A broad consortium in ten countries and a total of 14 networks works on the EU project MIXED. Each individual network represents an association or cooperation of farms characterised by a specific mixed land use system. For example, nutrient exchange between livestock and arable farms or the small-scale establishment of agroforestry systems on individual farms.
The impacts and potentials of such mixed land use systems, e.g. on sustainability and resilience, are under extensive investigations by the project partners. But how about the (political) framework conditions in which the farms have to operate? Moreover, how could trade and politics support a transition to more mixed systems in European agriculture?
These questions form the focus of the IfLS, whereby regulatory elements and negative factors are quickly found - usually referring to promotion, administration and knowledge. In particular, however, we would like to focus on favourable or promoting factors, collect and compare them. The collection of beneficial mechanisms, including in particular any new or innovative approaches, serves the purpose of mutual learning, enabling the transfer to other settings or countries during scenario development. The ultimate aim is to stimulate new forms of territorial or sectoral governance to create a favourable environment for mixed land use systems.
For this purpose, we created an online tool that was launched at the beginning of February. It aims to collect the five most important enabling instruments of each network, while also allowing external experts to participate in the survey.
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Contact persons at IfLS: Simone Sterly (sterly[at]ifls.de) and Holger Pabst (pabst[at]ifls.de)
