Join your Northern European colleagues in Helsinki, Finland, in June 2023 to discuss soil carbon sequestration, gain new perspectives, become inspired, and build cooperation to scale up regenerative agriculture!
The 1st 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 cooperation 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.
The meeting is targeted at 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 will take place at the Hilton Helsinki Kalastajatorppa, 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, the Strategic Research Council of the Academy of Finland, and the “4 per 1000” Initiative. It is also sponsored by EIT Food and the Helsinki-Uusimaa Regional Council.
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)
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 in food security and climate change mitigation. Read more here.