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The Sustainable Development Goals implementation: no time for business as usual

Tuesday, March 22, 2016
08:45 - 17:00 (CET)

The annual Forum for the Future of Agriculture (FFA) returned on Tuesday, March 22, 2016 for another stimulating debate on the future of European and world agriculture. This year’s FFA was the first to take place since the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were adopted by world leaders in September 2015 and looked at what this means for agriculture and the environment in Europe and around the world. Now that the broad agenda has been set, what concrete steps are needed to put it into practice? And is business as usual really an option anymore in the face of the enormous social, environmental, economic challenges that lie ahead?

Confirmed speakers (in alphabetical order)

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Professor Tim Benton

Champion of UK Global Food Security Programme

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Professor Tim Benton

Champion of UK Global Food Security Programme

Professor Tim Benton is the “Champion” for the UK’s Global Food Security (GFS) programme, leading, facilitating and coordinating its activities. GFS is a partnership of the UK’s main public funders of research in food security, including the research councils and government departments. GFS ensures that strategically important research is undertaken. It adds value to research via interdisciplinary analysis, collaboration, alignment and engagement with different stakeholders around the challenges associated with ensuring a food system that delivers nutritious food for all in a sustainable way. Professor Benton is also a leading researcher, based at the University of Leeds, on agri-environment interactions and finding ways to make agricultural production more sustainable.
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Giovana Baggio de Bruns

Sustainable Agriculture Manager, The Nature Conservancy

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Giovana Baggio de Bruns

Sustainable Agriculture Manager, The Nature Conservancy

Giovana Baggio de Bruns joined the Nature Conservancy team in 2008 and as a leader of the Sustainable Agriculture Strategy she is responsible for the implementation of science based, multi-stakeholder, landscape planning projects and initiatives for sustainability on agricultural land across Brazil. Prior to her current role she was Environmental Coordinator of the Forestry Division of a pulp and paper company (2003-2008), Environmental Department Manager at Silviconsult Engenharia Ltda (2000-2003) and Planner and Production Controller for Terranova Brasil Ltda (1999). She has also been a guest visitor on forestry issues of the Swedish Cultural Department and was an intern at several companies and organisations including the FAO in Rome.
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Allan Buckwell

Director for the Nutrient Recovery and Reuse Project, RISE Foundation

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Allan Buckwell

Director for the Nutrient Recovery and Reuse Project, RISE Foundation

Emeritus Professor Allan Buckwell is the Director of RISE's study of Nutrient Recycling and Reuse in European Agriculture and the Director of the Foundation's previous study on the Sustainable Intensification of European Agriculture. Two thirds of his career has been as an academic agricultural economist specialising in agricultural and rural policy. This has involved his work as a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for European Environmental Policy (since 2012), fourteen years at Newcastle University and then from 1984-1999 as Professor of Agricultural Economics, Wye College University of London. During 1995/6 he was seconded to the analysis and conception unit of DG Agri in the European Commission where he chaired a policy integration group who laid out a model for the evolution of the CAP. He joined the Country Land and Business Association (CLA) as Policy Director in 2000.
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Gerben-Jan Gerbrandy

Member of the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety Committee, European Parliament

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Gerben-Jan Gerbrandy

Member of the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety Committee, European Parliament

Gerben-Jan Gerbrandy was elected in 2009 and 2014 as Dutch MEP for D66. He is member of the Parliamentary Committee on Environment, Health and Food Safety and coordinator for the liberal group (ALDE). Amongst other roles, he is also the ALDE first spokesperson on Biodiversity and Resource Efficiency. Mr. Gerbrandy began his career as a political assistant to Joris Voorhoeve, former director of the Dutch Clingendael Institute, and has also been personal assistant of Doeke Eisma, MEP for D66, political secretary of the Dutch parliamentary group of D66 and a senior political adviser at the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality. (Image: © European Union 2014 - Source : EP)
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Bernard Giraud

President, Livelihoods Venture / Senior Advisor Sustainability and Shared Value Creation Danone

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Bernard Giraud

President, Livelihoods Venture / Senior Advisor Sustainability and Shared Value Creation Danone

