The first stakeholder meeting of the ACT4CAP27 project took place on Wednesday, October 23, at the Thon Hotel EU in Brussels, Belgium organized by Ecorys. The event brought together policymakers, researchers, and key stakeholders of the agri-food industry to discuss strategies for achieving sustainable EU food systems. The ACT4CAP27 project aims to explore policy options and technologies that support the European Union’s Green Deal objectives through policy development support to enhancing improved agricultural practices and food systems.
The meeting opened with registration and a welcome coffee, followed by an introduction from Sophie Helaine, Head of Unit A3 Policy Performance at DG AGRI, who set the stage for the day’s discussions. Project coordinator, Siemen van Berkum from WR then provided an overview of the ACT4CAP27 project, highlighting the importance of integrating stakeholder visions on future scenarios and sustainability metrics.
The main objectives of the meeting were to:
- Discuss future trends under a baseline scenario that assumes no policy changes.
- Reflect on model assumptions and how they affect projections, considering the relevance to Green Deal targets.
- Examine ‘fast track’ scenarios for policies that could enable sustainable EU food systems using current modeling tools.
- Identify combinations of policies and technologies to enhance sustainability in food systems, potentially leading to adjustments in the project’s models.
Session on the baseline narrative, assumptions, and modeling results
Maria Blanco from UPM led a session on the baseline narrative, assumptions, and modeling results. Participants discussed the foundational assumptions used in the ACT4CAP27 baseline scenario to refine the project’s final baseline.
Poster Session on ACT4CAP27 Scenarios
Chaired by Davit Stepanyan from the Thünen Institute, this interactive session involved a poster presentation to gather stakeholder input on various future scenarios. Key topics included:
- Ukraine’s potential accession to the EU (presented by Roel Jongeneel, WR)
- Biodiversity futures (Petr Havlik, IIASA)
- Health and nutrition impacts (Marco Springmann, UCL)
- Strategic dialogue related to the Common Agricultural Policy (Caetano Beber, JRC)
Conclusions and Next Steps
Scientific coordinator, Hans van Meil from WR summarized the main outcomes and future directions of the project, emphasizing the significance of the stakeholders’ contributions in shaping ACT4CAP27’s scenarios.
The meeting concluded with closing remarks from Sophie Helaine, who reaffirmed the importance of ACT4CAP27 in supporting DG AGRI’s future policy developments through future scenario modellings.
A networking lunch followed, providing further opportunities for participants to discuss the project’s next steps and potential collaborations.
The ACT4CAP27 project will continue to develop its scenarios, incorporating feedback from this meeting to ensure that the proposed policies and technologies align with the EU’s sustainability goals.
Many thanks to all participants of the ACT4CAP27 Stakeholder Community for their valuable contributions! We keep you updated about all our further developments, and look forward to your further views to shape ACT4CAP27 project outcomes.
