Earth Day is a useful reminder that the environmental transition in agriculture depends on more than targets. It depends on farmers having access to the right knowledge, tools and support to make change workable.
That is the starting point for OrganicClimateNET. The project’s approach reflects a broader understanding of agriculture’s role in climate action. Agriculture is affected by climate change, but it can also contribute to solutions.
Why organic climate farming matters
Organic climate farming brings together organic principles with climate farming practices, supporting mitigation, adaptation and co-benefits such as healthier soils, biodiversity and resilience. OrganicClimateNET is designed to help translate that potential into practical support for farmers.
To do that, the project is not only building a network. It is also developing useful resources. More than 120 climate and carbon knowledge materials will be adapted and translated, feeding into a decision-support toolbox made accessible through the Organic Farm Knowledge Platform. The project also includes peer-to-peer learning, carbon assessments, climate strategies for farms, and policy-oriented outputs that can help inform future action.
That makes Earth Day a relevant moment for OrganicClimateNET. Not because one day can summarise the project, but because it helps draw attention to the long-term work needed to support a more climate-resilient farming sector.
This year, Earth Day also coincides with an important moment for OrganicClimateNET: one of the project’s General Assembly meetings, taking place in Brașov, Romania, where partners have come together to take stock of progress and move the joint work forward. The meeting is a reminder that advancing climate-resilient organic farming in Europe depends not only on tools and knowledge, but also on strong collaboration across the consortium.
(Pictures from the past OCN Consortium Meeting in Lyon 04/2025)
A complementary example from horticulture
At the same time, climate action in agriculture also requires targeted innovation in specific sectors. In horticulture, one of those challenges is peat dependence.
That is where PEATLESS, another EU-funded project, offers a complementary example. PEATLESS is working to reduce peat use in horticulture by developing and validating alternative substrates, with demonstration activities in several European regions, and has just launched its first campaign focused on La Rioja. It shows how one concrete environmental challenge can be addressed through research, validation and grower engagement.
Different focus. Shared direction.
Together, the two projects speak to the same wider transition from different angles: one through farming systems and climate knowledge, the other through practical innovation in horticultural growing media.
Want to see a concrete example from horticulture? Visit PEATLESS and discover how the project is helping reduce peat dependence through real demonstrations and early results.
