Refeltil open days and workshops in Hungary organised by Terra Humana Ltd

Organised by Terra Humana Ltd.

Date: 26 February, 11 March, 23 March, 02 April and 06 May

Participant: Hungarian stakeholders.

Distribution of Hungarian language REFERTIL newsletters (Biochar edition, Compost edition and Agronomic edition) and REFERTIL pamphlet.

REFERTIL poster presentation.

The objectives and main topics:

• Refertil project intro.Introduction and summary of the REFERTIL Project
• The revision of the EU Fertiliser Regulation (EC 2003/2003). Summary of the REFERTIL biochar policy support work.
• What is biochar and waht is Animal Bone bioChar (ABC)?
• How can we replace the phosphorus fertilizers by Animal Bone bioChar (ABC).
• Biochar quality and safety - accredited biochar analysis. Presentation of results of REFERTIL biochar improvement and biochar quality.
• Conversion of science into industrial practice: biochar scale up, industrialization and Authority permitting.
• Q&A.

Open days at Wessling, and KOVET association, 28 May, 2014

WESSLING Hungary Kft. and KOVET association (the most important environmental association for sustainable economies in Hungary) organized an open day and  workshop in the WESSLING Laboratory. The leading, biggest hungarian companies were present at the event (car factories, food producers, banks, etc.) Zoltan Palotai in addition to the presentation of the laboratory also gave an interesting speach about the Refertil project. Presentation of the project to the biggest Hungarian companies, dissemination by the KÖVET association.

Refertil project open day and workshop at WESSLING organized for NEBIH experts

WESSLING Hungary Ltd. and Terra Humana Ltd. organized an open day and workshop for the National Food Chain Safety Office’s soil testing laboratories. During the all-day programme (Edward Someus, Zoltán Palotai and other colleagues) presented the project in detail, our testing methodes and the possibilities of biochar. At the end of the day: laboratory tour. The event had a special significance in terms of the dissemination of REFERTIL project in Hungary, as NÉBIH is the authority most concerned.

Regional compost open days and field trips (PROFIKOMP) in Hungary:

Location of the events: Zöld Híd Régió Környezetvédelmi és Hulladékgazdálkodási Nonprofit Kft. 2144 Kerepes, Ökörtelek-völgyi Hulladékkezelő Központ 0115/2. The open days were held on 20 April, 4 May; 20 May and 29 of May .

Other regional workhops in Hungary (Terra Humana Ltd):

• Organisation of regional workshop, Reducing mineral fertilizer us in agriculture, 27/04/2013 Vál, Hungary
• Organisation of regional workshop, Reducing mineral fertilizer us in agriculture, 17/10/2013, Vál, Hungary
• Organisation of regional workshop, Reducing mineral fertilizer us in agriculture, 05/12/2013, Vál, Hungary
• Olajterv: pyrolysis utilisation workshop, 08/05/2014, Budapest, Hungary
• REFERTIL intro for policy makers, 11/11/2013, Vál, Hungary
• REFERTIL pyrolysis BIOFUEL laboratory analytical workshop, 18/06/2013, Budapest, Hungary

REFERTIL Regional Open Days and Regional Workshops in Spain

Refeltil 4th Open Day - 17th September, 2015 -Toledo (Spain)

The 4^th Open Day organized in Toledo (Spain) September 17th, 2015, with farmers and attendances of the Refertil Intenational Conference.

Refeltil 3rd Regional Workshop - 16th June, 2015. León (Spain)

The 3^rd regional workshop of REFERTIL Project, was held on  June 16^th, 2015 in León (Spain), in the framework of the XV SEFIN  Conference - Spanish Congress of Nitrogen Fixation. The main focus of the Workshop was to know the REFERTIL Project, composting trials and the main results from agricultural trials using different compost and microbiological developments with compost and biochar.

Session 1. Quality and standardization of compost and biochar in REFERTIL

Inmaculada GONZÁLEZ (BIOMASA del GUADALQUIVIR) presented the composting trials based on the best available technologies, conducted in Spain by BIOMASA del GUADALQUIVIR.

José Mª GÓMEZ (BIOMASA del GUADALQUIVIR) summarized the Framework Directive and the Spanish Law on Waste with regard to biowaste and compost standardization, and the current situation in which the bio-stabilized waste and compost out of frame for agricultural use. Also indicating the parallels between the Directive and the Law with the document "EOW" or "End of Waste" and the conditions to comply with Compost End of Waste. He explained the importance of "Communication on Circular Economy: towards zero waste to Europe" in July 2014, according to which the End-of-Waste criteria for biowaste concept will be adopted; this communication intends to establish as binding for 2025, the separate collection of the organic fraction of municipal waste, requiring planning and immediate action by the government and the recycling sector in general.

