GLZ, Germany - Inno4Grass

 

The Centre for Grassland/Lower Saxony and Bremen was established in 2011 as a joined venture between science institutions, politics, the grassland farming community, the extension services, the agribusiness sector including the dairy industry regional municipalities, water suppliers and environmental organisations.
The objectives of this transdisciplinary network institution are to act as innovation broker between the research and practice communities, to sustainably develop the grassland based agricultural sector including its current and future production and to strengthen grassland related ecosystem services.
The GLZ understands itself as the central contact point and networking office for all topics and stakeholders relating to grassland protection and management. The Centre therefore has been engaged in the development of the EIP concept on the European, regional and local level since the year 2011. The GLZ team aims to provide a central communication platform and interface for the exchange of knowledge between the fields of research, politics and applications since its foundation.
The main task of the GLZ is to reclassify and promote the various functions of grasslands in their variety and significance. In this context, it aims to ensure the productive and ecologically sustainable use of the grasslands and to recognise barriers to value creation as well as to improve the utilisation of the enormous potential grasslands offer. With the active cooperation of all stakeholders, the centre aims not only to strengthen the use of grassland but as well to enhance the economic development of the sectors of biomass based energy production, tourism, biodiversity and climate protection. With all its activities, the GLZ enhances network and innovation developments, innovation brokering, and fosters an efficient know-how and knowledge transfer into practical farming. The organisation holds a wide-ranging national and international network with to relevant organizations which are concerned with grassland and collaborates with many national and international research Institutes in various EUMember states. The organisation holds a project related network-community of 60 research and demonstration farms.