Kick-off PFN Hesse

Everything was ready for the first major face-to-face meeting of the new Hesse-wide network for organic farming to kick off the long-term collaboration. However, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, this event, including the presentation of the funding decision by State Secretary Oliver Conz, also had to be moved to online format at short notice.
State Secretary Conz officially launched the Organic Farming Research Network Hesse by handing over the funding decision in the amount of 690,000 euros to the Vereinigung Ökologischer Landbau Hessen e.V. (VÖL) on February 3rd. For the first time, this network brings together organic farms as researchers with the Hessian universities of Geisenheim, Giessen and Kassel as scientific “research partners”. Agricultural advisors from the Hessen State Farming Agency (LLH) and the organic associations form a further building block in the broad network of the practical research network. Together, they want to tackle pressing issues in organic farming. Two project coordinators, employed by the VÖL, organize the implementation. The aim of the PFN Hesse is for farmers, advisors and scientists to work closely together on practical issues and develop practical answers at a high scientific level. “The joint work of these players at eye level has great potential to significantly advance organic farming!” emphasizes Tim Treis, spokesman for the VÖL, and continues: “With the exemplary practical research network, the entire agricultural sector in Hesse, and organic farming in particular, is gaining a great deal of innovative strength and can thus make itself fit for the challenges of the future. By setting up the practical research network in Hesse, the Ministry of the Environment has sent out a clear signal to support organic farmers in this situation.”

Despite the major challenges associated with setting up a new network in times of Corona, the PFN kick-off was a complete success. This shows the committed cooperation of over 40 network partners and is also reflected in the participants’ comments on the event:
“Very interesting discussion and good presentations” commented one participant on the workshops, specialist presentations, project group work and cross-project group cooperation, which made for an interactive, varied and informative event. The entire network actively participated in the workshop to clarify the mutual roles and expectations of the various stakeholder groups, making the different perspectives of the stakeholders visible to all.
“Broad discussion, good exchange, goal-oriented work” was the tenor regarding the cooperation within the project groups in which expectations were compared, objectives discussed and the joint project concretized.