Bernard Giraud is the President of Livelihoods Venture, a social business that manages two investment funds - the Livelihoods Carbon Fund and the Livelihoods Fund for Family Farming (Livelihoods 3F). These environmental funds seek to create value for both investors and the rural communities it invests in by supporting large scale projects of ecosystem restoration, which generate long term revenue and food security to the population and high quality carbon credits to the partner companies, contributing to reduce their carbon footprint. Before the creation of Livelihoods, Bernard Giraud was Vice-President Sustainability and Shared Value Creation of Groupe Danone, an international leader in food industry. He played an important role to make Danone a pioneer in social innovation and integrate social responsibility and sustainable development in the core strategy and business practices of the company. Bernard Giraud also served as a board member and CEO of Corporate Social Responsibility Europe (CSR-E) a leading European organization in the field of social responsibility.
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Phil Hogan

Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, European Commission

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Phil Hogan

Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, European Commission

Phil Hogan has served as EU Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development since November 2014. Commissioner Hogan grew up on a farm in rural Kilkenny, in south-east Ireland. From 1989 until he became Commissioner, he represented the Carlow/Kilkenny constituency in Dáil Éireann, the Irish Parliament. Between 2011 and 2014, he served as Irish Minister for the Environment and Local Government. His policy priorities include modernising and simplifying the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), strengthening European farmers' market resilience and their position on the food chain, and developing new export markets for EU agri-food products. Notable achievements during his mandate include: effective management of the EU agri-food market problems arising from the Russian ban on EU food and drink products; new EU rules on Unfair Trading Practices (UTPs) to strengthen the farmer's position in the food supply chain; establishing Task Force Rural Africa to improve EU-Africa cooperation in the field of agriculture and sustainable, responsible rural investment; new rules governing organic production; several waves of simplifying the CAP; central involvement in improving the EU's global trade profile in agri-food, including conclusion of the Canada and Japan trade deals; and an updated EU Bioeconomy strategy. Priorities for the last year of his mandate include: guiding the Commission's future CAP proposal through the co-decision process and improving the development of, access to and uptake of financial instruments tailored to the needs of the agri-food sector.
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Ursula Hudson

President Slow Food Germany

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Ursula Hudson

President Slow Food Germany

Ursula Hudson PhD started her professional career as assistant lecturer for Intercultural German Language and Literature Studies at the University of Bayreuth. From 1996 to 2004 she lectured at Cambridge and Oxford universities (UK) and from 2005 onwards she has been a freelance researcher and writer. Dr Hudson is a member of the Deutsche Akademie für Kulinaristik e.V. (German Academy for Culinarism) and since February 2010 she has been a board member of Slow Food Deutschland e.V. In June 2012 she became President of the board of Slow Food Deutschland and member of the Executive Board of Slow Food International. (Image: © Sharon Sheets)
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Dr John Ingram

Food Systems Programme Leader, Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford, UK

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Dr John Ingram

Food Systems Programme Leader, Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford, UK

Dr John Ingram gained extensive experience during the 1980s working in East and Southern Africa, and South Asia in agriculture, forestry and agroecology research projects. In 1991 he was recruited by the UK’s Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) to help organise and coordinate research on global change and agroecology as part of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP). In 2001 he was appointed Executive Officer of the international project ‘Global Environmental Change and Food Systems’ (GECAFS) and, in 2011, he became NERC’s ‘Food Security Leader’. Since 2013 he has led the Food Systems Programme in the University of Oxford’s Environmental Change Institute.
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Ban Ki-moon

Secretary General, United Nations (UN)

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Ban Ki-moon

Secretary General, United Nations (UN)

Ban Ki-moon took office on January 1, 2007 as the eighth Secretary General of the United Nations and on June 21, 2011 he was unanimously re-elected by the General Assembly to continue to serve until December 31, 2016. He has a bachelor's degree in international relations from Seoul National University and a master's degree in public administration from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Prior to his election as Secretary General, Mr. Ban was his country's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade. His 37 years of service with the Ministry included postings in New Delhi, Washington D.C. and Vienna, with responsibility for a variety of portfolios, including Foreign Policy Adviser to the President, Chief National Security Adviser to the President, Deputy Minister for Policy Planning and Director-General of American Affairs.
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Jon Parr

