Agroecology for the future

Every year we introduce the new students to agroecology as a scientific discipline, and it is interesting to follow the new questions which this brings about. Questions are often asked about the relationship between agroecology and organic farming, and this year there were also questions about agroecology’s attitude towards new types of farming, such as regenerative agriculture and agroforestry. Arguably, the answer is, not least in an international perspective, that it is important to distinguish between agroecology as a scientific discipline, as practice and as a political movement, and that we carry out research into the basic knowledge of the effects of different types of farming, but that at the same time it is important how the scientific results can result in sustainable practices and form the basis for political decisions that support a sustainable green transition.

A very important arena for the activities in the coming years to support the research field is the new Horizon Europe Agroecology partnership, ‘Accelerating farming systems transition: agroecology living labs and research infrastructures’, where we are centrally located, and which has been established after a great deal of effort, not least by Torsten Rødel Berg, AU, Department of Agroecology. It will be exciting to follow this, and it can certainly help support the entire knowledge chain from the basic research into new technologies to their implementation in practice, for example in connection with green biorefining, agriculture with reduced or no pesticide use or in connection with the practices mentioned above, where a public sector investigation has just been launched in collaboration with the Innovation Centre for Organic Farming in relation to regenerative agriculture and agroforestry.

A particular challenge for future agroecology research lies precisely in throwing light upon the “interaction” between the components of our new strategy and the barriers to implementing the much-needed measures to support the green transition. There is a need for scientific documentation at all levels and a close collaboration between many disciplines, which in turn makes demands on our competency development and the development of our degree programmes at Bachelor’s, Masters’ and PhD level. But the most important thing is probably to listen to the questions posed by the new students and new generations of decision-makers so that we can be at the forefront of the knowledge needed – and here agroecology has a lot to offer!