LIVING LABS

ReForest includes a network of 8 living labs that represent a diversity of agroforestry systems including silvopasture, silvohorticulture and silvoarable. Some living labs have adopted a hub and spoke model with a central facility based on a research farm, linked to the local farming community and citizens through regular outreach and events. In other cases, the living labs are networks of farmers practising agroforestry linked to scientists, government advisors and industry representatives. The common thread through all the ReForest living labs is a focus on collecting robust evidence of the multiple benefits and challenges of agroforestry and sharing knowledge between practitioners and scientists in an open and constructive way. Furthermore, the living labs will be used to inform the development of, and test, tools to support new adopters of agroforestry in their decision making. Lessons from the living labs will be documented and shared widely across the agricultural sector in Europe to support the growth of agroforestry as a viable solution to economic and environmental challenges in agriculture.