On October 2, 2024, the European Forum for Farm Animal Breeding (EFFAB) and the Foodscale Hub (FSH) successfully organised the First Stakeholder Gathering for the STEP UP project. The online event brought together a diverse group of stakeholders from across Europe to collaboratively shape the future of livestock production systems.
The gathering commenced at 10:00 AM with a warm welcome from host Ana Granados Chapatte, Director of EFFAB. Valerio Abbadessa from the DG- AGRI followed, emphasizing the project’s significance in promoting sustainable livestock production as well as the policy framework, explaining the need to provide concrete evidence to respond to policy needs.
Outlining the vision for STEP UP
Under the theme “Stepping into the STEP UP” the primary objective of the gathering was to familiarize stakeholders with the project and encourage their active participation. Prof. David Kenny, STEP UP Coordinator from Teagasc, Ireland, provided a comprehensive overview of the STEP UP project, highlighting its objectives and significance in advancing sustainable livestock practices. He especially highlighted the projects’ roadmap for the generation of evidence-based information and the importance of including the views of all sectors within the food chain in the formulation of new and more sustainable EU livestock production systems.
Milica Kovač from FSH presented the STEP UP Sustainability Catalogue, which outlines the initially envisioned key project results and will serve all identified target groups-particularly policymakers.
Arnd Bassler from BLE introduced the first steps in STEP UP project by sharing examples of Livestock production, including 1. types of livestock production systems across Europe; 2. future scenarios for livestock production; and 3. innovations for livestock production.
Aine Macken-Walsh from Teagasc had the task of making us more familiar with the concepts of European livestock production systems (ELPS) and innovative livestock production systems (ILPS) and their undertaken case studies to identify gaps and answer sustainability questions.
Ryan McGuire representing QUB, Northern Ireland, presented recent and planned developments in establishing novel indicators to measure the impacts and externalities of livestock production to underpin the development of more sustainable ELPS.
Laurence Smith from SLU, Sweden, described work on the project aimed at developing and applying a range of holistic methods to quantify the impacts of livestock systems.
Viktoriya Sturm on behalf of Thünen Institute introduced us to modelling options of transition paths for ELPS including the estimation of aggregated effects.
Claire Rogel-Gaillard from INRAE spoke about plans to develop and assess the implementation of scenarios for European livestock systems within the context of the Safe and Just Operating Space (SJOS concept).
Stakeholder Engagement
Throughout the event, stakeholders engaged with interactive polls, providing valuable feedback on the discussions and contributing to the collaborative atmosphere. The event concluded with a final Q&A session and conclusive remarks from David Kenny, summarizing the key takeaways and next steps for the STEP UP project.
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„The purpose of today’s event and STEP UP project, overall, is to interact and engage with Stakeholders. We want to create a future vision for the ELPS that reflects their role in the provision of high-quality, nutritious and health promoting food, produced in a sustainable manner and the meets the requirements of an ever-growing global population. The insights shared today will be crucial as we move forward in developing sustainable solutions for ELPS” said Kenny
For those who were unable to attend, a recording of the event is available for viewing.
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