Organisers
Co-hosted by:
ECFS 2026
Padova
17–19 March
With the support ofThe Summit in numbers
Download the programmeIn-person participants
Plenary sessions
Parallel sessions
Keynote sessions
Kirsten Dunlop
Inspirational Opening
Chief Executive Officer of EIT Climate KIC since 2017, Kirsten Dunlop leads the organisation with a deep conviction in our capacity to learn and evolve into a climate-resilient society. She brings over 30 years of experience catalysing systemic transformations across academia, consulting, banking and insurance. She serves on several advisory boards and is a recognised leader in the European Commission's ESIR expert group.
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Alessandra Zampieri
Carbon Farming: A Pathway to Sustainable Competitiveness
Director of the Directorate for Sustainable Resources at the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC) since October 2022. The JRC is the Commission's science and knowledge service, supporting EU policies with independent evidence throughout the whole policy cycle. An economics graduate of the University of Genoa, she joined the European Commission in Brussels immediately after her studies.
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Francesco Musardo
The Journey of a Project Developer
CEO and Co-Founder of Radica (formerly Alberami), Italy's pioneering climate-tech company in agricultural carbon markets. He developed the country's first ICROA-endorsed carbon farming project, managing more than 500 farmers and delivering compliance-grade carbon removal credits. With over 20 years in international finance and sustainability, he bridges climate science, regulatory frameworks and market innovation across Mediterranean agriculture.
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Mirco Barbero
Soil Monitoring Directive Implementation and Carbon Farming
Policy officer in soil protection and sustainable land use at the European Commission's DG Environment, where he has led the Soil Team since June 2019. A physicist by training, he spent a dozen years in private-sector quality assurance before joining the Commission in 2005. He and his team prepared the EU Soil Strategy and the proposal for the Soil Monitoring and Resilience Directive.
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Marianna Paolino
The Mission ‘A Soil Deal for Europe’
Programme officer in DG AGRI's Research and Innovation unit, responsible for Horizon activities on climate-smart agriculture and part of the Mission Soil Secretariat. With over 15 years at the European Commission and a PhD in Biochemistry, Cellular and Molecular Biology, she has helped shape EU legislation on plant protection products and organic production, contributing to the Green Deal's sustainability objectives.
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Valeria Forlin
State of Play and Next Steps for Carbon Farming Certification in the EU
Deputy Head of Unit for Land Economy and Carbon Removals at the European Commission's DG Climate Action, specialised in the land sector's pivotal role in combating climate change. Her work focuses on reducing agricultural emissions and enhancing carbon sinks in soils and forests. With a background in environmental economics, she previously contributed to European space policies at UCLouvain.
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Panos Panagos
Providing High-Quality Data and Developing Risk Assessment for Carbon Removals
Project leader of the EU Soil Observatory (EUSO) at the European Commission's Joint Research Centre. He holds a PhD in soil erosion modelling from the University of Basel, an MBA from Patras University and an IT degree from the Athens University of Economics & Business. He leads European and global soil erosion assessments and contributes to modelling of soil organic carbon, nutrients and diffuse pollution.
Watch the recordingPlenary sessions
Carbon farming for climate mitigation, biodiversity and sustainable agriculture and forestry
Objective: Carbon farming represents an opportunity to support the transition to more sustainable land uses. This high-level policy session focuses on the efforts made by the European Commission to align climate targets and farmers and foresters’ aspirations.
Moderator: Saskia Keesstra
Panellists: Kurt Vandenberghe, Elisabeth Werner, Massimiliano Giansanti, Rémi Rocca
Financing the transition: current trends and emerging opportunities
Objective: The voluntary demand for soil carbon credits, at the price needed to unlock change, is still not sufficient to enable a quick roll out of carbon farming across the EU. This multi-actor session explores current trends and potential solutions for directing resources towards carbon markets and corporate actions.
Moderator: Giulia Stellari
Panellists: Hugh McDonald, Christian Holzleitner, Chris Adamo, Gabriella Cevallos, Gerdus van der Laarse
Common objectives: carbon farming for everyone?
Objective: While carbon farming is a relatively new concept, movements working towards more sustainable agricultural practices are not. This session brings together representatives of young farmers, and organic, regenerative, and climate smart agriculture, to explore the synergies and tensions between the objectives and methods of carbon farming and the goals and approaches of these movements.
