated session attended by more than 40 participants, Alba Mininni presented the transformative impact of regenerative agricultural practices in fruit tree orchards, emphasising their role in providing valuable ecosystem services as Natural Capital. She discussed the EcoFruit Living Lab in Southern Italy, a tool designed for evaluating and quantifying ecosystem services linked to carbon content in agricultural soils. The presentation also highlighted preliminary results in terms of soil organic matter (SOM) restoration and related ecosystem services. Its goals were to raise awareness and deepen understanding of the Living Lab process, to facilitate knowledge transfer regarding sustainable agricultural practices, and to create networking opportunities.
Insights from the F4C project were also shared by members of UNIBAS and Agreenment in a roundtable organised at the Living Lab level in the Basilicata region, which attracted around 500 stakeholders both on site and online. The experts emphasised the crucial role of increasing soil organic carbon and its associated co-benefits, while underscoring the socio-economic advantages of regenerative agronomic practices.
The focal point of the discussion was how innovation in regenerative practices and precision irrigation can enhance sustainability from productive, social, and economic perspectives, and highlighted the importance of collaboration between scientific bodies and farming communities. In this sense, the participants explored the potential for establishing a Community-Based Organization to streamline the adoption of sustainable practices, share knowledge, and provide mutual support, leading to a stronger, more cohesive agricultural community.