BERAS 2003-2006

The Baltic Sea suffers from eutrophication, which is largely due to emissions of plant nutrients from specialized agriculture. The basis of the BERAS (Building Ecological Regenerative Agriculture and Societies) project was Ecological Regenerative Agriculture (ERA) as a solution to the problem of eutrophication. During the project about 50 researchers were involved in making pilot studies on 48 reference farms in the Baltic Sea region, including 12 Swedish farms. This work showed that it is biologically possible to feed the whole Baltic region with ERA and at the same time reduce eutrophication by half. In Sweden and Finland, special studies were also carried out on the entire food chain within the sectors of consumers, processors, distributors and growers. Impacts on oceans, climate and biodiversity were investigated at all stages and compared to today's conventional food systems.

In the project, which was part of the Baltic Sea Region programme, 20 partners from 8 countries participated; Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.

Find material from BERAS 2003-2006 in the BERAS Library.