29th EGF General Meeting 2022

EGF2022
Photo by Luc Delaby (France)

“Grassland at the heart of circular and sustainable food systems”

The main theme of the 29th EGF General Meeting 2022 was “Grassland at the heart of circular and sustainable food systems”. It considered the contributions of grasslands to the development of circular, healthy and sustainable food systems. Grasslands are widely acknowledged for their various roles and services. As the expectations regarding food systems are multi-faceted and because the importance of each service provided by grasslands varies according to the stakeholder’s visions, local context and farming practices, achieving the objectives requires the search for new compromises. The analysis of the relationship between services, their drivers encompassing economic, social, biological and biotic regulatory processes and the search for compromises were the keystone of this year’s EGF conference.

The conference covered five themes:
(1) Putting grasslands into perspective;
(2) Highlighting the bundles of services provided by grasslands;
(3) Using biodiversity to reduce vulnerability and increase resilience of grassland-based systems;
(4) Looking for synergy between animals, grasslands and crops;
(5) Illustration of initiatives for the transfer and co-construction of innovations on and for grassland.

The 29th EGF General Meeting 2022 provided novel and most valuable insights for grassland science and stimulated fruitful discussions and networking.

EGF2022 – a great success
The 29th EGF General Meeting 2022 arranged by INRAE and the University of Caen Normandy on a very current theme impressed more than 330 delegates from 29 different countries and was a great success, scientifically, technically and socially.
The European Grassland Federation EGF congratulates and thanks Dr Jean Louis Peyraud (Chair), but especially also Dr Luc Delaby, Dr Marie-Pascale Prud’homme, Dr Servane Lemauviel-Lavenant, Dr Annette Morvan-Bertrand, and all their colleagues who were involved in the organisation of the 29th EGF General Meeting 2022. In addition, a special thank is to be addressed to the important generous sponsors and supporters.

Outcome of the conference
After the most interesting sessions and exciting tours, the participants in EGF2022 will retain excellent proceedings and pleasant thoughts and impressions of France – and both the University of Caen Normandy and INRAE.

  • The Proceedings of the 29th EGF General Meetings 2022 (Grassland Science in Europe, vol. 27) can be downloaded for free from here.
  • A summary of the 29th EGF General Meeting 2022 by Dr Olivier Huguenin (Switzerland) is available here.

News about the European Grassland Federation

EGF Constitution adjusted

The strategy process “EGF after 2021” initiated in 2015 was concluded on 30 June 2022 with the adoption of the revised EGF Constitution (Link) during the EGF Business Meeting.

Elections
EGF Honorary Life Presidents
- Alan Hopkins (United Kingdom)
- Lars Nesheim (Norway)
- Piotr Stypinski (Poland)

EGF President 2022-2024
- Agnes Van den Pol-van Dasselaar (the Netherlands)

Regional representatives 2022-2026
- Central Europe – Czech Republic
- Western Europe – Ireland
- Southern Europe – Portugal

Federation Secretary 2022-2024
- Willy Kessler (Switzerland)

Germany to organise the International Grassland Congress 2027
The XXVI International Grassland Congress 2027 on “100 years of grassland research – ways to the future” will take place 5-12 June 2027 in Leipzig, Germany.

The congress will be organised by the following host organisations:

  • Leibniz Centre of Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF)
  • Julius Kühn Institute – German Federal Research Centre for Cultivated Plants (JKI)
  • Thünen Institute – German Federal Institute for Rural Studies, Forestry and Fisheries (TI)

►► The minutes of the EGF Business Meeting and the new EGF Constitution (revised 30-06-2022) can be downloaded from here.