Climate Farm Demo
Dates: 01 October 2022 - 30 September 2029
Climate Farm Demo is a unique pan-European network of Pilot Demo Farmers (PDFs) covering 28 countries and all pedo-climatic areas. Its overall aim is to accelerate the adoption of Climate Smart Farming (CSF) practices and solutions by farmers and all actors of the Climate Smart Agriculture Knowledge & Innovation Systems (AKIS) with a view to adapting agricultural production systems to climate change and to achieving a carbon neutral agricultural sector by 2050, thereby meeting the targets of the EU Climate strategy.
Climate Farm Demo is a unique pan-European network of Pilot Demo Farmers (PDFs) covering 28 countries and all pedo-climatic areas. Its overall aim is to accelerate the adoption of Climate Smart Farming (CSF) practices and solutions by farmers and all actors of the Climate Smart Agriculture Knowledge & Innovation Systems (AKIS) with a view to adapting agricultural production systems to climate change and to achieving a carbon neutral agricultural sector by 2050, thereby meeting the targets of the EU Climate strategy.
To reach this objective, the project adopts a MultiActor approach by connecting 1500 Pilot Demo Farmers and their Climate Farm Advisors (CFAs) at European and national levels to increase knowledge exchange & cross-fertilization in their respective AKIS. The CFA’s will support the PDFs in implementing Adaptation and Mitigation Measures suggested by contextualized guidelines and will assess & monitor their environmental performance thanks to harmonized methodologies & tools.
Technical and social innovations covering a broad range of thematic areas will be demonstrated to the wider farming community across six annual demo campaigns by organizing 4500 demo events and supporting interactive and peer-to-peer learning. New and innovative CSF solutions will be co-created in 10 Living Labs spread across Europe, and lessons learned from multi-actor innovation will be shared and scaled.
A set of public and private rewarding mechanisms will be identified, proposed, and demonstrated to the AKIS actors, thus incentivizing the uptake of CSF solutions while ensuring sustainable business models. Strategic and operational cooperation will be organized with projects, flagship initiatives, and policy-makers at European and national levels in order to share knowledge, organize coordinated actions, and produce policy briefs. Finally, to accelerate the wide spreading and uptake of results, an ambitious dissemination, exploitation, and communication strategy will be deployed at the EU and national levels.
TESTIMONIAL

FINN HARRIES
“I spent an amazing week at the Regenerative Academy in Murcia, Spain to complete a crash course in regenerative agriculture.
This is part of my research for my masters degree at Cambridge University. I loved learning the basics of soil health, water capture, food harvesting and composting. 🌱
The course is run on a massive 1,100 hectare farm that used to practice traditional industrial agriculture but now is leading the way in regenerative practices in the fight against climate change and biodiversity loss.”

NATHALIE NAHAI
Where to start? I signed up for the Regeneration Academy’s one-week crash course, with the intention of gaining some practical knowledge and hands-on experience of what regenerative agriculture is, and how it can be used to restore ecosystems and food networks. In reality, it turned out to be so much more than this – it was one of the most transformative, memorable and joyful courses I’ve attended. The team was generous, open-hearted and welcoming, the food was a delight, and we came away feeling emboldened and optimistic as to the futures we can create when we work together towards a common goal. It was an extraordinary experience, and one which I can’t recommend highly enough.

RUBY & CHRISTABEL REED
The @regenerationacademy at @lajunquera are experimenting with, engaging in and researching regenerative agriculture in their 1700 hectare farm. They are brave and immensely inspiring, working at scale in one of the most impoverished parts of Spain where the land is being desertification by the climate and by conventional agriculture, as well as by the people and communities that used to inhabit it. This incredible community is proving that it is possible, even if not straightforward or simple, to transition to agricultural practices that revitalise both the planet and people. Last week we learnt about the power of context, complexity, culture and community 🌞🌻🥬”

Arno Foppe
My research project at La Junquera made me experience the reality of regenerative farming and gave me the opportunity to contribute to the next steps on the farm.

— Paulina Binsfeld - de Bus
“Doing my thesis at La Junquera has broadened my perspective on regenerative farming a lot. Because it is such a big farm, I got the opportunity to learn about all the different elements of regeneration, not just the agriculture part. Living here and seeing the day-to-day activities showed me that nothing is perfect, it’s a constant trial and error, not a pristine concept. I also learned a lot about what my role can be in a community and what elements I want to take with me when starting my own farm one day.””

Sofía and Pablo
In this course, we learned about the regenerative model, a model that proposes a paradigm shift in the current agricultural system and that involves the commitment and fight against the loss of biodiversity, climate change and desertification. Through small seminars, debates, and above all, visits to the field, one knows first-hand what day-to-day life is like in the field and how to make a living from the regenerative business.
The course is taught by professionals in the field, who are the living example of the wealth that is generated there. Highly recommended for anyone who wants to make a living from agriculture, for environmental researchers, or simply for curious people who want to rediscover nature