The “Comunidad de sistemas agroforestales y cultivos mixtos” is a thematic social network created in 2023 to bring together the Iberian community of farmers, practitioners and researchers interested in agroforestry and mixed farming. Today it has 150+ members.
Thematic social networks respond to specific interests or professional niches, providing a tailored platform for individuals to connect, collaborate and share insights within their areas of expertise. These networks have gained significant traction due to their focused approach and offer distinct advantages over traditional social media platforms.
One of the key benefits of thematic social networks is their ability to foster meaningful connections between individuals with shared interests or professional backgrounds. Unlike mainstream social media, where content can be overwhelming and diverse, thematic networks focus on a specific topic. This focus creates a conducive environment for collaboration, deeper discussion, knowledge sharing and networking opportunities within a niche community.
Thematic social networks can be particularly relevant when:
- There is a common interest in sharing knowledge and experience.
- Actors are scattered across the territory, with low probability of physical interaction.
Agroforestry and mixed farming systems are a branch of agroecology that consists of combining different agro-livestock-wood components on the same land, in order to benefit from their interactions and complementarities. In Spain and Portugal, there is a long tradition of these practices in the form of the Dehesa-Montado, a traditional landscape covering more than 3 Mha. However, in recent years there has been a growing interest in developing new agroforestry and mixed farming models in other areas to improve economic, technical and environmental outcomes and farm viability. This growing interest is limited by the still incipient and dispersed community of farmers and practitioners.
In this context, the EU-funded projects Transition and LIFE AgroForAdapt have created a group called “Comunidad de sistemas agroforestales y cultivos mixtos” (Community of Agroforestry and Mixed Farming Systems) within the French application Landfiles. This application hosts more than 450 thematic groups related to agroecological practices, with 9,000 registered members.
Since its creation, other projects and entities have joined this initiative, with three other projects involved in the animation and dissemination of the group (DigitAF, Agromix and Gov4All), in addition to various private and public entities related to agroecology.
Besides acting as a social media platform, the core group that animates the Comunidad organises quarterly webinars to allow live interaction. In these webinars, farmers are given a prominent position, with three farmers describing in each session the context and history of their estate, the agroforestry and mixed farming systems installed, and the lessons learned. There is also space for sharing new projects and studies, and for open discussion.
After 18 months, the community has reached 157 members, two-thirds of whom are farmers. Another important milestone was the appointment of the Comunidad as Spain’s representative in EURAF from 2024.
The future of the group is in the hands of its members, and it is the intention of the current core group to involve more and more farmers in the management and animation of the Comunidad so that it becomes a self-sustaining meeting place.
This article was originally written by:
Jaime Coello – Forest Science and Technology Centre of Catalonia (CTFC, Spain)
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