Exciting insights from Budapest’s Co-creation workshop

The AGROSUS WP2 Co-creation workshop “Agroecological methods in farming” was held in CEU, Budapest on January 20, 2024, professionally organized by the University of Sopron and within the framework of the 9th MAPER Conference and Professional Forum. The professional event covered the issues of agroecological methods and agroforestry landscape use, so the content and goals of the AGROUS project perfectly matched the professional content of the two-day event. By connecting the workshop and the conference, stakeholders interested in the topic but not yet involved could join the joint work of the Hungarian AGROSUS community.

At the workshop, we followed the protocol of the joint creative workshop of AGROSUS. First the AGROSUS project, the project’s goal and the results to be achieved were presented, and then the results of the survey conducted among farmers and professionals were introduced to the participants of the workshop (who were present personally or online). The presentations were followed by a discussion among stakeholders. The participants searched for answers to the following questions during the discussion:

1. 1. Identify problematic weeds, their current management in the Pannonian region and frequently used herbicides to fight with them,
   2. Explore how Agroecological Strategies for Weed Management are understood within CLGs,
   3. Identify Agroecological Strategies for Weed Management used in the region,
   4. Collectively identify leverages for using Agroecological Strategies for Weed Management in the region,
   5. Collectively identify barriers for using Agroecological Strategies for Weed Management in the region, and as a result of this discussion, to co-decide which agroecological approaches for weed management should be implemented in WP3 for each crop in the CLGs of the Pannonian biogeographic region.

The nearly two-hour discussion was a success. With the help of the participating professionals, we got answers to the questions that arose, the relevant Agroecological Strategies (AS) and the following most appropriate short-term management options to be validated have been identified:

• • intercropping and different soil covers in organic agroforestry systems
  • reasonable tillage in arable system
  • testing bioherbicides in organic agroforestry and arable systems
  • weed repellent plant cultivation in organic agroforestry system