Up to 350 ERP-partners and friends came together in Kielce12-15.9.2022 on 5th European Rural Parliament to express their views and voices on rural future. The participants had a good time meeting and discussing with people all around Europe.
Also three representatives of the Network for Rural Development of Serbia participated on the ERP and they have opportunity to share informations about Agromix project and project activities.
During the 5th European Rural Parliament was adopted the Manifesto.

In Italy, the intercropping of forest trees, arable land, horticultural crops, meadows, pastures, fruit trees, olive trees and vines have given rise to real agricultural landscapes with trees, of particular aesthetic quality. Agroforestry systems determine a more efficient use of natural resources than monoculture systems, however, modern agroforestry practices are still relatively undervalued on a large scale.
In light of this, this report intends to offer an updated cognitive reference and analysis on the subject, in the form of guidelines, to support agricultural entrepreneurs, professional technicians and technical-institutional subjects competent for the sector.

The issue of green economy in the region of the Western Balkan has been the focus of the NAGE publication “State of affairs for fostering green economy in agriculture and rural development: Comparative analysis of programs and measures in the Western Balkan countries and Croatia”. This document provided thorough identification, analysis and comparison of the non-EU member countries’ documents, national programs and measures for agriculture and rural development regarding green economy against the Croatian legislation on the same topic. As such, it provided grounds to further explore the driving forces, hindrances, and gaps for each of the Western Balkan countries (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia), and to pinpoint feasible policy recommendations.
In summary, the major drivers linked to the green economy transition recognized in the Western Balkan countries mainly relate to: (i) raising the awareness about the green economy paradigm and mainstreaming green economy principles, initiatives and actions into agriculture sector development; (ii) establishing a clear concerted policy agenda, supported by achievable objectives and measurable indicators; (iii) strengthening institutions and building capacity (e.g. for implementation of RDP measures), which will in turn create conditions for more
successful and prompter use of IPARD funds; (iv) a higher level of harmonization of national policies with the CAP and their alignment with the EU Green Deal and Farm-to-Fork strategy; and (v) encouraging and enabling private sector investments and green business models.

In all Western Balkan countries, it is recognized that the green economy introduction process needs to be reinforced by raising and building awareness, greater visibility, and fluid knowledge across the sector, involving all key stakeholders (producers, processors, suppliers, government, community, knowledge systems, international donors, CSOs, consumers).
Agriculture has a central role in delivering a green economy, with farmers and the agri-food industry
as drivers of these changes. The sectorial transition to a green economy means adopting a wide-ranging, knowledge-cantered approach to agricultural development. To achieve this, several few major objectives should be in the focus: (i) address the implementation gaps through targeted training, knowledge sharing, and advisory services; (ii) ensure consistent, evidence-based agricultural and rural development policy; (iii) improve productivity by supporting innovation, technology transfer and learning from best practices.

Around 350 participants from 39 European countries, met during the 5th European Rural Parliament at Kielce, Poland, from 12 to 15 September 2022, gathering rural people, representatives of civil society organisations, researchers, entrepreneurs, national governments and European Union institutions.
Drawing on the National Rural Parliaments and other events organised by our European and national partners, the
discussions in Kielce resulted in a call upon citizens and policymakers at all levels to mobilise resources and people, and ensure policies and programmes are coherent and rural-proofed. We are ready to take responsibility and call upon fellow citizens and policymakers to assist in the creation of sustainable rural communities.

The COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, is the ideal venue to showcase two transformative land regeneration approaches developed in Africa: agroforestry and regenerative grazing management. These two approaches come together in silvopastoral systems - livestock grazing and browsing in tree-dotted grasslands - which have been ranked among the most effective carbon drawdown tools at our disposal.

Wageningen University & Research has carried out an exploratory study commissioned by the Dutch province of Zeeland. The report describes the results of an inventory based on existing literature of the (possible) effects of silvo-arable agroforestry on nitrogen flows. The report also provides an interpretation of how the nitrogen dynamics in agroforestry systems differ from those of monoculture arable farming.

This report summarizes the (im)possibilities, the opportunities and the developments that are necessary for the realization of more agroforestry in the Dutch province of Zeeland. The agricultural entrepreneurs in this Dutch province may be able to use the opportunities of agroforestry in different ways and for different reasons than entrepreneurs in other provinces, due to the fact that the province of Zeeland has the most hours of sunshine in the Netherlands, as well as strong winds and a lot of tourism. In addition, there is a lot of fruit growing experience and expertise in the province of Zeeland, which can be valuable for growers who want to start with agroforestry. Moreover, this also creates opportunities for cooperation (between arable farmers and fruit growers) and the sharing of machines, which can lower the threshold to start with agroforestry. On the other hand, there may be specific obstacles for this province, such as (sweet water) salinisation and the characteristic open landscape.

This inspirational document has been developed by researchers of Wageningen University and Research. This report is meant to inspire stakeholders in agroforestry research, advisory and farmers who intend to engage in (the co-design of) integrated agroforestry production systems and business models. The document consists of international (mainly tropical) examples and lessons learnt from several case studies.

The Dutch Ministry of Agriculture is exploring options to stimulate the implementation of agroforestry in the Netherlands. To facilitate support for the planting of trees and shrubs on agricultural land, it is being investigated whether agroforestry can be included in the Dutch incentive schemes for green (nature) and blue (water) ecosystem services on farmland. However, there are concerns about agroforestry as a possible route of introduction for invasive alien species. These can spread and multiply quickly outside an agroforestry plot, displacing native species. The Ministry of Agriculture has therefore asked for guidelines to be drawn up for agroforestry in the context of reducing the risk of invasive alien species on Dutch nature. This report contains advice for using a negative (plant species) list when planting agroforestry.