What is LIVINGAGRO?
The LIVINGAGRO project aims to share innovations related to agroforestry with stakeholders working with olives and grazed woodlands in four Mediterranean countries: Italy, Greece, Lebanon and Jordan. The project funded by the European Union (EU) will help stakeholders to increase profitability, sustainability, and biodiversity in the face of limited resources and environmental constraints.
What is AGROFORESTRY?
Agroforestry is the practice of deliberately integrating woody vegetation (trees or shrubs) with crop and/or animal systems. Agroforestry can offer you valuable benefits.
Increased farm income
Reduced farm expenses
Increased biodiversity
Improved water management
Management of olive pests and diseases
More carbon sequestered in the soil
Reduced soil erosion and fire risk
Maintenance of soil fertility
Animal Welfare
What are LIVINGAGRO’s Living Labs?
LIVINGAGRO will tackle the issues of limited resources and environmental constraints using an open innovation approach, with two Living Laboratories: one devoted to “Multifunctional Olive Systems” and another for “Grazed Woodlands enabling interactions among innovators and stakeholders. After conducting surveys and discussions to learn about stakeholders’ needs, the LIVINGAGRO team is presenting technological developments, practical research results, and other types of innovation to stakeholders who can benefit from them in both financial and environmental terms.
Why should you join our living labs?
Living Labs move beyond traditional scientists’ laboratories to make a difference through cooperation in the field. Everyone involved with multifunctional olive systems (olive growing) and grazed woodlands are invited to enter our cross-border Living Laboratories by accessing this platform and explore innovations in agroforestry through free online classes, newsletters, online discussion forums, and a wealth of other events and information sources.
Advantages:
Find out new ways to increase farms’ income
Learn how you can reduce farming expenses
Discover innovations that can help improve products
Access free e-learning modules and training courses
Explore the way agroforestry helps farmers, farms, and the planet
Investigate catalogues of innovations and scientific resources
Connect with innovators and stakeholders online or face-to-face.
Agroforestry for
Multifunctional Olive Systems
Agroforestry in olive groves is the practice of growing crops among olive trees or using olive groves as pastures, making the groves into multifunctional olive systems that can increase farmers’ profit while helping the planet.
LEARN MOREAgroforestry for
Grazed Woodlands
Grazed woodlands are major agroforestry systems in the Mediterranean that highly contribute to sustaining local Mediterranean economies, supplying both vegetal and animal products.
LEARN MORENEWS AND EVENTS
An integrated Water-Energy-Food-Ecosystems solution to benefit farms in Salt Governorate in Jordan
Environment living labs
The Water-Energy-Food-Ecosystems (WEFE) Nexus represents an effective approach to addressing the climate change crisis that is casting its shadow on Jordan with recurrent droughts and rising temperatures. This interconnectedness was translated into action by the MENA Water Matchmaker II project which was implemented by the GWP-Med and funded by the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) and the UfM in Jordan and Palestine, in a cross-country context.
At the core of the MENA Water Matchmaker 2 project is the implementation of two demonstrable and scalable technical WEFE Nexus interventions in Jordan and Palestine whereby the treated wastewater which flows into the Wadis is pumped using renewable solar energy to irrigate nearby farmlands. The MENA Water Matchmaker 2 Project has aimed to prove, hence, through piloting, the integrated concept of applying local WEFE Nexus technical solutions while capacitating beneficiary groups on employment options, offering measurable and scalable contributions for further application in MENA countries.
Local farmers, women in the water sector association and several scientific and management institutions have been part of this inauguration and will be the recipients of a training programme that aims at showcasing nature-based solutions for water treatment and irrigation reuse, powered by renewable energy.
Read the full article here
Humanity’s challenge of the century: Conserving Earth’s freshwater systems
Environment living labs
Many dryland cities like Los Angeles, Cairo and Tehran have already outstripped natural water recharge, but are expected to continue growing, resulting in a deepening arid urban water crisis.
According to NASA’s GRACE mission, 19 key freshwater basins, including several in the U.S., are being unsustainably depleted, with some near collapse; much of the water is used indiscriminately by industrial agribusiness.
Many desert cities, including Tripoli, Phoenix and Los Angeles, are sustained by water brought from other basins by hydro megaprojects that are aging and susceptible to collapse, while the desalination plants that water Persian Gulf cities come at a high economic cost with serious salt pollution.
Experts say that thinking about the problem as one of supply disguises the real issue, given that what’s really missing to heading off a global freshwater crisis is the organization, capital, governance and political will to address the problems that come with regulating use of a renewable, but finite, resource.