President Global Crop Protection and EAME, LATAM and APAC, Syngenta

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Jon Parr

President Global Crop Protection and EAME, LATAM and APAC, Syngenta

Prior to his current role as President Global Crop Protection and EAME, LATAM and APAC, Jon Parr was Chief Operating Officer EAME & Latin America for Syngenta (2015–2016). Before that, he was Head of Global Crops & Assets for Syngenta in 2014 and Regional Director for EAME from 2009 to 2013 and Head of Syngenta Flowers from 2007 to 2008. From 2004 to 2007 he was Head of Marketing and Strategy and European Manufacturing Manager from 2000 to 2003. Before joining Syngenta, he worked for AstraZeneca from 1998 to 2000 as a Factory Manager, Global Product Manager Fungicides and Supply Chain Project Manager. From 1987 to 1994, he held Project and Engineering Management roles at Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI).
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Maelenn Poitrenaud

Head of Research and Development, Veolia Sede

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Maelenn Poitrenaud

Head of Research and Development, Veolia Sede

Maelenn Poitrenaud is in charge of innovation and development for SEDE, Veolia subsidiaries dedicated to agronomical valorization (including composts, digestates, fertilizers, biosolids) and relationships with farmers. As an engineer she worked several years in research and innovation at Veolia to develop and optimize biological treatments of organic residues and to ensure safe and useful valorization of composts and other products of these processes. She has also managed for many years, with the French National Research Institut of Agronomy (INRA), a long term field trial dedicated to the study of composts. She is also in charge of coordinating the collaboration within Veolia with the FNSEA (French National Federation of Farmers' Unions - the majority trade union in the agricultural profession in France). This collaboration focuses on water uses and reuse and circular economy in agriculture.
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Janez Potočnik

Chair ForumforAg and Chairman RISE Foundation

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Janez Potočnik

Chair ForumforAg and Chairman RISE Foundation

Dr Janez Potočnik graduated from the Faculty of Economics at the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia. After a successful career starting in 1989 in Slovenia as a researcher at the Institute of Economic Research, Director of the Institute of Macroeconomic Analysis and Development (1994), he was appointed Head of the Negotiating Team for the Accession of Slovenia to the EU (1998). He was also Director of Government Office for European Affairs (2000), Minister Councillor at the Office of the Prime Minister (2001) and Minister responsible for European Affairs (2002). In 2004 he joined the European Commission, first as "shadow Commissioner for Enlargement and then as Commissioner responsible for Science and Research. In 2010 Dr Potočnik became Commissioner for Environment. His term ended in November 2014 and he was appointed as a Co-Chair of UN Environment International Resource Panel and was also appointed as a Chairman of The Forum for the Future of Agriculture and RISE Foundation and a Member of the European Policy Centre's Advisory Council. From April 2016 he is also the Partner in SYSTEMIQ. More information Twitter – @JanezPotocnik22 Facebook – potocnikjanez LinkedIn - janez-potocnik-872470a7
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William Rolleston

Vice President of the World Famers’ Organisation

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William Rolleston

Vice President of the World Famers’ Organisation

Dr William Rolleston is Vice President of the World Famers’ Organisation and National President of Federated Farmers of New Zealand. He farms on the South Island of New Zealand and operates a family owned biological manufacturing business supplying biologicals to pharmaceutical, diagnostic and research industries around the world. William has held board positions relating to agriculture, science and economic development. He sits on the New Zealand Government’s Science Board and was the founding chairman of New Zealand’s Biotechnology Industry Organisation (now NZBio) and of the Life Sciences Network – an umbrella organisation of science and industry organisations who advocate for science based regulation of genetic modification. He has a degree in medicine and in 2009 was awarded the Distinguished Biotechnologist of the Year for services to the biotechnology industry.
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Humberto Delgado Rosa