Moderator: Mathieu Mal
Panellists: Martina Dal Grande, Marco Paravicini Crespi, Peter Fröhlich, Ivano Assenza
Managing Risk in Carbon Farming: Uncertainties, MRV, Liabilities, and Insurance
Objective: Managing risk is central in carbon farming, as uncertainty in MRV systems, liability for reversals and project failures, and evolving financial and insurance mechanisms directly shape environmental credibility and market viability. This session will unpack how these factors are handled across the carbon/agricultural value chain —from measurement to finance and implementation— and explore how insurance and adaptive management can make climate projects more resilient and trustworthy.
Moderator: Hannes Mollenhauer
Panellists: Alexa Mayer-Bosse, Anastasia Volkova, Constantinos Hatziparadisis, Francesco Morari, Ana González Peláez
The Next Steps for Carbon Farming — Broadening Beyond Agriculture
Objective: This session will explore the future of carbon farming as a key instrument for promoting sustainable land and resource use across multiple sectors. While carbon farming has traditionally been associated with agriculture, this discussion will broaden the perspective to include its applications and opportunities in forestry, biodiversity, and the bioeconomy value chain as a whole. It will discuss and compare the market development constraints and perspectives in these different sectors. The way CRCF will/could help support the broad objective of increasing the LULUCF carbon sink will also be addressed.
Moderator: Daniel Zimmer
Panellists: Lucia Perugini, Anneli Lundmark, Anna Uebachs, John Brosnan, Tomas Lundmark, Christian Holzleitner
Parallel sessions
Giving Voice to Farmers: From Practice to Proof in Carbon Farming
Main organisers: Image Line srl, Teagasc, Farm Carbon Toolkit
Improved Forest Management and Community-Led Carbon Forestry: From CRCF Integration to Investment Feasibility and MRV Innovation
Main organisers: I4CE, Council for Research in Agriculture and Analysis of Agricultural Economics, Research Centre Policies and Bioeconomy, Natural Resources Institute Finland
Enabling Carbon Farming at Farm Level
Main organisers: Confagricoltura Veneto, EIT Food/ LILAS4SOILS project
From Soil Practice to Climate Impact: Turning Knowledge into Scalable Action
Main organisers: Climate KIC/ Soil Innovation Partnership, innomine, Eurofins
Beyond the Farm Gate: Scaling up Carbon Interventions and Regenerative Agriculture to the Landscape Level
Main organisers: LandScale / Rainforest Alliance, BIOSPHERES, 3Keel
Opportunities for Cooperation on Agroforestry Carbon Farming Between European Research Projects, and Extension to Projects Operating in Africa
Main organisers: European Agroforestry Federation (EURAF), Thünen Institut, Technical University of Munich (TUM), ecosostenibile.eu S.r.l. Società Benefit, AfroGrow, CSIC
Bridging the Gap: Farmer-Led Innovations as True Game-Changers
Main organisers: European Agroforestry Federation (EURAF), Smart Carbon Farming / Ver de terre production
Carbon Farming in Practice: Lessons from BASF’s EU Projects and their applicability to CRCF
Main organisers: BASF
Unlocking Synergies Among Agroforestry Actors Through Participatory Approaches
Main organisers: University of Pisa, Italian Agroforestry Federation (AIAF), European Agroforestry Federation (EURAF), CREA
How Smart Carbon Farming Can Build the Path for Agriculture in Wetlands
Main organisers: University of Greifswald, HumusGuru GmbH, Green Restoration, Ireland Co-operative Society Ltd, AC3A
Practical Implementation of Soil Carbon Projects
Main organisers: Agreena, Agricarbon, ChrysaLabs, ReGeneration, Perennial, ReGrow, Seqana
Data and Approaches for Consistent Quantification of Emissions and Removals in Baseline and Carbon Farming Activities
Main organisers: Joint Research Centre - European Commission, BETA tech centre, University of Vic - Central University of Catalonia, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Horta Srl, University of Padova, Regrow Ag, GeoVille GmbH, Università degli studi di Milano, Finnish Meteorological Institute
Two-part session (Part 1 · Part 2)
The Summit in Pictures
