In the captivating city of Barcelona, the BESTMAP consortium held its fourth and final annual meeting from October 17th to 19th, 2023. The event was organised and hosted by Cristina Domingo, representing CREAF Institute, within the prestigious surroundings of the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona (UAB) campus.

As the project approaches its conclusion in the coming year, this meeting offered the consortium a chance to revisit and reflect on the project's core objectives, among which are the development of a Policy Impact Assessment Model (PIAM) framework, showcasing its real-world viability through regional case studies, and broadening the potential implementation of the framework on a national, EU, and global scopes. 

 

The event featured a warm welcome from the BESTMAP Project Coordinator Guy Ziv of the University of Leeds, followed by knowldege-packed sessions that included updates from work package leaders, representing key organistions, including CREAF Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH), and Palacký University Olomouc (UPOL). The covered topics centered on the progress achieved in the past year, including policy brief development, participation in workshops and conferences, conceptual framework formulation, and the establishment of farming system archetypes. 

A notable highlight was a presentation by the communication and dissemination team from BioSense Institute and Pensoft Publishers, emphasising the significance of broad project outcome sharing, stakeholder engagement, and scientific dissemination. As BESTMAP is coming to an end, the consortium engaged in several interactive sessions about project upscaling activities and dashboard platform design, ensuring the project's legacy. Another session was dedicated to the planning of BESTMAP's final dissemination event, which is set for early 2024. The three-day meeting concluded with a strategic discussion to generate fresh ideas for cross-project and case-study-level publications.

Exciting updates are on the horizon, so stay tuned for more news from BESTMAP!