Read the full article here
3rd edition of the Mediterranean Youth Academy in Barcelona
Environment living labs
The 3rd edition of the Mediterranean Youth Academy – MYA will be held from 6 to 9 of November 2023 in Barcelona, back-to-back with the High-Level Launch Event of the UfM Youth Action Plan. Young people from the Euro-Mediterranean region are encouraged to apply to secure attendance.
The mission of the MYA is to qualify and prepare selected young people from the Euro-Mediterranean area through interactive, bottom-up training programs focused on issues that are relevant to the region. The overall goal is to enhance the participation of young people in the decision and policy-making processes empowering them as active changemakers.
The 3rd edition of the MYA is co-organised by the Union for the Mediterranean – UfM and the Mediterranean Youth Foundation for Development – MYF with the support of the German Development Cooperation. The program aims at promoting awareness and involving youth in response to Mediterranean issues and challenges related to three thematic clusters: Climate Change & Climate Justice, Social Inclusion, Youth Employment. Participants will have the unique chance to attend thematic non-formal education training sessions and high-level panels. Furthermore, they will be encouraged to propose youth-related initiatives that would possibly receive, at a further stage, implementation support by the MYF.
To be eligible, applicants must:
- Be between 18 and 29 years old by the time of the application submission.
- Be nationals of one of the UfM Member States.
- By the time of the application submission, have a valid travel document.
- Have an Intermediate level of English.
- Have the availability to follow the MYA for the full four days (6-9 November 2023).
- Have previous knowledge or experience in one or more of the three MYA Thematic Clusters.
Interested applicants must fill out the online application form by no later than 31st of May 2023, 23:59 CEST. Applications received after the deadline will be automatically rejected.
In Memoriam: Honoring Andrea Pisanelli’s Contributions to Agroforestry Research
Dear friends of the LIVINGAGRO community,
it is with heavy hearts and great sadness that we announce that our dear colleague and friend Andrea Pisanelli passed away on May 5th, 2023 after battling with his illness for almost a year.
As part of the CNR, the Italian National Research Council – Institute of Research on Terrestrial Ecosystems, where he carried out his research for almost 30 years, among his beloved olive groves, Andrea actively and significantly contributed since 2019 to the successful achievement of some of the most important LIVINGAGRO results, with particular reference to the analysis of policies on Mediterranean agroforestry systems, and technology transfer in the MENA area through cross-border cooperation.
The whole LIVINGAGRO consortium together with all the friends and colleagues wishes Andrea final peace and rest, remembering his extraordinary kindness as well as his commitment, competence and passion in carrying out his research activity.
To his family and friends, the hope that they will be supported in their grief by the happy memories of their lives together.
“Ciao caro Andrea, è stato bello condividere questo pezzo di strada con te, grazie per quello che hai fatto per noi e per il progetto LIVINGAGRO, ci mancherai, riposa in pace”.
Sustainable Value Creation Summit
Conference
The Sustainable Value Creation Summit is the meeting point between Academia and Industry, where Innovators, Leaders, and Society meet to Create Value and Solve Problems.
This summit is supported by a sustainable mindset aligned with the 17 Sustainable Development Goals and Triple Bottom Line (society, planet, and financial concerns). The SVCS Summit is powered by the VCW (Value Creation Wheel) Method, a method for Innovation, Decision Making and Problem Solving.
Visit the Summit website here
FAO Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean
The Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa, the Alliance for Soil of Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), the Argentinian Association of Direct Seeding, Catholic Relief Services, the Project +Cotton from the International Cooperation of Brazil-FAO, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), through the Family Farming Knowledge Platform, Water Resources Management Team, Family Farming & Agroecology Communities of Practice of Africa and LAC, and the Soil Community of Practice for LAC invites all interested parties working on actions aimed at sustainable soil management to present good practices, innovations and technologies that can be replicated, adapted and scaled up in Latin America, the Caribbean and Africa.
6th edition of “Agroecologia al Centro”
Conference
The open day of the Agri-Environmental Research Center “Enrico Avanzi” titled “Diversification of Crop Systems for Sustainability and Resilience” will take place on Tuesday, May 30. It will be possible to explore, along three tracks, the role of diversification at the genetic level, at the crop species level and at the landscape level.
The event is organized in collaboration with the research teams of the Department of Agricultural, Food and Agri-environmental Sciences of the University of Pisa and the Plant Science Research Center of the Sant’Anna School of Pisa on the occasion of the ASviS Festival of Sustainable Development.
