On last April 21 and 22nd 2022 LIVINGAGRO project partners organized one additional project field visit and a further informal capitalization event with a new identified project, let's investigate the topic and the purpose of the two-days intiative as well as the objectives and main achieved results of the new partner project, BOSCOLAMENTO.

What: In order to assess specific needs of innovation, re-orient research towards satisfying firms' needs and evaluate the possibility of transferring ready-to-use innovations, based on specific agreements signed between research institutes and economic stakeholders, LIVINGAGRO project partners are organizing twenty field visits in the four project countries (Italy, Greece, Lebanon and Jordan). Two of these visits are being held in Italy and more specifically in Tuscany and Sardinia Regions.

LIVINGAGRO visits address the use of an Open Innovation approach for the establishment of two Living Laboratories (LLs) on olive multifunctional systems (LL1) and silvopastoral systems (LL2) that will allow the co-creation of economic and social values and the interaction between supply and demand for innovation, eliminating geographical and cultural barriers.

The visit implemented in Tuscany (Alberese area, Grosseto province) addressed the topic of adaptive grazing management and virtual fencing in the framework of LIVINGAGRO Living Lab no. 2 focusing on grazed woodlands in order to explore and further investigate the use of technology in order to manage and monitor the grazing and general movement of cattle herds achieved in the framework of BOSCOLAMENTO project.

Who: The project field visit offered researchers in the field of agroforestry from Italy and Jordan, the opportunity to talk to farmers to assess their specific needs of innovation in agroforestry practices and to highlight innovation and knowledge gaps. On the other hand, the main farmer involved in the BOSCOLAMENTO pilot project on the use or virtual fancing for manging of cattle herds, Guido Pallini from the La Maremmana farm, was made aware about the ongoing LIVINGAGRO experimentation activity, about the offered opportunities and the main project objective of transferring ready to use innovations to support Mediterranean farmers of the agroforestry sector.

About the BOSCOLAMENTO project: Thanks to the sustainable management of cattle and the possibilities offered by virtual fencing technology, BOSCOLAMENTO project partners under the lead of the Florence University worked on the improvement and opportunity to use agro-silvo-pastoral resources in the context of Mediterranean coppices, reducing the risk of fire, favouring the exploitation of undergrowth vegetation as a food source with high nutritional value for cattle, reducing management costs of animals and improving their production performance. In the project the Maremmana breed was involved for piloting and experimentation activity as it is particularly suitable for grazing in the woods, while, from a technological point of view, virtual fencing through a digital collar for cattles linked to a mobile phone application was explored to overcome or mitigate problems that have so far limited grazing in the woods, such as damage to forest resources, difficulties in controlling the mobility of animals and managing animal feed.