Working together for sustainable farming

Overview

Many agri-environmental challenges, such as water quality and habitat protection, occur at landscape scales, requiring collaboration between farmers and also other stakeholders including extension services, NGOs, local communities and policy stakeholders. Consequently, the importance of collaboration between different groups of farmers and other stakeholders in transitioning to more environmentally sustainable agricultural production is increasingly recognised.

This seminar brings together farmers, researchers, and national and EU policy stakeholders to discuss experiences of collective and collaborative approaches to improving agricultural sustainability. The seminar seeks to draw out lessons from recent research and experience of agri-environmental initiatives that can inform future policy directions in an Irish/EU context, build networks between relevant stakeholders and identify potential pathways for enhanced collaboration.

Running order

2.00 – 2.05: Introduction and Welcome Dr David Meredith, Teagasc

2.05 – 3.20: Agri-environmental policy, practice and experience

1. Collaboration for sustainable agriculture: current developments from the European Commission. Inge Van Oost, Policy Officer, European Commission

2. Multi-level collaboration and good environmental governance. Katrin Prager, Senior Lecturer, University of Aberdeen.

3. Collaboration and knowledge sharing in preparing an EIP-AGRI application: an Irish case-study. Jack McCarthy, Post-Doctoral Fellow, Teagasc.

4. Experiences from the Inishowen Uplands EIP Project. Henry O’Donnell, Agricultural Consultant and Project Manager, Inishowen Uplands EIP Project.

5. How farmers work together to aim for more biodiversity on their farmland.

Alex Datema, Dairy Farmer and Chair of Farmers for Nature, Netherlands.

3.20 – 3.30: Break, Stretch, Grab Coffee

3.30 – 4.00: Discussion and Questions

Chair: Dr Daire Ó’hUallacháin, Teagasc

Discussants

Mary Mulvey, Sustainability Consultant

Margaret Murray, Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Questions and open discussion