Empowering Stakeholders to Drive Farming System Transition: Conversations on Agroecology

AGROECOLOGY, the European Partnership "Accelerating Farming Systems Transition: Agroecology Living Labs and Research Infrastructures," is a significant European research and innovation initiative involving the European Commission and 26 Member States, Associated Countries, and Third Countries, with a total of 72 partner organizations. The goal of AGROECOLOGY is to assist the agricultural sector in addressing the challenges of climate change, biodiversity loss, food security and sovereignty, and environmental sustainability, while ensuring agriculture remains profitable, sustainable, and attractive to farmers.

Transforming the agricultural sector to meet societal and policy demands requires bold and systemic changes. AGROECOLOGY fosters for solutions that leverage natural and biological processes, blending state-of-the-art science, technology, and innovation with farmers' knowledge. By pooling resources from the European Commission and the involved member states and regions, the Partnership funds high-level research in Living Labs and Research Infrastructures, co-creating relevant knowledge and technologies aligned with the priorities of the Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda for the Farming System Transition.

To support these efforts, a range of activities is being implemented to inform, engage, and empower stakeholders. These activities aim to enhance capacities, raise awareness, and facilitate the exchange of knowledge and data. A key element of this effort is the Conversations on Agroecology which serve as foundational steps to strengthen agricultural knowledge and innovation systems (AKIS) for agroecology. These conversations foster collaboration and connections between Living Labs, Research Infrastructures and stakeholders across Europe.

The online Conversations on Agroecology are held monthly throughout the Partnership, enabling the mobilization and networking of agroecology actors in Europe and beyond. In 2024, six online conversations were organized on various themes, such as the role of AKIS for agroecology, agroecological transition, and the power of networks for agroecology. Through these monthly conversations, AGROECOLOGY engages diverse groups of actors, ensuring involvement of institutional AKIS actors, farmers, and farming networks to ensure inclusive participation and drive progress toward sustainable food systems by 2030.