Category Archives: Multifunctionality

SOLINSA project has come to an end – the results

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January 31 the EU-funded research project SOLINSA has offically come to an end. A Special Issue of The Journal of Agricultural Education and Extension is in preparation. Publication of the SOLINSA issue is foreseen for early 2015. For now the results of the project are available at the SOLINSA website under four subheading:

  1. The concept of LINSA
  2. The relation between AKS and LINSA 
  3. Interacting with LINSA
  4. Policy recommendations

Transition partnersHere public reports of the different workpackages are published, six factsheets, posters and two video clips made for a SOLINSA webinar in which Gianluca Brunori and Talis Tisenkopf explain what LINSA are.  These are also available at You Tube SOLINSA Project. To get an overview the SOLINSA home page offers a guided tour through the project and its results. The notion of transition partner captures well the various supporting roles towards LINSA.

Internship possibility

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STA73745Earlier this year Clara Celestino Siurana completed her internship at the PeeRGroup in Donderen. She developed a design and building of a vegetable garden (see here for original description of the intership). Their terrain, a former ammunition depot has now the status of an ‘estate’ and ecologically rare species have been discovered because nature on that terrain has not been fertilized by convential agriculture for the past 50 years. They have a long way to go in making the terrain a multifunctional space open for public and connected to the care farm with which they collaborate. The small kitchen garden by Clara is only one of the things they want to develop.

Therefore, the PeeRGroup Donderen is still looking for students that want to play a role in further developing this unique project. Contact Marin de Boer (marin@peergroup.nl) or Sjoerd Wagenaar (sjoerd@peergroup.nl) if you are interested. Look at their website (http://www.peergroup.nl/donderboerkamp/) for more information.

Future farmers in the spotlight: A project to raise awareness for the situation of young farmers in Europe

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Future farmers in the spotlight

‘Future farmers in the Spotlight’ is a project to raise awareness for the need of young farmers and more sustainable food production systems in the European Union.

Describing the idea with the words of project founders Juliane Haufe and Joris van der Kamp:

“Many farmers are reaching the age of retirement: only 6% of Europeans farmers is currently below the age of 35. Young people are needed to take over to sustain food production!
But how can a young future farmer nowadays start up an inspiring farming project? Which options are there to get involved in food production? Which (new) concepts will make a farm sustainable in an ecological sense, will provide an adequate income and will create an added value for the civil society?
These questions urgently need an answer!
Future farmers in the spotlight is looking for these answers! We are visiting already existing farming initiatives all around Europe and make short documentaries!”

To find out more about the project and to watch interesting video clips about the troubles and joys of young farmers across Europe, please visit future-farmers.net

Interesting forum discussion: Urban and Peri-urban agriculture and short food chains: Lessons from the South

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The SUPURBFOOD project (www.supurbfood.eu) is looking to identify experiences from the global South and North with recycling of nutrients, waste and water in urban and peri-urban agriculture, short chain delivery of food in urban and peri-urban areas, and multifunctional agriculture in urban and peri-urban areas in order to enrich South-North exchange and collaboration. We are specifically interested in innovative experiences – with a special focus on the type of business models that were applied, the role of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and their sustainability.

This specific discussion will run on the Forum from 4-30 March 2013. Continue reading →

Terug naar 3 pakketten, zelfsturing en certificering: Advies nieuwe opzet Agrarisch Natuurbeheer

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Op 4 oktober heeft een groep van 10 boeren (ook wel de Groep Schipluiden genoemd) ondersteund door CLM op uitnodiging van staatssecretaris Bleker advies uitgebracht over een nieuwe opzet van het nieuwe Agrarisch Natuurbeheer vanaf 2013. De aanbiedingsbrief en het advies zijn te vinden op de website over de aanstaande hervorming van het Gemeenschappelijke Landbouw Beleid (GLB). Die hervorming is relevant is voor de toekomstige financiering van het nieuwe ANB en de invulling van maatregelen om de landbouw te vergroenen.

Kern van het advies luidt:

Het agrarische natuurbeheer kan in de toekomst volstaan met drie eenvoudige pakketten, uitgevoerd door zelfsturende collectieven. Dat is de conclusie van een groep van tien boeren die op uitnodiging van Staatssecretaris Henk Bleker een advies heeft geformuleerd over de toekomst van het agrarisch natuurbeheer. De drie pakketten beschrijven het beheer voor drie biotopen: grasland, akker en kleinschalig landschap. Daardoor ontstaan geschikte leefgebieden voor allerlei soorten vogels, amfibieën, insecten, vleermuizen en andere zoogdieren. Ook voor de soorten waar Nederland internationale verplichtingen voor heeft.

ANB in nieuwe opzet kan deel uit maken van de beoogde vergroening van de landbouw en de certificering van vergroeningsmaatregelen met oog op vergoedingen vanuit EU-beleid:

De boeren zijn van mening dat certificering kansen biedt om de landbouw te vergroenen (pijler 1) met een breed keuzemenu van duurzaamheidsmaatregelen voor meerdere EU thema’s (biodiversiteit, water, bodem, klimaat, energie). Want zo stelde Wim Stegeman (akkerbouwer Flevoland): “vergroening gaat om verduurzaming en dat is breder dan natuur”. Het agrarisch natuurbeheer kan onderdeel uitmakenvan zo’n brede certificering.