Towards more sustainable food provision
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Newsletter 04/2026
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As this dry and unusually hot summer reminds us, water management in agriculture has become one of the most pressing challenges facing Europe’s food systems.
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In this edition of the VISIONARY newsletter, we highlight two contributions on sustainable water management: the recording of our recent webinar on the behavioural dimensions of agricultural water management, and our latest SPI briefing on foresight – an approach that helps stakeholders build trust, overcome disagreements and explore shared pathways towards a desirable future. The briefing is complemented by our new Policy Corner: Agriculture and Water Resilience, providing insights into the European Water Resilience Strategy.
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We also look back at the VISIONARY & ENFASYS Final Conference in Brussels, where researchers, policymakers and practitioners discussed how to turn research into action for sustainable agri-food systems.
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Beyond water, this issue introduces our partner ZALF (Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research) and features our latest SPI of the Month from Denmark, focusing on increasing consumer demand for legumes as part of the transition towards more sustainable diets.
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With VISIONARY entering its final month, more publications and project results are on their way – stay tuned!
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We hope you enjoy the read!
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P.S.: To all new subscribers - make sure to follow us on LinkedIn for bite-sized updates.
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VISIONARY Final Conference highlights pathways for sustainable agri-food systems
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After four years of research, collaboration and exchange, the VISIONARY Project brought together researchers, policymakers, practitioners and stakeholders from across Europe for its final conference, "From Research to Action", jointly organised with the ENFASYS project in Brussels. With around 100 participants - 80 attending in person and 20 joining online - the event event provided a platform to reflect on …
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New policy brief
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In this second SPI briefing, we introduce foresight — an approach that helps stakeholders move beyond disagreements, strengthen cooperation and trust, and explore shared pathways toward a desirable future. This is especially relevant for complex and sensitive issues such as collective water use in agriculture.
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The SPI briefing is accompanied by a second publication "Policy Corner: Agriculture and Water Resilience", which provides insights into the European Water Resilience Strategy.
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Water webinar recoding now online
How can agricultural water use become more sustainable under increasing climate and production pressures? Our recent webinar brought together researchers from across Europe to explore the behavioural dimensions of water and agricultural management, with a particular focus on collective arrangements and stakeholder cooperation.
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The recording of the webinar “Individual Decisions and Collective Action in Agricultural Water Management: Behaviour, Technology & Governance” is now available online.
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Introducing... ZALF, Germany
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As VISIONARY enters its final month, we conclude our partner introduction series with ZALF (Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research). Based in Germany, ZALF brings expertise in systems approaches, behavioural and experimental economics, and food system governance to the project.
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Within VISIONARY, ZALF leads the development of the project’s Analytical Framework, providing a shared foundation across research on agri-environmental policies, value chains and food-system transitions. The team also leads work on biodiversity-focused policy experiments and contributes to transition case studies and Science-Policy Interfaces, helping translate research insights into actionable recommendations.
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SPI of the month: Legumes for food – increasing consumer demand in Denmark
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This SPI gathers a broad range of stakeholders from the Danish plant-protein sector, including producers (food companies, processors, farmers), NGOs and think tanks, and policy-makers from different government agencies. The first SPI meeting took place on June 19, 2023. The participants engaged in lively discussions. There was large consensus among the SPI participants that an increase in legume consumption is …
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COMING UP
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In our next newsletter, we finish up our series "SPI of the month" on Expanding Organic Farming in Germany. And, as the projects enters its final month, we'll update you on our latest publications.
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Funded by the European Union under GA no. 101060538. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the authors only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or REA. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
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The work of UK participants was funded by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) under the UK government’s Horizon Europe funding guarantee [grant numbers 10037976 (University of Aberdeen) and 10044788 (University of Exeter)].
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