Newsletter 2017

News 2017

  • James Morran presented the project results at the event "Grassland Symposium: Role of Sustainable Grassland in Foodwise 2025". It was organised by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine of the Government of Ireland on 14th September 2017 in Dublin. The talk was entitled "Integrating High Nature Value Farmland and novel approaches to agri-environment payments for sustainable agriculture". The event was attended by approximately 75 agriculture industry representatives as part of Ireland's Year of Sustainable Grassland 2017.
    The presentation is available: James Moran presentation 2017


  • Summer is a busy time for conducting innovation seminars in all learning areas (LA) of the project. A variety of stakeholders - local communities, business, administration, research - have been involved in the seminars. Their work will culminate in a Vision for each LA: "What future do we want to see for our LA?" "What innovations are needed to achieve it?".
    The reports in respective national languages with English summary will be available on the website (under Learning Areas).


  • On 8-9th May, HNV-Link participated in the 19th Symposium of the European Grasslands Federation, held in Alghero, Sardinia. The focus of the Symposium was "grassland resources for extensive farming systems in marginal lands", and it included an important session on HNV grasslands, where Guy Beaufoy presented the HNV-Link project. He emphasized the urgent need for social, institutional and policy innovation using an example of La Vera area in Spain. There, the authorities started a very non-innovative campaign to eradicate tuberculosis in goat flocks, the move that seriously threatens the HNV farming system itself.
    The presentation is available: Guy Beaufoy presentation EGF Alghero 2017


  • The participants of the 14th Eurasian Grassland Conference (3-8th July, Riga, Latvia) got to know the HNV-Link during a plenary talk by Irina Herzon "In Hands of Farmers and Society: Semi-Natural Grasslands in the Boreal Region". The conference conclusions and recommendations for Latvian grassland conservation largely draw on inspiration and insights from this talk. The conference included to several magnificent Latvian meadows and pastoral landscapes:
    The presentation and conclusions are available from the event site (see Downloads).


  • Claire Bernard-Mongin of CIHEAM-IAAM presenting HNV-Link at a public debate “Rural employment and agricultural models: Issues and experiences shared from Europe, the Mediterranean Basin and Africa”. It was hosted by Eric Andrieu, S&D Coordinator for Agriculture and Rural Development in European Parliament, Brussels on 10th May 2017. The event was organised by Agropolis International Association and its members. The objectives were to:

    • Show the contribution of the scientific community research actions regarding the global issues related to agriculture for development, food security and fight against malnutrition linked to climate change,
    • Highlight the link between science and rural employment directly related to production as well as indirect and induced employment,
    • Present achievements of the regional Agropolis scientific community in Montpellier, focusing on flagship projects.

  • Xavier Poux of Asca presented the initial results generated by the baseline assessments in the learning areas at the conference of the European Association for Landscape Ecology, 12-15 September in Ghent, at the symposium "Reconciling agriculture and nature conservation across scales: challenges and opportunities for future social-ecological sustainability of high nature value farmlands". The abstract is available from www.iale-europe.eu


  • Supporting extensive livestock and pastoralism in Spain
    The HNV-Link project partner in Spain Entretantos along with the Interprofessional Spanish Organisation on Sheep and Goat (INTEROVIC) organised a meeting around a topic of extensive livestock and pastoralism - Pastoral Territories in Zaragoza (27-28 th of March). More than 120 people shared their reflections, experiences, concerns and solutions for extensive livestock systems of today.

    The minutes - a magnificent summary of what was said and shared - are available at www.ganaderiaextensiva.org/actastp2/. Join in! Google translator will help you if you are not fluent in Spanish.




  • Modernization that takes heritage into account in Bulgaria




  • Agropastoralism at the heart of HNV farming in France




  • A window of opportunity for the Burren, Ireland