Dr Christina de Wit, Head of the Sustainable Management and Bioeconomy Division at the BMFTR, emphasised in her welcoming address: ‘The agricultural systems of the future are more relevant than ever, because they already stand for innovation “Made in Germany” – compatible with value creation and practice.’

The keynote speech by Dr Hunecke from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research emphasised that ‘in order to achieve a genuine transformation of agricultural systems, a whole range of targeted measures is needed – as is already being demonstrated in the agricultural systems of the future.’ 

A central component were the lectures and poster presentations by the consortia SUSKULT, DAKIS, food4future, NOcsPS, GreenGrass and CUBES Circle. Lectures and interactive formats presented advances in the areas of digitalisation, resource efficiency, urban production, circular economy and social transformation.

‘The status seminar impressively highlighted the wide variety of research topics within the funding line and how strongly the common goal of shaping sustainable agricultural systems of the future connects us,’ emphasised Prof. Schreiner from the Central Coordination Office.

This year, particular attention was paid to the path from research to practice: poster pitches provided a forum for discussion about obstacles, success factors and innovative approaches to cooperation with politics, business and society.

‘This shows how solution-oriented cooperation can be used to master the challenges in the areas of agriculture and nutrition,’ said Prof. Weith, co-coordinator of the Central Coordination Office.