1^st Northern Europe  “4 per 1000” Regional meeting

More carbon in the soil for multiple benefits

Join your Northern European colleagues in Helsinki, Finland, in June 2023 to discuss soil carbon sequestration, gain new perspectives, become inspired, and build co-operation to scale up regenerative agriculture!

The 1^st ever Northern Europe “4 per 1000” Regional Meeting, co-organised by the Baltic Sea Action Group and the “4 per 1000” Initiative, is open to researchers, farmers, NGOs, company representatives, and policymakers.

The purpose of the three-day meeting is to spark co-operation and knowledge exchange that enables us to achieve our shared objective of increasing soil carbon sequestration in order to mitigate climate change and biodiversity loss, safeguard food production, and protect waters.

 

Preliminary programme

6 June 2023

High-level talks

Panel discussion: Climate change and biodiversity, issues specific to Northern European agriculture

Farmer stories

Poster session

Dinner

7 June 2023

Plenary opening

Parallel sessions:

• Healthy soils for climate, biodiversity, and water protection
• Soil carbon monitoring, reporting, verification – scientific basis for public and private incentives
• Special case for Northern Europe: Peatlands

Panel discussion: How can we achieve the objectives of the “4 per 1000” initiative?

8 June 2023

Field site visits:

• Qvidja experimental Carbon Action farm
• TWINWIN biodiversity research site
• Intensive long-term agricultural measurement site SMEAR-Agri (Station for Measuring Earth surface-Atmosphere Relations)

 

The meeting is targeted to stakeholders from the following countries: Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxemburg, Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Poland, Ireland, United Kingdom, Switzerland, and Ukraine.

The conference takes place at Hilton Helsinki Kalastajantorppa, just a short tram ride from the city centre. Expect local and regeneratively farmed food, and ample opportunities to enjoy fresh, early-summer Nordic greenery – and perhaps a dip in the Baltic Sea.

The main financers of the meeting are the “Catch the Carbon” programme of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of Finland and the “4 per 1000” Initiative. It is also sponsored by EIT Food and the Helsinki-Uusimaa Regional Council.

 

What is the “4 per 1000” Initiative?

The 4 per 1000 Initiative aims to an annual growth rate of 0.4% in the soil carbon stocks, or 4‰ per year, in the first 30–40 cm of soil. Agricultural soils can play a crucial role on food security and climate change mitigation. Read more here.

 

More information

If you have questions please contact project manager Elisa Vainio (elisa.vainio@bsag.fi).

 

Funders and organisers