All across Europe, there are practical initiatives contributing to the resilience of our landscapes against climate change hazards. Learning about them directly from their promoters is a unique opportunity not only to revisit and inspire ideas, foster connections, and identify synergies to strengthen resilience-seeking actions, but also to value them. And those are precisely the goals of the showrooms and field trips that have taken place at the ResAlliance LandLabs.
Here, we tell you about the success story of the last showroom and field trip organised by the Catalonian LandLab, formed by the Pau Costa Foundation, the Institute of Agrifood Research and Technology, and the Forest Science and Technology Centre of Catalonia. These events showcased solutions for landscape resilience from all over Catalonia, creating fruitful forums for knowledge exchange featured by their implementers.
Showroom ‘Territory and resilience: Fair of good agricultural and forestry practices’
The showroom ‘Territory and resilience’, in Sant Sadurní d’Anoia, was a dynamic and interactive platform for promoters of 38 innovative practices from agriculture, forestry, agrosilvopasture and tourism to share their experiences directly with nearly a hundred participants.
During the two-day event, there were simultaneous rounds of presentations of several resilience practices, each one followed by an informal discussion with the participants. Each implementer, supported by a poster or digital slides, presented their solutions twice, which allowed attendees to follow all presentations throughout the day. Furthermore, there were hands-on demos that facilitated understanding how a couple of practices are being executed.
Showroom ‘Territory and resilience: Fair of good agricultural and forestry practices.’ Sant Sadurní d’Anoia, Catalonia, 16 and 17 May 2025. Left: presentation of a practical solution for resilience. Right: informal discussion.
A key aspect of the organisation of the showroom was joining forces with Life eCOadapt50. This is an 8-year European project with which ResAlliance shares the ambition of climate change adaptation. This synergy emerged from, firstly, identifying what each project could contribute: ResAlliance, knowledge from farmers, foresters, researchers and other agents, and Life eCOadapt50, the capacity to execute actions. Secondly, from a strong willingness to collaborate, to become ‘resilience allies.’
This willingness was crucial for the organising team to overcome some challenges. Two main challenges were coming up with an event format to engage participants and favour knowledge exchange effectively, and working coordinately to guarantee consistency across all individual and collective tasks. The former was addressed by applying a methodology to generate dynamic and participatory spaces, designed by ResAlliance partner ETIFOR in the early stages of the project. The latter was solved by periodic meetings structured by detailed agendas. Also, they ended with clear action plans that were closely followed up on between meetings.
All efforts resulted in a successful event that brought on board professionals from both the agricultural and forestry sectors, as well as other territorial stakeholders, including representatives of the public administration interested in promoting actions in the territory to enhance its resilience. It also increased the visibility of real-world solutions being executed in Catalonia. Furthermore, it encouraged new synergies and connections among projects, professionals and institutions, strengthening collaborative and cross-sectoral approaches to climate change adaptation.
Field trip to Aiguamúrcia
There is no better way to learn about something than experiencing it, and that is where the success of field trips relies. The last field trip of the Catalonian LandLab took participants to two exemplary solutions in Aiguamúrcia, in the Alt Camp county: the use of microorganisms to improve soil fertility and crop vitality (CarbonFLOW project), and of light thinning and sheep grazing to boost resilience and biodiversity (LIFE AgroForAdapt project).
This activity helped raise awareness of low-tech and scalable solutions tailored to local contexts, something crucial to tackle global challenges. Besides, it enhanced peer-to-peer learning and cross-sector networking among farmers, foresters, and researchers.
Achieving landscape resilience is possible through integrating the experiences and expertise of multiple stakeholders, including local actors implementing innovative solutions in their territory. Showrooms and field trips are effective ways to recognise their work, learn from them and engage them to become part of a wider network, a resilience alliance. ResAlliance LandLabs are proud to have made this possible.
This article was originally written by:
Pau Costa Foundation (PCF)
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