Saline Futures Conference
Addressing Climate Change and Food Security. Building a community of science and practice on saline agriculture. The conference takes place 10-13 September 2019 in Leeuwarden, Netherlands. The conference invites researchers, policy makers, professionals, farmers and other entrepreneurs. Grants including fees and traveling costs will be available for a significant number of young researchers and farmers. Please express your interest to stay informed about the conference. Call for papers will follow in December 2018.
Organisers
The conference is organized by the EU Intereg North Sea partners in the SalFar project, in particular by the Waddenacademie in Leeuwarden, the Netherlands.
Building a community
Research underway along the North Sea countries and elsewhere in the world illustrates the vast and so far underrated potential of growing food on soils generally qualified as saline. Food production on present and future saline soils deserves the world’s attention in particular because
- food security is a pressing issue
- millions of hectares of degraded soils are available world-wide
- fresh water is becoming increasingly scarce, and
- global sea level rise threatens food production in fertile coastal lowlands.
Capitalizing on the vast potential of saline agriculture requires a major interdisciplinary and collaborative research effort to inform effective and supportive policy frameworks and to evaluate the most promising methods for developing saline agriculture in different regions of the globe. The conference intends to build on the conclusions of earlier conferences, such as FAO’s Global Forum on Salinization and Climate Change, Salinity Forum and ICBA’s International Workshop on Climate Change and Soil Salinity Dynamics.
Themes
Presentations, papers and posters will be invited on the following themes:
- Saline agriculture as a way to adapt to climate change and sea level rise
- Fresh water management in potentially saline soils
- Revitalization of saline degraded lands
- Economics and financing of saline farming and products
- Microbiology of soils and plants
- Innovation and practical experience at farm level
- Experiments and promising crops
- Regional policies, politics and governance on salinization
- Awareness raising and capacity building for saline farming
Other related research topics can be added.
During this scientific conference and field visits of test fields at Texel, Terschelling, Emden and possibly additional sites along the North Sea coast we aim to underpin and better utilize the potential of saline agriculture. Research, field tests and market development are crucial in this phase.
Interested?
Please express your interest via our website. In the upcoming months, we will keep you updated on the programme, the call for papers, keynote speakers and logistics. In case you would like to stay informed about the conference, please register your email address here.
Bron: Waddenacademie