Session 2. Agronomic trials of compost and biochar in REFERTIL

Inés Belén ESTRADA (BIOMASA del GUADALQUIVIR) commented the agronomic evaluation of compost and biochar in the REFERTIL Project, carried out by Dr. Massimo Pugliese (AGROINNOVA-Unitorino). She explained the trials with different types of compost and biochar: physical-chemical characterization, germination and phytotoxicity test and trials potted (Promotion of growth and root biostimulation and suppression of diseases). On the other hand she introduced the values supplied for field and greenhouse trials carried out by Joeke Postma (DLO) in Netherlands. She explained the different experiments carried out trying to study the suppression of disease across different compost, biochar and microbial inoculants. Finally she described the different trials carried out byLea Lavric (KOTO) in Slovenia, comparing the mixture of vegetable compost and biochar in field trials in strawberry crop compared to with conventional mineral fertilizers

Session 3. Microbiological developments in REFERTIL and other project

José Mª GÓMEZ (BIOMASA del GUADALQUIVIR) commented the research about the use of micorrizhae in compost and biochar carried out by Dr. Henning von Alten (LUH).  The main aim wss to explore the possibility of combining the use of compost and biochar treated with Mycorrhizal inoculants as biocontrol agents. Finally he introduced the first results from the interaction between varieties mycorrhizae (AMF- ERMF) and substrates with biochar and compost.

Fernando GONZÁLEZ-ANDRÉS (UNIVERSITY of LEÓN) spoke about the bio-stimulants and the formulation of bio-fertilisers based on so called “probiotic microorganisms of the plants”, introducing the classification of the primary agronomic effects and about biofertilizers of first and second generation. He also explained the line of action based on the possible use of compost for the development of bio-fertilizers and digestae and/or organic liquid waste as a substrate for the production of a biofertilizer.

Refeltil 3rd open day in Spain,“Montes Orientales” Darro (Granada) Composting Plants.

Summary of 3rd Open Day (pdf)>>

Flyer (in Spanish)>>

The 3rd open day was held on the Composting Plant “Montes Orientales” in Darro, last 30th of April, 2015. It was attended by about 70 guests, including the Municipal Authority, Technicians of the Provincial Delegation of Agriculture, Fisheries and Environment , Technicians from the Metropolitan Water Company of Seville, teachers and students of the Master of Civil Engineering, Channels and Ports of the University of Granada, accompanied by the technical team of the host company ( Biomasa Guadalquivir).

The objectives and activities developed into the Open day was the following:

• Introduction and summary of the REFERTIL Project
• Composting system, materials used and process conditions.
• Composting and compost use in Agriculture as alternative to the chemical fertilisers.
• REFERTIL results on Composting technologies evaluation and improvement.
• Presentation of results of REFERTIL compost quality.

• Visit to the “Montes Or ientales” Darro (Granada) Composting Plants.
• Field demonstration of compost application equipment.

Subsequently it was organized with the assistants to the Open day an appetizer to discuss various aspects of the project and to close the event before making the return transport.

Attendees were handed a bag with an information folder of the REFERTIL project with the following contents:

• Newsletter REFERTIL (Biochar) Edition March 2014
• Newsletter REFERTIL (Compost) Edition November 2014
• Newsletter REFERTIL (Agronomic Efficiency) Edition March 2015

• REFERTIL Pamphlet 2014
• Bags of compost samples relating to the Activity 7.2.

REFERTIL 2nd regional workshop and open day in Spain

The 2nd regional Spanish REFERTIL workshop has been organised on 17th October, 2014 in Toledo, Spain

Refertil Toledo workshop conclusion (pdf)

Workshop Agenda (pdf)

REFERTIL 1st Open Day and field trip in Granada (September 24th, 2014)

Open day flyer (in Spanish) (pdf)

REFERTIL 1st regional workshop in Spain

The 1st regional Spanish REFERTIL workshop has been organised on September 2, 2013 (9:00-13:00) in Sevilla in  parallel  with  the  II  Iberoamerican  Conference  on  Beneficial  Plant  - Microorganism  -  Environment  Interactions  (IBEMPA).

Conference web page: http://congreso.us.es/ibempa/index.php/en/

• REFERTIL workshop info (pdf) >>
• REFERTIL POSTER presentation (pdf) >>

Refertil open day with workshop in Slovenia

Organised by KOTO and subcontractor Kmetijski inštitut Slovenije

Date: 7. May 2015 at 9:00, Location: Test field Brdo pri Lukovici

Attended: berry growers, eco berry growers, consultatns for agriculture, small farmers and gardeners

Refeltil open days and workshops in Italy

REFERTIL Italia 1st regional workshop and open day in Torino,Italy

The 1st regional Italian REFERTIL workshop has been organised on September 19, 2014 in Torino, Italy.

