Back to the future: Traditional agroforestry systems as nature-based solutions to face multiple societal challenges (TRANSFOrm)

Traditional agroforestry systems have developed over centuries through the close relationship between farming practices and local environments. These systems offer numerous benefits, such as supporting biodiversity, improving the climate, and providing sustainable food production. However, they face growing threats from rapid technological, cultural, and economic changes. The TRANSFOrm project is a collaborative effort across seven European partner institutions to explore how these traditional practices can be preserved and revitalized as nature-based solutions to tackle pressing global challenges like biodiversity loss, climate change, and sustainable food production. Through innovative research methods and research in multiple case studies across Europe, TRANSFOrm seeks to deepen our understanding of how traditional agroforestry systems function and exert their effects on ecosystems and communities across different socio-economic and environmental contexts. To this end, the project will evaluate both the ecological and socio-economic benefits while identifying scalable and transferable solutions to enhance their implementation in the future. By engaging local communities and stakeholders, the project ensures diverse perspectives are integrated, fostering solutions that are inclusive and practical. Ultimately, TRANSFOrm aims to generate robust evidence and strategies to reconcile profitable farming with biodiversity conservation, paving the way for transformative change in the implementation and maintenance of these landscapes.