Director for Natural Capital, DG Environment, European Commission

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Humberto Delgado Rosa

Director for Natural Capital, DG Environment, European Commission

Humberto Delgado Rosa is the Director for Natural Capital, DG Environment, European Commission. Previously he was Director for Mainstreaming Adaptation and Low Carbon Technology in DG Climate Action. He is experienced in European and international environmental policy, particularly in biodiversity and climate change issues. He served as Secretary of State for the Environment of the Portuguese Government from March 2005 to June 2011. Between 1995 and 2002 he was an advisor for environmental matters to the Prime-Minister of Portugal. He holds a PhD in Evolutionary Biology. H. Delgado Rosa was born in Lisbon in 1960.
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Professor Jeffrey Sachs

Director of The Earth Institute, Columbia University

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Professor Jeffrey Sachs

Director of The Earth Institute, Columbia University

Professor Jeffrey D. Sachs is a world-renowned professor of economics, leader in sustainable development, senior UN advisor, bestselling author and syndicated columnist. He is the co-recipient of the 2015 Blue Planet Prize, the leading global prize for environmental leadership, and has twice been named among Time Magazine’s 100 most influential world leaders. Professor Sachs serves as the Director of The Earth Institute, Quetelet Professor of Sustainable Development, and Professor of Health Policy and Management at Columbia University. He is Special Advisor to United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on the Sustainable Development Goals and is Director of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network. For over thirty years he has advised many heads of state and governments on economic strategy. Prior to joining Columbia, he spent over twenty years as a professor at Harvard University and received his BA, MA, and PhD degrees at Harvard.
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José Graziano da Silva

Director General, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)

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José Graziano da Silva

Director General, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)

José Graziano da Silva has worked on food security, rural development and agriculture issues for over 30 years, most notably as the architect of Brazil’s Zero Hunger programme and now as the Director General of FAO since January 1, 2012. He previously headed the FAO Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean from 2006 to 2011. He holds a Bachelor's Degree in Agronomy and a Master's Degree in Rural Economics and Sociology from the University of São Paulo, and a PhD in Economic Sciences from the State University of Campinas. He also has post-Doctorate Degrees in Latin American Studies (University College of London) and Environmental Studies (University of California, Santa Cruz).
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Achim Steiner

UNEP Executive Director and Under Secretary General of the United Nations (UN)

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Achim Steiner

UNEP Executive Director and Under Secretary General of the United Nations (UN)

Achim Steiner has been Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) since 2006. From 2009 to 2011 he was also Director-General of the United Nations Office at Nairobi. Before joining UNEP, he served as Director General of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and prior to that as Secretary General of the World Commission on Dams. His career has included assignments with governmental, non-governmental and international organizations across the world. He has worked both at grassroots level and at the highest levels of international policy-making to address the interface between environmental sustainability, social equity and economic development.
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Ana Paula Tavares

Executive Vice President, Rainforest Alliance

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Ana Paula Tavares

Executive Vice President, Rainforest Alliance

Ana Paula Tavares is the Executive Vice President of the Rainforest Alliance and has been with the organization for 15 years. She has dedicated her career to protecting the world’s most threatened ecosystems and ensuring sustainable livelihoods for farmers, forest workers and their families. She has led the Rainforest Alliance's Development division since joining the organization and currently oversees several other functions including Communications & Marketing, Education, Markets Transformation and Claims, Traceability & Trademarks. Prior to joining the Rainforest Alliance, Ana Paula was a founding partner at New Frontiers Group, a financial services group in São Paulo, Brazil that promoted investment funds for biodiversity, sustainable forestry, carbon sequestration and renewable energy.
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Francesco Tramontin

Director Public Affairs Europe, Mondelēz

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Francesco Tramontin

Director Public Affairs Europe, Mondelēz

Francesco Tramontin is responsible for the coordination of the Mondelēz external engagement strategy in Europe with particular focus on sustainability and health & wellness issues. Francesco worked from 2012 to 2013 in the Mondelez Europe HQ in Zurich as Director of Sustainability and from 2008 to 2012 in Kraft Foods’ HQ in Chicago where he was responsible for issues management coordinating the company’s global external positions on sustainability and environmental issues and managing Kraft Foods' regular relationship with NGOs and external partners. Previously Francesco worked in EU public/government affairs in Brussels for Cargill and also Kraft Foods, focusing on environmental, trade and agricultural policy.