Refertila Italia agenda (pdf)

" World Environmental Day" event in city Grugliasco

The " Word Environmental Day" event organised by Municipality of Grugliasco took place on June 5, 2013 in the central square of Grugliasco. The event was organized by the City of Grugliasco with the cooperation of theeco-volunteers. During the event open to all citizens were distributed REFERTIL brochures on recycling and informations on organic fertilizers such as bio-char. The citizens were also addressed to the web pages on www.comune.grugliasco.to.it dedicated to Refertil project and its applications.

Other open days/field trips in Italy:

• Field trips to farms involved in the project is planned within the 8^th International symposium on chemical and non Chemical soil and substrate disinfestation (SD 2014) on July 16^th 2014
• Open day on the use of compost and biochar in greenhouse on potted plants. 10/6/2014, Grugliasco (TO), Italy.
• Open day on the use of compost and biochar in greenhouse on potted plants. 13/6/2014, Grugliasco (TO), Italy.
• 19/9/2014, field trip to farms involved in the project together with the Refertil national conference organized in Torino the same day.
• 8^th International symposium on chemical and non Chemical soil and substrate disinfestation (SD 2014) Field trip to farms involved in the project. 16/7/2014, Torino – Cuneo, Italy
• 13, 20 and 27 April 2015: 3 trainings to professional and hobby farmers on the use of compost and biochar, in collaboration with P – Grugliasco.
• 5/6/2015: World Environmental Day – Open day in collaboration with P – Grugliasco.
• 26/5/2015, Grugliasco (TO), Italy. Open day on the use of compost and biochar in greenhouse on potted plants.

Other regional workshops in Italy:

• 16/2/2012 – Cuneo (Piemonte Region), Alternatives to chemical fumigants. Compost quality and use in agriculture.
• 13/3/2014 - Torino (Piemonte Region) Regional workshop “Incontri Fitoiatrici 2014” and presentation (2 posters) regarding the use of compost and biochar-
• 31/10/2014  - Vertemate con Minoprio, Como, (Lombardia Region). Organized by the Italian Biochar Association (ICHAR), Fondazione Minoprio and the Association of Agronomist of the Provinces of Como, Lecco and Sondrio, the workshop  “BIOCHAR: a sustainable opportunity for the agriculture, horticulture and nursery, energy and environment”  is mainly addressed to agronomists, technicians and farmers. Project presentation about activities on the use of biochar in agriculture has been carried out by Massimo Pugliese. Dissemination of pamphlet, newsletters and questionnaire to about 50 people.
• 23/1/2015  - Chiusa Pesio, Cuneo (Piemonte Region). The workshop was organized by Agroinnova – University of Torino in collaboration with the farmers’ group working fruit crops. Project presentation. Dissemination of pamphlet, newsletters and questionnaire to about 100 people.
• 27/2/2015  - Albenga (Liguria Region). The workshop “Soil disinfestation” was organized by Agroinnova – University of Torino in collaboration with the farmers’ cooperative group “L’ortofrutticola di Albenga”. Project presentation. Dissemination of pamphlet, newsletters and questionnaire to about 150 people.
• 25/2/2015 – Cremona (Lombardia Region). The workshop “Recycling of organic wastes for the production of biochar and compost: the European project REFERTIL” is organized by Agroinnova – University of Torino within the 2015 exhibition CremonaFiere that will present both the most recent technological features and the most innovative solutions and ideas in: Energy production from renewable sources, Green Chemistry,  Management and re-use of food industry waste products. Brochures and newsletter of Refertil project were provided to participants, and a workshop presenting Refertil activities was carried out by Massimo Pugliese. Two posters presented. Dissemination of pamphlet, newsletter and questionnaire to about 50 people.
• 17/3/2015 - Torino (Piemonte Region).“Incontri Fitoiatrici 2015”. Project presentation and 5 posters regarding the use of compost and biochar. Dissemination of pamphlet, newsletters and questionnaire to about 120 people.

