The AFaktive partner Piet Rombouts is an environmental agriculturalist with a specialisation in agroecological farming. His role in the initiatives he accompanies is focused on how to involve farmers in the process (bottom-up). “I think that the farmer’s situation and their farm management have to be the starting point of this transition.”In AFaktive, he is […]

Nature and all the physical laws governing it are too complex to fully grasp, so scientists rely on so called models that simplify reality while staying as accurate as possible. These models focus on key elements, helping study and predict without needing to account for every detail. Models are being used in AFaktive to understand

The AFaktive pilot sites are each accompanied by a local project partner. The Association for the promotion of agroforestry in Wallonia and Brussels (AWAF) holds a unique position within the AFaktive consortium as the sole Association for Agroforestry and the only Walloon partner. Though small in number, its expertise is vast. Recently, AWAF has been

Forestry Service Group (FSG) is the AFaktive partner responsible for the coordination of the technical part, such as the development of Agroforestry & Water Management plans (AWM plans) for the pilot farms in the project. Under the coordination of FSG, six pilot sites have been selected – two in each project country (Belgium, Germany and

On 21st November 2024, the AFaktive project team from the Institute for Applied Material Flow Management (Trier University of Applied Sciences) met with the initiators of the project “Schwammlandschaft Naturpark Soonwald-Nahe” (Spongelandscape Nature Park Soonwald-Nahe) at the Walderlebniszentrum Soonwald (Forest Experience Centre Soonwald). The primary goal of the meeting was to identify synergies between the

Development of regional agroforestry systems in agriculture for climate-resilient and economically attractive grassland utilisation – EvA for short (Entwicklung von regionalen Agroforstsystemen in der Landwirtschaft für eine klimaresiliente und ökonomisch attraktive Grünlandnutzung) For around 20 years, extreme water events (heavy rainfall and drought) have been increasing in the low mountain regions. The initial hypothesis of

Utilising local resources and implementing the energy transition in your municipality: The Agency for Renewable Resources (Fachagentur Nachwachsende Rohstoffe, FNR) has now published the guide ‘Renewable Energy Municipalities – Guidelines for a sustainable energy supply in villages and towns’ on this highly topical subject (only in German). The comprehensive guide was compiled by the Institute

The document outlines five key co-designed policy recommendations for the EU to maximise the implementation of agroforestry as part of its objective to secure a more sustainable, resilient, and equitable food system that meets the needs of present and future generations. Five key policy recommendations: 1) The classification of agroforestry land should be consistent across

The kick-off event for the MODEMA Model and Demonstration Network for Agroforestry in Germany (funding code: 2222NR061) took place in Weimar on 22nd October 2024. The project is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture and the Agency for Renewable Resources (Fachagentur Nachwachsende Rohstoffe, FNR). It is centrally coordinated by DeFaF e.V.

From the 24th to the 27th of June, the AFaktive second annual partner meeting took place in Rumbeke, Western Flanders, Belgium. The institute for agricultural research INAGRO hosted the meeting and was an inspiring backdrop for the event. Under the blessing of sunny and warm weather, the participants were very productive in discussing the project