Project properties
Title Complex Agroforestry (food forest) Design assistant
Group Forest Ecology and Forest Management Group
Project type internship
Credits 24
Supervisor(s) Jordy van Eijk (FEM group)
Examiner(s) dr. Madelon Lohbeck (FEM group)
Contact info jordy.vaneijk@wur.nl

Begin date 2023/10/01
End date
Description Complex agroforestry systems (CAS) have received increased societal attention as a novel land-use system in Europe, and in the Netherlands especially under the name of food forests. However, due to their novelty, complexity and the long timespans inherent to tree-based systems, there is much uncertainty about the options for design and implementation which can achieve farmer’s objectives within the biophysical, socio-cultural, legal and economic context of CAS. To explore the potential to use and professionalise the multifunctionality of CAS in different contexts, the ReGeneration Foundation and Forest Ecology & Forest Management Group are co-creating five CAS pilot farms in the Netherlands as living labs in collaboration with landowners, farmers, and various partners. In this project you will help interview farmers and landowners to formulate clear and measurable goals for their farms, perform surveying techniques to make accurate base maps and inventorize the ecological dynamics of the farms and surrounding landscapes. As all pilots start with planting hedges this winter, you will help with interviewing hedge specialists on the optimal spatial and temporal configurations for hedge types that fit the pilot farmer´s goals and contexts. Additionally, if the pace of the project permits, you will help in facilitating co-design sessions for the farms to make multiple scenarios for sketch designs, based on the inventorized goals and contexts.
This project is in collaboration with the ReGeneration Foundation and 5 CAS farms.

Keywords to search by:
Agroforestry systems, food forests


Topic(s): Agroforestry
Region(s): The Netherlands/ Europe
Climate(s): Temperate zone

Corona proof: Yes

Used skills Systematic analysis, participatory processes, GIS (preferred)
Requirements
- WEC-31806 Ecological Methods I, or a comparable alternative course;
- One FEM course (at least), depending on the topic of the thesis: FEM-30306 Forest Ecology and Forest Management, FEM-30806 Resource Dynamics Sustainable Utilization, FEM-32306 Agroforestry, or Models for Ecological Systems FEM-31806