This year’s ENASP Conference celebrated the 20th anniversary of the European Network of Agricultural Protection Systems (ENASP). Under the theme “Climate and Agriculture: Social Protection in Process of Change” the event, held on October 15, 2024, in Berlin, served as a key forum to explore:
• Sustainability in agriculture through EU initiatives
• Climate resilience within European solidarity-based health insurance systems, education, and the need for farm management planning
• Needs of insured individuals in the green sector and national best practices in agricultural social security systems
• Need for a social strategy for sustainability.
Blanca Casares, Policy Expert and Project Manager at AEIDL (European Association for Innovation in Local Development), represented BEATLES at the event. In her presentation titled “Nurturing sustainability: EU initiatives supporting the green sector amidst transition” she outlined AEIDL’s mission, highlighted its key policy priorities, and provided an overview of the evolving EU policy framework in response to the green transition.
She emphasised AEIDL’s ongoing projects, with a particular focus on Horizon Europe initiatives like BEATLES. Blanca discussed the organization’s efforts to develop EU policy recommendations aimed at making value chains—particularly in the agricultural sector—more sustainable and resilient to climate change, with a strong focus on integrating Climate-Smart Agricultural (CSA) practices at the farm level.
Blanca presented a policy brief on the barriers and drivers within EU policies to achieve Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA). The brief integrates an analysis of 23 selected elements of the European policy framework and its alignment with the three CSA principles.
After explaining this desk research at the European level, she shared insights from the project’s five Use Cases, collaborating with national experts. AEIDL carried out an analysis of the CAP Strategic Plans of each Use Case’s Member States (Spain, Lithuania, Denmark, Germany, and the Netherlands) to better understand the public support available to producers and the financial incentives for implementing CSA practices, focusing on the value chain.
More insights can be found in the materials for the EU multi-actor working group first workshop.
She closed by placing emphasis on the policy requirements necessary to support the green sector during this transition, including:
• Long-Term Vision for Green Sector Management
• Capacity Building in Sustainable Practices
• Infrastructure and Services
• Improvement Employment Stability
• Promoting Generational Renewal
• Governance and Participation
• Training for Policy Makers
• Enhancing Public-Private Partnerships
• Digitalisation and Sustainability Goals
