During eight intensive days of excursions, workshops, expert inputs and teamwork, we learned more about how agrobiodiversity contributes to locally adapted and resilient land use systems: When we visited apple and cereal breeders, we learned that it takes more than 15 years to develop a new variety. In the cultivated landscape of the Reuss valley, we experienced how biodiversity on agricultural land is affected by different management practices. And during several farm visits, we heard which factors constrain or encourage farmers to invest in diversification opportunities. With these and many more experiences in mind, students worked on case studies and developed solutions to foster the cultivation of emmer, local bean varieties, fungus resistant grapes and for conserving the black alpine pig.

The Agrobiodiversity Summer School was jointly organized by the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL) and the ZHAW Institute of Natural Resource Sciences (IUNR).

Link to the course (https://www.zhaw.ch/iunr/agrobiodiversity-school)