On 17 September, our scientists gathered for another research meeting in Wageningen. We had lively discussions and some of the PhDs presented their first findings.

First, we discussed three conceptual papers that will be written by groups of various disciplines. After pitches by Bep Schrammeijer, PhD, Erik H. Poelman and Barbara van Mierlo on the conceptual papers, we broke up into groups and had a good discussion. The paper led by Bep Schrammeijer is about ‘diversity of diversities’ (crops, disciplines, people, etc.) and making a typology of these. The paper led by Erik Poelman and Marius Monen tries to define transition ladders. The paper led by Barbara van Mierlo is a reflection on how CropMix was created and implemented, to learn from this process.

Next, some of the PhD candidates presented some first results from their work.

• Lisa Marijke van den Berg showed us initial results of interviews with farmers on their use of machinery and how this influences their choice for strip width for example.
• Rik Waenink presented his finding on birds in strip cropping: do they prefer strip cropping fields to breed in? The answer is yes.
• Thijmen van Loon showed how his computer model can ultimately help to configure biodiversity enhancing landscapes in a region.
• Inez Dekker presented her conceptual framework for learning processes, showing three snapshots from CropMix.
• Gabriele Bolletta presented his initial findings on biological pest control in a cabbage-oat system.

Lastly, we also showed the first results from MoestuinMixwith the top 10 choice crops used by the participants to pair with faba beans. More on that can be read on the results page.

Thanks to all for another enjoyable and fruitful meeting!