Registration is required for participation. Register
Reservations must be made for the shift, the course (maximum 1 course per shift, up to a maximum of 3 shifts) and the buffet lunch. Book
Schedule
8.30-9.00
Welcome
9.00-11.00
First shift
11.00-11.30
Coffee Break
11.30-13.30
Second shift
13.30-15.00
Organic Buffet
15.00-17.00
Third round
Pathways
Pathway 1. The role of diversification at the genetic level
Daniele Antichi, Elisa Lorenzetti, Maria Munoz, Lara Abou Chehade, Paolo Bàrberi, Luciana Angelini
CiRAA and Scuola Sant’Anna will present their genetic improvement and varietal comparison activities on the main cereal and legume crops of the Mediterranean area, including the selection of durum wheat varieties suitable for the organic method and the characterization of chickpea and lentil genetic resources.
Parcours 2. The role of diversification at the crop species level.
Camilla Moonen, Alessandro Triacca, Gabriele Nerucci, Gilbert Koskey, Daniele Antichi, Federico Leoni
The pathway will consist of three stages: the chickpea stage, the lentil stage and the clover stage.
Pathway 3. The role of diversification at the landscape level
Alberto Mantino, Stefano Carlesi, Lorenzo Tamacere, Massimo Sbrana, Giovanni Pecchioni, Daniele Antichi, Marcello Mele
Results from the ARNINO L.T.E. long-term trial, in which two crop rotations are compared in two systems: agroforestry and conventional, and from the AGROFORCES trial, in which the productivity of different herbaceous crops in intercropping with rows of managed very short-cycle poplar (Short rotation forestry) is evaluated.
Presentation of the LIVINGAGRO project and its dedicated ICT platform
Webinar
Framed within the activities of the LIVINGAGRO project (Activity 2.7.1), the event will have the following agenda:
- General introduction to the LIVINGAGRO project;
- Current knowledge on Agroforestry policies, economic trends, main challenges, threats and opportunities;
- Presentation of the two Catalogues of Innovations;
- Presentation of the LIVINGAGRO ICT platform: access, sections and functionalities;
- Session dedicated to 4Ps agreement;
- Participative activities;
- Conclusions.
Online technology transfer workshop
Workshop
Learn more about this topic with the expert Eng. Joseph Kahwaji.
“Guidelines for most important grazing plant species in Lebanon“ and much more!!!
Policy makers, farmers, entrepreneurs, researchers, private companies and other stakeholders involved in the grazed woodlands sector in Lebanon are invited to this free online workshop.
The Agroforestry Show (UK)
Conference
Interest in agroforestry is on the rise across the UK farming and forestry sectors, yet for many there is still uncertainty as to how to put this concept into practice.
Amidst this uncertainty agroforestry presents a huge opportunity for innovation between those who produce food and those who work with trees. Now is the time to break down the historic division between these sectors to work together towards a common purpose of landscape regeneration and sustainable food, fuel and fibre production!
Much more than a trade show, this two-day gathering will inspire land stewards to collaborate and engage with agroforestry through:
- Knowledge exchange workshops and inspiring talks
- Farmer and forester-led discussions
- Agroforestry field walks
- Live equipment demonstrations
- Exhibitions and market stalls
Join The Agroforestry Show to build and celebrate the UK’s agroforestry movement!
Know more about the event here
AGROECOLOGY EUROPE FORUM 2023
Interaction
The Agroecology Europe Forum is a 3-day in-person event gathering people from all over Europe and beyond to meet in dialogue and discuss some of the most pressing issues and present solutions for today’s food systems.
By bringing together a variety of stakeholders from various movements and territories, we aim to create synergies that set an exemplary model for facilitating the transition to agroecology in Europe, while acknowledging the global reach of the movement. Local solutions supported by favorable policies, tailored to the diverse climatic, socio-economic and cultural realities of the European continent can bring about a more climate resilient, biodiverse Europe, with environmental and social justice at its heart.
By organising the next Agroecology Europe Forum in Hungary between 16-18th November 2023, we wish to draw the attention to the agroecological richness of the Central Eastern European region and create stronger alliances between the different actors involved in science, practice and movement.
More information here
Meet the team
Livingagro Experts
Agricultural engineers, consultants, trainers, researchers or project managers. Our team is made up of passionate people, united above all by the same desire to think differently about agriculture for farmers, producers and consumers.
All experts
PROJECT PARTNERS
