The Mediterranean Basin and other regions of the World under Mediterranean climate conditions stand out with natural and agricultural biodiversity, which also shape the production capacity as well as the traditions and culture. Today, climate change, a global risk, and migratory movements more pronounced in the region create interrelated problems and require urgent solutions. In most countries, organic agriculture started more than 50 years ago by practitioners to find solutions to face problems of intensive monocultures and heavy input-use. The first destination was either to supply organic food for the local community or address the demands of enlarging the European market. Research that followed practice currently feeds practice, contributes to organic production, integrity, and marketing. Domestic markets of organic food and non-food produce are now present in almost every country even if at variable degrees. The Mediterranean EU member states lead the production power of the European Union and California with a Mediterranean climate plays the same role in the USA.
AgriBioMediterraneo (ABM) was established in 1990 as a Mediterranean regional initiative in Vignola, Italy to exchange experiences to further development of organic. It received recognition as an official IFOAM Regional Group in 1997. The IFOAM Mediterranean Regional Group aims to promote activities and discuss issues common to its members. The Conference will be an important step to further cooperation.
Aim
The Conference aims to bring together academia and practice in the Mediterranean as well as in regions where Mediterranean climate prevails. The participants will be able to discuss different facets of the threats of today and future posed on organic agriculture and deliver applicable solutions. The climate change issue is a major threat with high probability and high impact on land, water biodiversity and human resources, which in turn affects the system designs, production patterns, pest, disease, and weed prevalence, human resources, and the marketing channels of organic goods and services. The Mediterranean Sea is already a tragic symbol of migration. Migration whether domestic from rural towards urban or to other countries, or from one continent to the other will be triggered with the climate change and others as economic or political instability. Aging of the population especially in rural areas requires innovative solutions not only in agriculture but also in related fields. Organic agriculture with basic principles that favor health of the soil, plant, animal, human and planet as indivisible can bring solutions for agroecosystem management to overcome challenges of climate change and deliver healthy and nutritious produce. Services brought by can be better preserved, managed and/or diversified. The Mediterranean diversity embeds healthy diets, culture, and tourism as regional values. Sharing research results, experiences and best practices will contribute to identify the problems and threats, to discuss sustainability point of view, to derive applicable solutions and to establish cooperation for future networking.
Topics and Programme
Because of the pandemic Coronavirus (COVID-19) cases, 4th ABM Conference on Organic Agriculture and İzmir Ekoloji Fair activities were postponed in 2020 to a later date. After 2 years, the Ekoloji Fair will be organized on 26-29 May 2022 in Gaziemir İzmir, Türkiye. We are happy to inform you of the new date 27-29 May 2022 for a hybrid (both virtual and in person) event. The 4th International Conference on Organic Agriculture in Mediterranean Climates: Threats and Solutions is being organized together with ETO, IFOAM ABM, ISOFAR, Ege University, the Aegean Exporters' Associations and IZFAŞ. The Conference is a three-day meeting consisting of oral and poster presentations and panel discussions. The topics embrace but not limited to the following topics: organic primary production and processing of food and non-food commodities of plant and animal origin including aquaculture, wild harvest, policies and standards, inspection and certification, participatory guarantee systems, consumer preferences, markets, social and ethical issues, foot-prints, nutrition and food safety, waste management, ecotourism and research and consultancy services.
The abstracts should not exceed 250 words and have maximum 5 keywords not included in the title. The abstract should explain how the content is related to a threat and/or a solution.
There will be 5 panel discussions on:
• Boosting organic production with Farm to Fork Strategy and Green Deal actions
• Reducing climate change in the agricultural sector
• Developing and scaling up sustainable farming
• The challenges and recommendations for sustainable organic livestock
• Contentious inputs
The Conference is organized at the İzmir Fair (Gaziemir) Conference Hall, which also hosts two fairs as Ecology for organic products and services, OLIVTECH Olive, Olive Oil, Dairy Products, Wine & Technologies Fair during the same period. This creates an opportunity to visit stands and meet the exhibitors.
The Conference language will be English. However, the oral presentations and poster presentations can be in English and Turkish. Manuscripts of oral and poster presentations will be evaluated by the expert reviewers, and those found suitable will be published in the Proceedings of the Conference. All oral presentations should be pre-recorded. There will be English – Turkish translation simultaneously also on digital platforms during the event.
There will be optional pre- and post-conference tours to organic farms and processing plants and to touristic areas.
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