The HarvRESt project has successfully concluded its final two Policy Labs, marking the completion of a collaborative foresight process that brought together researchers, policymakers, industry actors, and innovators to explore how renewable energy can be more widely integrated into European agriculture.

Across the four Policy Labs, participants worked to develop a shared vision for 2035, in which farms become multifunctional hubs that produce both food and energy while strengthening local communities, reducing environmental impact, and fostering resilience.

The last two workshops focused on:

1. Creating pathways to achieving the vision, crafted during the "Visioning" workshops (refer to previous article on policy lab 2). This stage identified key barriers and policy levers in creating grounded pathways for change.   
   
   
2. The final workshop focused on identifying the practical steps in organising the identified policy levers into a clear policy roadmap and action plan based on sector specific challenges and opportunties.

The insights gathered throughout the Policy Labs will now be combined with additional project research and analysis to draft a strategic policy roadmap and set of recommendations for accelerating renewable energy adoption in the European agri-food sector. The final report will be published in December 2026 and will be made publicly available.

The report and its recommendations will be presented during the final HarvRESt event for policymakers and agricultural and energy stakeholders in Brussels in December 2026. This event will provide an opportunity to discuss key project findings on how European and national policies can better support the transition towards resilient, low-carbon, and energy-producing agricultural systems.

You can read about the privious policy labs here:

First Policy Lab workshop

Second Policy Lab workshop