Info
Conference Topic
Advisory work and education are key to overcoming the major challenges faced by rural areas and agriculture, both now and in the future. The agricultural sector is struggling with cost pressure and food production price fluctuations that cannot be influenced. It is affected by a shortage of skilled workers, as well as by climate change and the loss of biodiversity. Increasingly stringent animal welfare standards, changing dietary habits, artificial intelligence and digitalisation require ongoing adjustments in land management. Furthermore, agriculture is being perceived more and more critically in society. The role of rural advisory services and education goes far beyond supporting and training farmers to produce healthy and safe food. It is about the holistic integration of knowledge from different fields and networking them. A dynamic cross-border cooperation of independent advisors and organisations supports this.
Advisory services and education are valued as a central instrument for implementing strategic and political goals. Advisors are professionals for supporting transformation and innovation processes towards climate neutrality, a world without hunger, a sustainable, biodiversity-friendly economy and dialogue with society.
The agriculture-related goals of the European Union's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), the Green Deal, the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 and the EU Strategy for Agriculture, developed by the Strategic Dialogue on the Future of EU Agricultural Policy in September 2024, are ambitious and require professional implementation and support from neutral advisory services, as well as being anchored in rural education and training systems.
At the conference, the IALB, EUFRAS and SEASN advisory networks will present their position paper on the role of advice and education in the agricultural knowledge and innovation system.
The IALB-EUFRAS-SEASN 2025 conference, held at the Representation of the Free State of Bavaria to the EU in Brussels, will focus on the current and future role of rural advisory services in relation to agricultural policy objectives. Workshops will discuss examples of best practice in the provision of professional support in the form of advice, training and innovation projects, and develop approaches for further developing the role of advice in various policy and thematic areas.
Program overview
The conference begins on Wednesday, 25 June 2025 at 1:30 pm.
The first afternoon of the conference starts with keynote speeches and the presentation of the position paper of the European rural advisors' networks EUFRAS, IALB and SEASN, and concludes with a poster session. From 6 p.m., you are invited to an evening of agricultural policy at the Representation of the Free State of Bavaria to the EU.
On Thursday morning, 26 June 2025, workshops will take place at various locations in Brussels from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.
The motto for the afternoon is ‘Brussels of the Institutions’, and in small groups, visits will be made to institutions such as the Parliament, the Council or the Commission.
On Tuesday 24 June 2025 (the day before the actual conference starts), there will be two additional excursions, organised by Boerenbond Flanders.
Find the workshop descriptions here: IALB_Workshops-2025.pdf
Find the description of the institutional visits here: IALB_Institutionalvisits-2025.pdf
Other association committee meetings and side events can be planned for Tuesday or Wednesday before the conference or Friday after the conference. Please register side events at ialbtagung2025@fueak.bayern.de.
Photographs and videos will be taken at the conference. By registering, you consent to being recorded.
The conference will be bilingual, German and English. Plenary lectures will be simultaneously translated. Please note the language labelling for the workshops.
The programme is subject to change.
Call for Posters
Present your work or advisory project in the poster session! We are looking for posters on current topics, offers and projects in the field of education and advisory work. You can find the complete call here: IALB 2025 Call for posters.pdf
Regine Wiesend (StMELF, IALB), Pablo Asensio (FüAk, EUFRAS), Uwe Gottwald (FüAk), Barbara Rupprecht (IALB) and Annelie Bernhart (FüAk)
Contact: ialbtagung2025@fueak.bayern.de, Pablo Asensio +49 871 9522 4369, Barbara Rupprecht +49 151 24019231
Acknowledgement
The rich programme of the 2025 conference in Brussels could only be realised thanks to the active participation, in particular, of the IALB board, EUFRAS and SEASN representatives, several state representations, EU institutions and the professional events team of the Representation of the Free State of Bavaria to the European Union. Thank you so much!
