PDF Version: Incoming EU Commission needs an improved Green Deal
Brussels, 17 April 2024
Co-design, simpler mechanisms, and stronger backstops must be at the heart of the incoming European Commission’s Green Deal to ensure it represents rural voices without watering down sustainability goals. The AGROMIX Project proposes three policy recommendations.
The European Green Deal was ambitious and forward-looking. Recent pushbacks, however, highlight the importance of policy co-design and the need for enhanced stakeholder coordination.
Policy co-design has been at the heart of the AGROMIX Project over the last four years as researchers and farmers come together to create, finetune and implement agroforestry and mixed farming systems across Europe.
To mark the occasion of the AGROMIX Policy Summit: Agroforestry for the Future of European Agriculture, we urge the incoming European Commission to:
Coventry University’s Professor Dr Ulrich Schmutz, AGROMIX project coordinator, says:
“In Europe, the transition to ‘real’ sustainable farming is crucial for resilience against the accelerating climate crisis. Over the last four years the AGROMIX Project has been working to transform landscapes with agroforestry and mixed farming. At our AGROMIX summit we want to share research evidence and discuss new policies to mitigate the climate crisis with a new and improved Green Deal. I also propose that the European Commission sets targets of achieving 20% of land (UAA) with agroforestry by 2050 and 50% of land (UAA) with organic farming by 2050.”
Paola Migliorini, co-founder and board member of summit host organisation Agroecology Europe and Associate Professor in Agronomy and Crop Production at the University of Gastronomic Sciences (UNISG), says:
“Working closely with farmers and scientists as part of AGROMIX, we have seen how agroecological systems such as agroforestry and mixed farming offer a clear path towards a more sustainable relationship with the environment, but this progress needs to be underpinned by policy at European and national levels. This summit aims to highlight these endeavours at the heart of the EU.”
We need to strengthen our efforts towards agroforestry, starting with reducing barriers and implementing a co-design approach with context-specific solutions and measurable results on production, biodiversity, and resilience.
Our analysis indicates that while agroecological elements feature in some of the EU’s agricultural policies, they are primarily focused on plot, field, and farm level, involving input substitution or the change of one practice for another. We conclude that policies are not designed in a cohesive manner, and at times work against one another.
The AGROMIX Project will publish a white paper with further detail on these recommendations in September 2024.
Over four years, the EU-funded AGROMIX Project has driven research and innovation towards regenerative agriculture through agroforestry and mixed farming in close collaboration with farmers, academics, and the public.
The AGROMIX Policy Summit: Agroforestry for the future of European Agriculture is a culmination of these efforts. This one-day event aims to facilitate and incentivise the adoption of agroforestry systems and mixed farming under EU legislation by providing the stage for an in-depth exchange between policymakers, farmers, and researchers.
**ENDS**
MEDIA CONTACTS
To arrange interviews or to obtain more information about the event, please contact the AGROMIX Communications team:
Communications manager: Josep Crous Duran (josep@revolve.media); Jacob Threadgould (jacob@revolve.media) & Marion Karam (marion@revolve.media)
Website: www.agromixproject.eu
Twitter: @AGROMIXproject
LinkedIn: AGROMIX Project
Instagram: agromixproject
ABOUT AGROMIX
Coordinated by Coventry University, the AGROMIX project aims to drive the transition towards resilient farming, efficient land use management, and more sustainable agricultural value chains in Europe. Funded by the Horizon 2020 European Union’s Research and Innovation Programme, the project brings together 28 partners from 14 countries that will explore multi-actor co-design methods to promote and implement mixed farming and agroforestry practices across Europe.