Refertil public events in Italy:

• The City of Grugliasco has organized a public event during the "Refertil and World Environment Day" in the central square of Grugliasco. The event which took place on June 5, 2013 was organized by the City of Grugliasco with the cooperation of the Eco-volunteers. During the event open to all citizens were distributed brochures on recycling and informations on organic fertilizers such as bio-char.
• In September 2014, the municipalities of Grugliasco organized a meeting between some stakeholders and a delegation of project Refertil. During this public meeting citizens and public officials have asked many specific questions about the objectives of the project.
• The City of Grugliasco has organized another public event during the "World Environment Day" 2015 in the central square of Grugliasco. The event which took place on June 5, 2015 was organized by the City of Grugliasco with the cooperation of the Eco-volunteers and Agrinnova. During the event open to all citizens were distributed brochures on recycling and informations on organic fertilizers such as bio-char.
• The City of Grugliasco has organized in collaboration with Agrinnova a presentation of the project dedicated to the social gardeners who are members of the association “Orti urbani” at Grugliasco. Speaker at the conference will be Massimo Pugliese as researcher at Agrinnova. In that circumstance we have distributed to the participants a gift pack of bio-char and compost.

Refertil Open day in Germany

Refertil Open day at Leibniz University

Open day of the LeibnizUniversity: “Night of science”. Presentation (3 posters and demo experiment) and combined use of recycled biowaste with mycorrhizae.

Date: 15th November, 2014

Regional workshops in Denmark

• 13/08/2014: Workshop on biochar effects in agricultural soils. Aarhus University, DK. Workshop with professors and PhD students from AU, Denmarks Technical University and Soil Science Institute CAS, Nanjing, China. Workshop with presentation of REFERTIL results and providing opportunity for future collaboration
• 12/06/2015: Workshop on the use of residual products in agriculture (Anvendelse af restprodukter i landbruget). Organized by P4 SEGES; hosted by P3 – AU at Aarhus University.
• 06/10/2015: Workshop on biochar in plant production, Askov Experimental Station, DK. Successful workshop with partcipation of media, insdustry, advisors and scientists. Results of the workshop reported in national farmes magazine (Effektivt Landbrug)

• 02/06/2015: Workshop on the composting process and the use of compost in agriculture held at Biovækst Komposteringsanlæg, Gislinge, Denmark. The participants first got information about Refertil project and recirculation by a PP by Annette Vestergaard: „Recirkulering af affaldsstoffer” and a theoretical review about producing and dissemination of compost from house hold waste to local farmers by Peter Brønnum, project leader at Aikan: „Forskellige restprodukters anvendelse i landbruget” and then Peter Brønnum gave a guided tour around the composting plan wtih a final discussion about distribution and futuring plans. It was a very succesful day, unfortunately only with 7 participants, but all of them advisors.
• 12/06/2015:Workshop on the use of ashes and biochar as fertilizer and as soil improvement held at Aarhus University, Foulum, Denmark. There was only 6 participants, mainly university peoples and advisors. First Annette Vestegaard made a PP presentation about recirculation and information about Refertil, then Lars Elsgaard and Peter Sørensen, both from AU, made presentations about biochar and ashes – production and differences results from experiments and filed trials concerning the nutrient value of both types. After a good discussion, we visited the field trial with biochar at AU, Foulum and saw some on going pot experiments about P-value of different waste products.
• 17/06/2015: Workshop on the use of waste products in agriculture and the use as P-fertilizer held at Koldkærgård, Skejby, Denmark. There was 15 participants, mainly advisors. Annette Vestegaard made a PP presentation about recirculation and information about Refertil, then Gitte H. Rubæk, AU and Margrethe Askegaard, SEGES gave presentations about recirculation of P in waste products and use of waste products in biological farming. After a good and intensive discussion, we visited a field trial at Koldkærgård with application of different waste products with nutrient value for recirculation

Regional workshops in the Netherlands

• J. Postma, 2014.  Phytophthoracactorum in aardbei. Hortinova-group: presentation & discussion, 29-1-2014, Udenhout, NL. Workshop on improved cropping systems to reduce plant diseases in strawberry, including the role of organic metter and microbial enrichment.
• J. Postma, 2014. Resultaten onderzoek bodemweerbaarheid. (Results on enhancing disease suppressiveness of soils, using organic waste streams)., 17-11-2014, Wageningen NL.Workshop on enhancing suppressiveness and using organic waste streams for extension (DLV-plant).
• J. Postma, 2015. Werken aan grotere weerbaarheid van de bodem. Workshop tijdens netwerkbijeenkomst “Reststromen in de akkerbouw: kans of risico”, 30-1-2015, Lelystad, NL, Workshop on organic residues for farmers and extension.
• J. Postma, 2015. Feed the soil microflora with organic inputs – how to enhance disease suppressiveness. Workshop Managing Soil Life, 9-6-2015, Wageningen, NL. Workshop on stimulating microorganisms for disease suppression for researchers, companies, extension, journalists