Confirmed Moderators (in alphabetical order)

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Stephen Sackur

Journalist

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Stephen Sackur

Journalist

Stephen Sackur has been a journalist with BBC News since 1986. Since becoming presenter of HARDtalk in 2004, he has interviewed prominent international personalities, cultural figures, leaders and politicians from around the world. Before taking over on the BBC News Channel and BBC World flagship current affairs interview programme, he was based in Brussels for three years as the BBC's Europe Correspondent.

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Tanya Beckett

Journalist

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Tanya Beckett

Journalist

Tanya Beckett is currently one of the most experienced business journalists on British TV. Tanya spent three years broadcasting from New York and Washington DC as the ‘BBC World US’ Business Anchor. While in the States, she also fronted ‘BBC World News’ on PBS. Since her return she has been working for BBC World News and ‘Newsnight’ on BBC2. Tanya has a degree in Metallurgy and Science of Materials from Oxford. She previously worked as an investment banker. Tanya is a very experienced facilitator at conferences, seminars and other business events.

Agenda

Mar 22, 2016

08:45 - 17:00 (CET)

08:45 - 08:55 (CET)

Introduction

Introductory comments

• Stephen Sackur, Journalist
• Tanya Beckett, Journalist

08:55 - 09:20 (CET)

Opening

Opening statements

• Janez Potočnik, Chair FFA2016, Chairman RISE Foundation
• Ban Ki-moon, (video message) Secretary General, United Nations

09:20 - 09:50 (CET)

Opening Keynote Address

The environmental dimension of the new agenda for sustainable development

• Achim Steiner, Under Secretary General, United Nations and Executive Director, UNEP

Questions & answers
Moderator: Stephen Sackur, Journalist

09:50 - 10:45 (CET)

Session 1

SDGs*: Transforming the agricultural model: what needs to change and what are the solutions? A political debate

• José Graziano da Silva, Director General, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, FAO
• Phil Hogan, Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, European Commission

Questions & answers
Moderator: Stephen Sackur, Journalist

10:45 - 11:30 (CET)

Networking Break

Session 1: Responses

Practical solutions to transform the agricultural model

• Tim Benton, UK Champion, Global Food Security Programme
• Giovana Baggio de Bruns, Sustainable Agriculture Manager, The Nature Conservancy
• William Rolleston, Vice President, World Farmers’ Organisation
• Bernard Giraud, President, Livelihoods Venture/Senior Advisor Sustainability and Shared Value Creation, Danone
• Jon Parr, Chief Operating Officer, Syngenta

Questions & answers
Moderator: Stephen Sackur, Journalist

12:30 - 12:45 (CET)

Special Address

The commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals: the Brazilian example

• Kåtia Abreu, Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply, Brazil

12:45 - 14:00 (CET)

Networkin Lunch Break

14:45 - 15:50 (CET)

Session 2

Changing societal behaviours to achieve the SDGs

• Gerben-Jan Gerbrandy, Member of the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety Committee, European Parliament
• Allan Buckwell, Director for the Nutrient Recovery and Reuse Project, RISE Foundation
• Niels Treschow, Board member, Swedish Landowners’ Association
• Ursula Hudson, President, Slow Food Germany
• Francesco Tramontin, EU Public Affairs Director, Mondeléz

Questions & answers
Moderator: Tanya Beckett, Journalist

15:50 - 16:50 (CET)

Session 3

Disrupting and rethinking the innovation model to achieve the SDGs

Keynote address:

• John Ingram, Food Systems Programme Leader, Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford
Respondents:
• Maelenn Poitrenaud, Head of Research and Development, Veolia Sede
• Humberto Delgado Rosa, Director, Natural Capital Unit, DG Environment, European Commission
• Ana Paula Tavares, Executive Vice President, Rainforest Alliance

Questions & answers
Moderator: Tanya Beckett, Journalist

Closing

Closing statement

• Janez Potočnik, Chair FFA2016, Chairman RISE Foundation

An initiative from

The European Landowners' Organization (ELO) image Syngenta image

In collaboration with

Rise Foundation image The Friends of the Countryside image

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