UNICT representatives, partners of the Transition project, participated last December in the 1st National Agroforestry Forum, an event organized by the Italian Agroforestry Association. Held at the headquarters of the Italian National Research Council (CNR), the forum served as a platform to foster collaboration and discussions on crucial issues related to primary production, carbon sequestration and climate emergency response.

The main objective of the forum was to synchronize political, technical, and scientific discourse, advocating the widespread adoption of agroforestry practices in Italy. Emphasis was placed on safeguarding the biodiversity of existing agroforestry systems.

Regarding the Transition project, UNICT representatives presented the case study of an olive-cereal agroforestry system in the Mediterranean and provided an extensive analysis of various aspects related to the TRANSITION project, its consortium, and the published meta-analysis article. The case study presented was an example of the potential of agroforestry to promote sustainability, biodiversity, and resilience to face the Mediterranean climate challenges, and the role that this type of system could play in increasing the resilience of Italian agriculture.

The first preliminary results were released, focusing specifically on aboveground biomass productivity and grain yield in correlation with light interception. These results provided a glimpse of the potential benefits of the agroforestry system studied.