From 15 to 17 June, Hayo Haanstra, Agricultural Counselor in Italy, Antonella Candido, Agricultural Officer at the Dutch Embassy in Rome and Eke Kronieger, EU Policy Officer at the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food security and Nature, visited the South of Sardinia. The delegation was there to follow up on the collaboration with the focus area of Teulada and to foster new connections with relevant stakeholders on the island.
Beeld: © Presidency of the Regional Council of Sardinia
Meeting with the President of the Regional Council of Sardinia Piero Comandini
A Fructuous Debate
The delegation travelled to Teulada, where in October 2024 the mayor of Teulada and the Dutch Ambassador to Italy planted an olive tree in honour of Sicco Mansholt, the first Commissioner for Agriculture of the EU.
In the Casa Baronale of Teulada, the Netherlands Enterpise Agency (RVO) presented their study and recommendations for an integrated landscape approach that aligns environmental sustainability with the economic development in the region, followed by the presentation of researcher Flavia Casu (Terranova) on the state of play regarding local water governance.
Afterwards, those present engaged in a lively debate, with the mayors and aldermen of seven neighboring municipalities (Teulada, Nuxis, Santadi, Masainas, Pula, Domus de Maria and Sant’Anna Arresi), the President of the regional water consortium (Consorzio di Bonifica della Sardegna Meridionale) and other local stakeholders including the organisations SlowFood, WWF and FoReSTAS (the Regional Forestry Agency of Sardinia). The local expert on Mansholt, Salvatore Loi and Martijn van der Heijden, holder of the Mansholt chair at the University of Groningen, were also (digitally) present.
Participants identified several interconnected challenges in the region, including demographic decline, an ageing population, climate change (including drought and water scarcity), the promotion of sustainable tourism and local cultural heritage, and low profits for agricultural activities because of a limited export market. Once the key challenges were pinpointed, this generated a strong momentum for collaborative problem-solving to address them. Ideas were shared about the improvement of the sustainability and efficiency of existing infrastructure, the value of knowledge exchange and collaboration between the University of Groningen and the University of Cagliari and the digitalisation and diversification of resources and activities.
Scaling the Sardinian Network and Looking Ahead
Additionally, the Dutch delegation had two fruitful introductory meetings with Piero Comandini, the President of the Regional Council of Sardinia and the new Regional Minister for Agriculture, Francesco Agus. Both showed positive interest in the Italian-Dutch collaboration in the region of Teulada and expressed the desire to remain involved in future activities.
The visit reaffirmed the shared ambition to strengthen cooperation in Southern Sardinia. Building on the momentum in Teulada, the Dutch Embassy, the Mansholt chair at the University of Groningen and local stakeholders will continue exploring opportunities for knowledge exchange and collaboration on sustainable agriculture and tourism, water management and rural development.
Beeld: © Regional Ministry of Agriculture of Sardinia
Meeting with the Regional Minister of Agriculture of Sardinia Francesco Agus