The transdisciplinary organisation and multi-actor approach of MIXED have ensured the implementation of a genuine co-design process, and this has been evidenced through the successful completion of Field and Reflection Workshops. Thereby, farmer network needs are embedded in the process ensuring relevance and feasibility of the proposed solutions.
The interactions between researchers and practitioners ensured a constant focus on developing solutions and overcoming constraints as they arise, while the geographic distribution of the networks have allowed discussion about future climatic challenges as different networks experience changing conditions.
Via a combined qualitative and quantitative analysis, the ecosystem services by MiFAS are assessed at the farm level, and field-testing strategies with real world examples of how MiFAS can contribute to mitigation and adaptation.
Combination of top-down and bottom-up approaches allowed to assess different types of agricultural landscapes and MIXED systems, based on the comprehensive review of European projects and literature reviewed. The top-down analyses suggest there is only a limited correlation between mixed agricultural landscapes and an overall high provision of ecosystem services, but potentials for further development.
Working at the farm decision level, we assessed, modeled and enabled improved ecosystem services, via MiFAS adoption on individual farms and between farms, to address expected advantages, including from more closed nutrient cycles that avoid the excessive import and polluting effects of the loss of nutrients and a more diverse environment.
The scientific papers and deliverables published, documented benefits of MiFAS with regard to efficiency, resilience and climate change mitigation potentials, and have been produced for different media and audiences (including the active dissemination via newsletters and various forms of social media, practice abstracts, guest lectures, local and EU level policy workshops and policy recommendations, all embedded and available via the www.MIXED-project.eu webpage), and MIXED has collaborated with the parallel AGROMIX and STARGATE EU H2020 projects to achieve the highest levels of outreach and implementation.
In particular, the MIXED project showcased lists of specific farm cases across Europe, with related farm data to document multiple climate, environment and biodiversity effects of MIXED farming systems and their benefits for a more resilient and sustainable biobased production; e.g. combinations of apple trees and hens, agroforestry with bioenergy productions and free range pigs, winter cereals with grazing, more trees and shelterbelts between rotational crops or traditional Montado systems with trees, grazing and seasonal crops, as well as regional scale mixed systems to promote a more resilient agricultural production landscape with more circular nutrient flows and overall efficiency.
