Our Director speaks on biodistricts at ‘Added Value of the Organic Farmer, Bioregions’ conference 12-14 October 2021, online & in the Netherlands
On 12-14 October, the Conference ‘Added Value of the Organic Farmer, Bioregions’ discussed the broader benefits of organic farming and bioregions, online and in the Netherlands.
The conferece included speeches by prominent Dutch and international speakers, workshops, and farm visits aimed to help farmers gain access to opportunities considering the new European Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and to inspire them to envision and manage the future management of their farms.
IFOAM’s Organic Europe Director, Eduardo Cuoco, joined the discussion on 13 October for the presentation Bioregions Boosting Biodiversity, together with Martien Lankester, Executive Director of Avalon Foundation and Michaël Wilde, Director of Bionext.
Eduardo reflected on the broader benefits of organic farming calling on the necessity to change the rural areas through innovations. In this context, he reminded, bioregions or organic districts play an important role by creating an “alliance of organic farmers, rural actors, business actors and local authorities, who decide to work together and put organic in the center of the development model”.
Bioregions have the capacity to “bring new jobs, protect our landscape, and build a stronger rural community’’ he added. That is why IFOAM Organics Europe fully supports the idea of organic districts; a social innovation that will be a strong reality in the European Union.