Mineral Valley Twente

The agricultural sector in the Netherlands is highly developed and very efficient. But it is not sustainable. The quality of the soils is diminishing and there are environmental problems (pollution of water and air). The ministry of agriculture has developed a policy framework for the transition to circular agriculture in the Netherlands. Mineral Valley Twente (MVT) puts this policy framework into practice. Farmers, knowledge institutions, governments and companies work together on a sustainable Twente agricultural sector and circular agriculture. This preserves a vital rural area and boosts business activity in the urban area.
MVT is researching solutions that contribute to healthy soil, sustainable fertilization and other applications for manure and biomass. We do this in practice with experiments, mostly at the farm level. In 2019 there are 20 experiments running across Twente. In 2020 the aim is to have 40 experiments. From the experiments we learn which sustainable working methods work for the farmer and what changes in policy and legislation are necessary to broadly implement these new working methods. For this we closely work together with province Overijssel and the ministry of agriculture. MVT is designated as an experiment region by the ministry of agriculture. That means that we can develop policy recommendations from the experiments in MVT and discuss these with policymakers of all levels for implementation in local, regional, national and EU policy.