{"id":2309,"date":"2026-07-24T12:12:45","date_gmt":"2026-07-24T10:12:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/afaktive.stoffstrom.org\/2026\/07\/24\/the-ifas-team-at-the-euraf-conference-2026\/"},"modified":"2026-07-24T12:12:45","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T10:12:45","slug":"the-ifas-team-at-the-euraf-conference-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/afaktive.stoffstrom.org\/en\/2026\/07\/24\/the-ifas-team-at-the-euraf-conference-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"The IfaS team at the EURAF conference 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">From 22<sup>nd<\/sup>-26<sup>th<\/sup> of June 2026, more than 400 people working in agroforestry met in Neuch\u00e2tel (Switzerland) for the <a href=\"https:\/\/euraf2026.ch\/index.php\/en\/\">8<sup>th<\/sup> conference<\/a> of the European Agroforestry Federation (<a href=\"https:\/\/euraf.net\/\">EURAF<\/a>). The event gathered participants from many different disciplines. This reflects the multidisciplinary nature of modern agroforestry systems bridging agricultural-, environmental and social science, as well as practical land stewardship and EU agricultural policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For the Institute for Applied Material Flow Management (IfaS), Dr. Martina Mayus and J\u00f6rg B\u00f6hmer participated, representing the current projects, EU-LIFE <a href=\"https:\/\/afaktive.stoffstrom.org\/en\/\">AFaktive<\/a>, FNR <a href=\"https:\/\/agroflow.stoffstrom.org\/\">AGROfloW <\/a>and FNR <a href=\"https:\/\/agroforst-info.de\/modema\/\">MODEMA<\/a>. The AFaktive-Team \u2013 including the project partners from the Flanders Research Institute for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (<a href=\"https:\/\/pureportal.ilvo.be\/en\/\">ILVO<\/a>) and the Institute for Rural Development Research (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ifls.de\/\">IfLS<\/a>) \u2013 together with experts from the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.uni-halle.de\/?lang=en\">Martin-Luther-Universit\u00e4t Halle-Wittenberg<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hswt.de\/en\/\">Weihenstephan-Triesdorf University of Applied Sciences<\/a> \u2013 also hosted a workshop on agroforestry and water management.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Besides indoor keynotes and workshops, many field trips to agroforestry sites took place. In general, the sessions revealed that the impacts of agroforestry systems are highly site and design specific. Therefore, more research is still required in particular for temperate regions to obtain further insights into the underlying ecological processes such as the competition for, and the (re)distribution of water and nutrients, impacts on microclimate and biodiversity as well as water dynamics. Fortunately, models are increasingly used to bridge these knowledge gaps and evaluate future scenarios. At the same time, continued methodological developments are enhancing their accuracy and applicability. The availability of data from drone surveys, telemetry, open-source data, and specialized databases is further accelerating this process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-id=\"23710\" src=\"https:\/\/afaktive.stoffstrom.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Bert-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-23710\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-id=\"23709\" src=\"https:\/\/afaktive.stoffstrom.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Joerg2-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-23709\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, many of the known agroforestry benefits related to climate change mitigation and adaptation, such as a reduced surface runoff, are most effective when implemented at the regional or landscape scale. As a result, an increasing number of projects are focusing on upscaling agroforestry systems and assessing their impact on larger spatial scales. In this respect, the IfaS team identified the following key challenges and research needs for the future:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">1.) Improving our understanding of the benefits that trees can provide in agricultural landscapes and identifying suitable tree species that perform well under changing climatic conditions and different production objectives;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">2.) Strengthening market development and value chains for agroforestry products to support broader adoption by farmers;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">3.) Establishing standardized monitoring and research protocols for field studies to improve data comparability and enable more systematic assessments across sites and regions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol style=\"list-style-type:lower-roman\" class=\"wp-block-list\"><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What is clear is that agroforestry and water management will remain key topics in the coming years. While significant progress has been made and research efforts continue to expand, further work is needed to better understand yield effects, improve assessments of economic viability, and support the development of robust value chains for agroforestry products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The AFaktive team went home with beautiful memories from Switzerland: stunning scenery, innovative farms producing excellent agroforestry products, and a dedicated organisation team, who are very passionate about hospitality. However, a shadow also marked the event or, better, the lack of enough shadow. With temperatures reaching almost 40 degrees, it became very clear that we need to make urgent progress with the implementation of agroforestry on a large scale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-2 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-id=\"23711\" src=\"https:\/\/afaktive.stoffstrom.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Cowboys-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-23711\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-id=\"23712\" src=\"https:\/\/afaktive.stoffstrom.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/AFS-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-23712\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>From 22nd-26th of June 2026, more than 400 people working in agroforestry met in Neuch\u00e2tel (Switzerland) for the 8th conference of the European Agroforestry Federation (EURAF). The event gathered participants from many different disciplines. This reflects the multidisciplinary nature of modern agroforestry systems bridging agricultural-, environmental and social science, as well as practical land stewardship\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2310,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2309","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-unkategorisiert"],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/afaktive.stoffstrom.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Joerg-2.jpg",1020,765,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/afaktive.stoffstrom.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Joerg-2-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/afaktive.stoffstrom.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Joerg-2-300x225.jpg",300,225,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/afaktive.stoffstrom.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Joerg-2-768x576.jpg",768,576,true],"large":["https:\/\/afaktive.stoffstrom.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Joerg-2.jpg",1020,765,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/afaktive.stoffstrom.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Joerg-2.jpg",1020,765,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/afaktive.stoffstrom.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Joerg-2.jpg",1020,765,false],"xs-thumb":["https:\/\/afaktive.stoffstrom.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Joerg-2-64x64.jpg",64,64,true],"mailpoet_newsletter_max":["https:\/\/afaktive.stoffstrom.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Joerg-2.jpg",1020,765,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Erica Tettamanti","author_link":"https:\/\/afaktive.stoffstrom.org\/en\/author\/e-tettamanti\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"From 22nd-26th of June 2026, more than 400 people working in agroforestry met in Neuch\u00e2tel (Switzerland) for the 8th conference of the European Agroforestry Federation (EURAF). The event gathered participants from many different disciplines. This reflects the multidisciplinary nature of modern agroforestry systems bridging agricultural-, environmental and social science, as well as practical land stewardship\u2026","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/afaktive.stoffstrom.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2309","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/afaktive.stoffstrom.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/afaktive.stoffstrom.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/afaktive.stoffstrom.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/afaktive.stoffstrom.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2309"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/afaktive.stoffstrom.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2309\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/afaktive.stoffstrom.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2310"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/afaktive.stoffstrom.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2309"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/afaktive.stoffstrom.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2309"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/afaktive.stoffstrom.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2309"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}