AgriVentures calls on EU institutions to put circularity at the heart of the next programming period

"Circular agriculture is not only about closing loops. It is about rebuilding ecological, economic, and human resilience for the future of rural communities across Europe."

AgriVentures, together with Spanish partner Alberizas, is urging EU institutions to embed circular agriculture explicitly into the policy framework that will govern the next EU programming period — and it is backing that call with two years of on-the-ground evidence from farms across Bulgaria and Spain.

From farmer stories to a policy brief

The push is the latest chapter of Circular Voices, a pilot project funded by the Global Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases (GRA) through the Circular Food Systems Network. Since launching, the initiative has documented 31 farmer stories and produced 20 documentary video clips spanning everything from a compost facility in Novi Iskar and closed-loop hydroponic farms near Sofia, to permaculture in the Axarquía and a biogas-powered winery in Andalusia — real examples of waste-to-energy, biomass reuse, precision farming, and by-product valorization already working on the ground.

That fieldwork now underpins a flagship policy brief, Circular Voices: Integrating Circular Agriculture into the EU Post-2028 Policy Framework, which sets out concrete recommendations for embedding circular, regenerative, and waste-reducing practices into how the EU designs and funds its next round of agricultural and rural development support. AgriVentures and Alberizas are asking farmers, researchers, businesses, and policymakers to add their names to the brief, building a coalition to bring to EU institutions ahead of key programming decisions.

Why now

The case for urgency was laid out at the project's online international event on 11 June, which brought together farmers, start-ups, researchers, investors, and policymakers from Bulgaria, Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium, the United States, and Africa to discuss funding, storytelling, and policy for a circular agri-food future. It was reinforced again at Green Transition Forum 6.0, where AgriVentures co-organized a panel on innovation and digitalisation in agriculture and distributed freshly printed copies of the toolkit and policy brief. The recurring message from both: Europe already has strong agri-tech and plenty of working circular models — what is missing is translation into policy and scale-up funding that reaches producers directly.

Feedback gathered through Circular Voices' co-creation workshops points to specific structural gaps the new programming period could address: fragmented communication between producers and competitors, weak links between industry, universities, and business needs, a shortage of visible, well-told success stories, and a lack of regional platforms connecting farmers, input suppliers, and traders into more traceable, cooperative supply chains. AgriVentures argues that without deliberate policy design, these gaps will keep circular practices siloed as isolated pilots rather than becoming the default way European farms operate.

Recognition — and a growing coalition

The project's approach has already drawn international attention, winning Gold at the Facilitation Impact Awards 2026 — a first for a Bulgarian project — and earning a feature on Spanish national television. The policy brief itself has begun gathering signatures from figures including Roza Mitova and Mariya Yordanova of AgriVentures, Ivanka Klimova of Qbratsko, Tuan Tran of Innovative Food Technology, and Ivaylo Yankov of Biomilk OOD, with more downloads and signatures being added as the campaign continues.

Add your voice

Farmers, researchers, businesses, and policymakers who want to support the call can download the policy brief and sign on at circular.agriventures.co. For AgriVentures, the ask to EU institutions is straightforward: the next programming period is a chance to fund circularity not as a side initiative, but as a core condition of a more resilient, competitive European agri-food system.

Sources: circular.agriventures.co

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