Mayors, technicians and experts in the field of agroecology and local food systems in Berguedà county have highlighted the importance of creating welcoming spaces for new agro-livestock initiatives, providing the region with infrastructures that facilitate the local production and processing of food, and adapting urban planning regulations to the needs of small and medium-sized agri-food companies. These three actions, together with others linked to the increase in the presence of local products in the weekly markets and the creation of school projects linked to food, have been the ones that have generated the most consensus during the new BCN Smart Rural creativity meeting, a project led by the Barcelona Provincial Council and co-financed by the European Union through FEDER funds.

Organized on Thursday, April 22 in telematic format, the session began by reviewing the main characteristics of the agri-food sector in the towns and cities of the territory. Among the data analyzed, the progressive increase in the size of farms since 1999 and the clear predominance of cereals, a crop that occupies 68% of the territory's agricultural surface, stood out. Also, the fact that 41% of farm owners are over 60 and only 26% are women. But the data that most alerted the attendees were the small area devoted to crops (only 12.5% of the total), the limited implementation of organic agriculture (only 7% of the total cultivated area) and, above all, the shortage of markets: in a region made up of 31 municipalities and with a population of 40,000 inhabitants, there is only one municipal market and one farmer's market, making clear the need to expand the offer of public facilities and spaces where you can buy local products.

After analyzing the current indicators, the head of the Support Unit for Agricultural Areas of the Barcelona Provincial Council and coordinator of the BCN Smart Rural strategy, Sònia Callau, invited the participants to look at the 2030-2050 horizon and to imagine "a sustainable agri-food system based on proximity, which generates positive changes in the local economy and generates complicity between the urban and rural worlds". They were then divided into two groups, where they reflected and debated the following questions:

1. How do we facilitate generational succession and access to land, both for people with a farming tradition and in the new farming community?
2. How do we increase the added value of local agricultural products and the profitability of micro-enterprises in the agri-food sector?
3. How do we reduce the emissions generated by the production and transport of food? And how do we increase the carbon sequestration capacity of the agricultural soil? In other words, how can we get the food systems in our territory to reach and even contribute globally to reducing their carbon footprint to zero?
4. How do we get 100% of schools to serve local or local food?
5. How do we organize the sale of food guaranteeing the right of citizens to buy local products?
6. How do we promote the consumption of local food, whether in homes, restaurants or canteens in companies, hospitals, public services, etc.?

The participants had the opportunity to share their concerns, needs and proposals for action in each of these themes. And, finally, they prioritized the actions to be developed using an online voting application.

The webinar made it possible to learn first-hand the demands of the mayors, technicians and experts in agricultural development of Berguedà and to understand the actions they would like to prioritize in their territory. All this data, strategies and proposals for action will be collected in a new digital platform that is being developed by the Diputació de Barcelona and that will serve to respond to the needs identified in the different rural territories of the demarcation.

More information about the competitive creativity meetings is in this link.

— BCN Smart Rural Editorial —