The Community for
Farming for food, carbon and biodiversity
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 101060635 (REFOREST). Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Research Executive Agency (REA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
REFOREST Project
REFOREST (Agroforestry at the forefront of farming sustainability in multifunctional landscapes in Europe) is a Horizon Europe project funded under EU’s Land, ocean, and water for climate action from 2022 to 2026. It aims to promote agroforestry as a land use type allowing food production while maintaining ecological sustainability. The principles underlying REFOREST are those of innovation, knowledge exchange and creating novel solutions to empower farmers in Europe and associated countries to deliver on multiple objectives: food production, carbon capture, and biodiversity development. REFOREST has the fundamental aim to use existing knowledge of temperate agroforestry systems to co-create solutions to key barriers that hinder the wider adoption of this land use type by farmers. The strategic objective is to enhance agroforestry and the sustainability of food production by internalising the value of carbon and biodiversity in farming business models. The project will use an open science approach to represent the real-world ecological, economic and social potential and limitations of agroforestry within decision-making, verification, and financial support tools.
Key information
- Project name: Agroforestry at the forefront of farming sustainability in multifunctional landscapes in Europe
- Project acronym: REFOREST
- Call: HORIZON-CL6-2021-CLIMATE-01 (Land, ocean and water for climate action)
- Topic: HORIZON-CL6-2021-CLIMATE-01-08
- Type of Action: HORIZON-RIA
- Grant Agreement: 101060635
List of partners
The partnership is composed by 14 partners from 10 European countries:
- Ceska Zemedelska Univerzita V Praze (CZU)
- Euro Mediterranean Economist Association (EMEA)
- Provinciaal Extern Verzelfstandigd Agentschap In Privaatrechtelijke Vorm Vzw (INAGRO)
- Kobenhavns Universitet (UCPH)
- Ogolnopolskie Stowarzyszenie Agrolesnictwa (OSA)
- Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universitat Bonn (UBO)
- Trakiyski Universitet (TRAKIA UNI)
- Europroject Ood (EP)
- Philipps Universitaet Marburg (UMR)
- Soproni Egyetem (SOE)
- Deutscher Fachverband Fur Agroforstwirtschaft (Defaf) Ev (DeFAF)
- Farmtree Bv (Farmtree)
- The University of Reading (UREAD)
- Organic Research Center (ORC)
The REFOREST engagement platform
The platform is an engagement tool to encourage co-creation activities for the REFOREST project, developed by the Euro-Mediterranean Economists Association (EMEA).
It supports community building, the engagement of various actors during the project implementation, and enable knowledge transfer, training and innovation.
Objectives of the REFOREST engagement platform
The platform aims to enable and sustain co-creation activities, including scoping and integration of research to agricultural practice and policy formulation support. It provides a targeted space for community building, stakeholder engagement, innovation stimulation, education and training, and instrument testing (metrics, models, policy suggestions).
Expected achievements and improvements?
- Establishment of networks and communities of connected stakeholders sharing best practice, knowledge, expertise, experience and technical skills
- Increased expertise and knowledge base of agroforestry systems by actors at regional and local levels and improvement of their decision-making capability
- Enhance synergies among work packages through the co-creation process to maximize knowledge and expertise capitalization as drivers of innovation
- Enhanced participation of the entire value chain agents in the local context and involvement of stakeholders who have so far been unable or unwilling to engage with agroforestry
- Increased involvement of regional authorities, financial institutions, and national policy experts in co-creation to stimulate the practitioner-led research and innovation of agroforestry at regional and local levels
- Provision of reference documents produced and gathered by the project, including enhanced learning provision and guidelines (AFINET, AGFORWARD, AGFOSY) to support farmers in integrating trees into their farm business models
- Establishment of a network of living labs and a knowledge inventory for the synthesis and exchange of knowledge between researchers and practitioners on the design and performance of agroforestry systems based on available data and evidence (including visualization) from living labs
- Access given to farmers and agroforestry practitioners to online tools, such as a graphic-user interface (GUI) and FarmTree model, which quantify the performance of existing agroforestry systems in terms of their productivity, profitability and ecosystem services provision
- Communication of the project outcomes to farmers and value chain actors in a simplified format
- Increased societal awareness and knowledge of the agroforestry sector and its benefits to food production, landscape development, human health, and ecosystem service delivery
Who will benefit?
- 14 partners from 10 European countries
- Farmers and landowners (e.g., farmers, farming associations, agroforestry groups, landowners)
- European, national, regional, and local environmental and agricultural policymakers (e.g., (regional/national scale) local environmental bodies, ministry of agriculture, regulators, (EU scale) European Commission)
- Scientific community (e.g., scientists, academia, research institutions)
- Agroforestry value-chain stakeholders (agroforestry value-chain actors, including industry, farmers, landowners, processors, inputs suppliers, retailers, consumers, trees nurseries)
- Wider society (e.g., Citizens/the public, media)
- Agricultural and forestry consultancy actors (e.g., farm advisors, external advisors, planners)
- Private sector (Businesses, firms)
- NGOs
- Other interested parties
Meet our Partners
