Started on October 1, 2020 a new major project of the H2020 programme, MIXED – Multi-actor and transdisciplinary development of efficient and resilient MIXED farming and agroforestry-systems. MIXED is a project led by the University of Aarhus in Denmark and the International Centre for Research in Organic Food Systems (ICROFS), consisting of 19 partners from 10 different EU countries, including CONSULAI, which will explore different types of mixed agroforestry systems, including the Montado in Portugal. In this agroforestry system, the project is being implemented by CONSULAI, as coordinator of newtork, and the Instituto Superior de Agronomia (ISA), as academic partner.

The principles of farming in the ‘good old days’ can inspire sustainable solutions for the future. Rather than moving to a higher degree of specialisation, this new major project aims to work out the benefits of these types of systems in regard to overall sustainability, resilience to climate change, better nutrient use and biodiversity, and overall increasing farm efficiency.

“We live in a dynamic world, faced with climate change and major changes in agricultural policies and framework conditions. Serious problems are caused by these changes if we do not have robust and resilient agricultural production systems. Therefore, we will try to develop systems that are both economically efficient with competitive high quality products, and at the same time resilient to changes and efficient in meeting climate and environmental objectives” says Professor Tommy Dalgaard, the Project Coordinator at Aarhus University.

Thus, H2020 MIXED is a multi-actor project to boost the development of European Mixed Agricultural and Agroforestry Systems (MiFAS) that aim at:

• Optimise the efficiency and use of resources;
• Reduce GHG emissions;
• Show greater resilience to climate change, considering agronomic, technical, environmental, economic and social advantages and constraints.

The project will, through a participatory and transdisciplinary process, develop, improve and implement efficient and resilient MiFAS in collaboration between networks of organic and conventional farmers, consultants, researchers and other value chain actors.

“It’s not every day that we are granted a project like this, and I have no doubt that the knowledge we will gain from this project will help increase the sustainability and resilience of agriculture in Portugal and Europe, especially in relation to climate change” says Cláudia Marques dos Santos Cordovil, professor at ISA and coordinator of the MIXED project at that university.   

“As coordinators of the network in Portugal, at CONSULAI, we want to contribute to a more efficient, resilient and sustainable Montado system, through multidisciplinary work involving all agents of the value chain. So we believe that this project will be an asset to the sector,” says Carolina Ramos, project manager at CONSULAI.

The social networks of the project H2020 MIXED are already available: Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn! Follow the social networks to learn more about the results of H2020 MIXED, new events and workshops of the project, including different topics on the agroforestry sector in Europe.

For more information about the Portuguese network, articles and news related to H2020 MIXED, see also the project website: mixed-project.eu