Partners and Innovation Brokers of AFINET gathered in Krakow (Poland) to share and discuss the innovations identified in the nine regional agroforestry networks involved in the project, to improve the applied knowledge about AF practices. The best ways to spread these innovations through Europe were also addressed.
Innovation Brokers presented the updates from each Regional Agroforestry Innovation Network (RAIN), as well as the development of the second meetings, which took place at the beginning of the year. The procedures to organize the third RAIN meeting were also set. The rest of partners also presented the progress made over the first year and a half of the project and commented the activities to be carried out in the next months. The focus of the meeting was on the dissemination materials to be produced in the following months, such as the first video about agroforestry in Europe or the innovation factsheets and short videos summarizing the innovations practices and existing solutions identified within the RAINs.
AFINET partners also visited some of the Polish farmers involved in the project. On May 22nd, the group had the opportunity to see silvopastoral sites in the Beskid Mountains: in the morning they visited a transhumance system in the Gorce Mountains and in the evening went to see a traditional orchard with grazing animals. Local farmers offered a taste of their products to the partners. On May 25th, the group went to a forest garden and also visited an enclosure for the European Bison.
The next AFINET consortium meeting will take place in France at the end of 2018.
If you want to know more about how the meeting went, you can watch this video.