AFINET third consortium meeting took place from December 5th to 8thand was held by Insitituto Superior de Agronomia (ISA) in Lisbon.
During this gathering, partners and Innovation Brokers discussed relevant subjects concerning the development of the project and participated in four workshop sessions focusing in the most relevant bottlenecks and challenges regarding agroforestry that arose amongst nine involved regions to decide the best ways to approach them.
Innovation Brokers presented the results of the first RAIN meetings and organised the second encounter of the networks, which will take place during January 2018. Issues regarding the Knowledge Cloud were addressed so this can be available in two months’ time. Partners also discussed technical aspects, communication and transfer of knowledge strategies and how to create a greater impact of AFINET.
Florian Matterne, an independent Belgian student, presented his project during the event. Florian is traveling Europe visiting researchers, advisors, and farmers involved in agroforestry to gather information on these systems, their definition, interesting practices and limiting factors. The results of his visits will be summarized at his blog.
Members of the Portuguese RAIN invited AFINET partners to their farms the days before and after the meeting. Herdade Sanguinheira de Codes and Herdade Machuqueira do Grou welcomed the attendants to their lands and showed them the silvopastoral systems they manage, which combine animal grazing (sheep or cows) with pastures and tree regeneration and protection.
The next AFINET consortium meeting will take place in Poland next April or May.