The School of Agriculture, Policy and Development (SAPD) at the University of Reading has launched a major new initiative to transform farming across Eastern Europe. The Knowledge and Innovation in Advisory Services for Regenerative Agriculture (KIARA) project brought together partners from Poland, Slovakia, Ukraine, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, and Ireland for its first workshop week, focused on training and innovation in sustainable farming.
The European Union supports the KIARA project through EIT Food, a Knowledge and Innovation Community initiative funded by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT). The project is led by Dr Sarah Cardey, the Associate Professor for the International Development Department, and will run for two years, focusing on training extension workers and other farm advisers in Regenerative Agriculture and extension skills.
“We aim to train over 900 advisers (300 each from Poland, Slovakia, and Ukraine), and engage with hundreds of trainers and farmers at agricultural events and Farmer Field Schools,” Cardey said.
The EU supports Regenerative Agriculture as one of the most significant opportunities to help Europe address issues in human and climate health, as well as the financial well-being of farmers. This approach encourages farmers to reduce soil disturbance, maintain year-round ground cover, diversify crop rotations, keep living roots in the soil, and integrate grazing livestock, all of which are key principles that improve soil organic matter, store carbon, and enhance farm resilience.
By putting soil health at the heart of decision-making, farmers can build reserves of nutrients and water by increasing soil organic matter. This also acts as a carbon store, mitigating climate change.
The full week of talks and workshops at the University of Reading provided an opportunity for project partners to discuss plans, explore mutual opportunities in the project’s work packages, and refine the participatory methods that will be used to understand farmers’ needs and the training landscape in the three project countries. The team also visited the university’s farm trials at Sonning. The group toured the Waitrose farm at Leckford, where the farm manager revealed how they are implementing Regenerative Agriculture within a commercial farming system.
Alexander Berlin, a participant from the German organisation Climate Farmers, praised the program. “The University of Reading arranged an ideal start for our KIARA project with a smart program composed of intensive workshop sessions, lively discussions, farm visits, and social gatherings. Sarah Cardey and her staff brought a great team together to push education on regenerative agriculture in Eastern Europe.”
A hybrid meeting format also enabled participation with partners who were unable to visit the UK in person. Yurii Vlasenko, the Associate Professor at National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine, said:
“Having the opportunity to join the workshop online, we got acquainted with the opinions and proposals of colleagues from the UK, Poland and Slovakia on the implementation and development of regenerative agriculture. The proposed practical cases are interesting and valuable for Ukraine, which is historically an agrarian country with ancient traditions of agriculture. Possessing a significant share of the world’s black soil, it has a high potential for agricultural development and holds leadership in the world agricultural markets in the production of grain, sugar, honey and sunflower oil.”
Farmers are great innovators, constantly adopting and adapting new ideas and technologies. One of the newest ideas that has emerged in recent years, and has the greatest opportunity to positively impact the ecosystem, is regenerative agriculture.
“We look forward to further fruitful cooperation in this field,” he concluded.
The intensive week-long meeting proved invaluable in building relationships between the consortium partners.
“It was a real joy to connect in person on such a lovely campus. All the meetings and interactions outside of work helped enormously in building connections and generating ideas that will surely enrich the coming years of collaboration,” said Oliver Goshey from Climate Farmers.
For further information
Contacts: Sarah Cardey,Elena Carp, Erica Bower