The first round of National Workshops of the LIFE OrgBalt project “Demonstration of climate change mitigation potential of nutrient rich organic soils in Baltic States and Finland” took place from the end of April until the beginning of July. Each of the five partner countries hosted a First National Workshop and all together the 5 organized events gathered almost 150 stakeholders internationally.
LIFE OrgBalt project focuses on exploring and demonstrating the potential of greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction and carbon sequestration in nutrient rich organic soil management, as well as developing a framework for the assessment and the implementation of climate change mitigation measures. It also contributes to scientifically sound approach in land-use and climate policy planning documents in the Baltic States, Finland and Germany.
The workshops aimed at introducing the project to all partner countries’ main stakeholders and at providing updates on the implemented, on-going and planned activities. As highlighted by Ieva Līcīte, project manager and scientific assistant at the Latvian State Forest Research Institute “Silava”, leading partner of the LIFE OrgBalt project, “One of the main aims of the project is to raise public awareness and promote the potential of climate-smart land management. What is indeed the point in having a good idea if this is not disseminated and implemented?”
The involvement of stakeholder in achieving this goal is crucial and has been taken seriously since the beginning of the project. The communication strategy of the LIFE OrgBalt project is indeed based on an accurate stakeholder analysis whose aim was to identify the main stakeholder groups to involve in order to raise awareness on GHG emissions and CO2 removals, climate change and the relationship between the two, and to promote and demonstrate the efficacy of climate-smart management approaches as an effective measure to contribute to the fulfilment of EU and national 2030 and post-2030 climate goals.
As highlighted by Jyrki Jauhiainen, Research Scientist at the Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), partner of the LIFE OrgBalt project “The ambitious goal of the LIFE OrgBalt project is to include several soil types, several land uses and management types into one project, creating an exciting opportunity to collect, compare and work on original data, share experiences, disseminate project outcomes, and enhance each other knowledge on soil carbon balance and GHG emissions in prominent organic soil areas encircling the Baltic Sea.”
The first five National Workshops were organized (one in each partner country) involving sectoral decision and policy makers in charge of planning and implementing policies at regional and national level in the field of forestry, agriculture and other related fields, as well as farmers’ and foresters’ organizations and landowners.
“LIFE OrgBalt will promote a decision making approach that adopts land use management practices based not solely on their climate change mitigation benefits, but rather on whole “production systems analysis” that comprehensively assesses the productivity, resource use, and environmental load of the system including climate benefits. Stakeholder engagement is unequivocally the most important ingredient for the success of the project” said Olgirda Belova, from the Department of Forest Protection of the Lithuanian Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry (LAMMC), partner of the LIFE OrgBalt project.
The National Workshop round was enriched by a Calibration seminar to demonstrate how (GHG) emissions will be measured under the LIFE OrgBalt project, organized in Tartu by the project partner University of Tartu, which represented an incredible capacity building and knowledge exchange experience for partners. The practical demonstration part was organized in a forest site to demonstrate the different measuring methods implemented by the project experts in the different partner countries.
The first round of National Workshops was concluded by the Latvia First National Workshop which took place at the beginning of July. The event was opened by the Minister for Agriculture Kaspars Gerhards, who stated that: “It is essential that in Latvia, when selecting climate change mitigation measures in agriculture and forestry, they are assessed also from cost-effectiveness. Latvia’s land is a resource with limited availability and rational land management plays a key role in the development and existence of our country.“
A second round of National Workshops is planned towards the end of the project to share with country’s stakeholders the project results, with a particular focus on the implementation of climate change mitigation measures in nutrient-rich organic soils.
Further dissemination and training events planned within the projects include training workshops, educational events and a final conference.
Background
The LIFE OrgBalt project will run for four years, from 1st of August 2019 to 31st of August 2023.
The LIFE OrgBalt project aims to improve the GHG reporting data (activity data and emission factors) for nutrient-rich organic soils. Furthermore, the project aims to identify and to demonstrate sustainable, resilient, and cost-effective climate change mitigation measures applicable in nutrient-rich organic soils and to provide tools and guidance for the elaboration, implementation, and verification of the results of climate change mitigation policies.
The project is implemented by eight partners from five EU Member States – Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Finland and Germany and unites representatives from public administration institutions, and scientific and non-governmental organizations. The leading partner, Latvian State Forest Research Institute “Silava” implements the project in cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Latvia, the Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies, the University of Tartu (Estonia), the Natural Resources Institute Finland LUKE, the Lithuanian Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry, the Michael Succow Foundation (Germany) and the Association Baltic Coasts (Latvia).
For more information
LIFE OrgBalt project objectives [1]
LIFE OrgBalt national workshop [2]
A2 – Elaboration of the project communication platform
The project “Demonstration of climate change mitigation potential of nutrient rich organic soils in Baltic States and Finland” (LIFE OrgBalt, LIFE18 CCM/LV/001158) is implemented with the financial support of the LIFE Programme of the European Union and the State Regional Development Agency of Latvia.
The press release reflects only the LIFE OrgBalt project beneficiaries’ view and the European Commission’s Executive Agency for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises is not responsible for any use that may be made.