🍇Innovations for Regenerative Agriculture (English)

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2^nd Innovation Forum for Regenerative Agriculture & Viticulture

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Theme:

Measuring Nature at Work:

‍From Soil Life to Regenerative and Resilient Agriculture

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This event will spotlight innovative startup solutions and pilot projects accelerating the transition to regenerative agriculture.

It will also ignite discussions on the financial, regulatory, and structural shifts required to scale these innovations and align stakeholders around shared economic and environmental goals.

✨ What to expect:

• Showcases from leading agritech startups and labs
• Presentation of pilot projects outcomes
• Themed workshops and roundtable discussions with multidisciplinary experts
• Networking apéritif in a relaxed, scenic setting

👤 Who Should Attend:

• Startups developing innovations for regenerative agriculture
• Farmers and agricultural practitioners
• Researchers and academic institutions
• SMEs and corporate leaders
• Policymakers and public institutions
• Investors and ecosystem partners
• NGOs and value chain stakeholders

🍇 The event is free, but registration is required:

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📅 Agenda & Speakers:

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13:30 | Doors Open & Registration

14:00 | Welcome and Introductory remarks

		Marc Schmid Director of Changins
		Bertrand Klaiber Program lead, Tech4Regen, EPFL Innovation Park

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14:10 | Keynote

• Agriculture régénérative – le défi du passage à l’échelle
  — obstacles et facteurs de succès au travers d'exemples montrant les premiers passages à l’échelle en Europe

Bastien Sachet CEO, Earthworm Foundation, Regenerating Soils and Forests with and for people. Working with businesses to find solutions to environmental and social challenges within value chains.

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14:45 — 18:00 | Exhibition of Startups and Innovations

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14:45  — 15:45 | Workshops (session 1)

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15:45  — 16:45 | Workshops & Visits (session 2)

• Guided tour of the Changins facility and laboratory

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16:45 | Networking Cocktail 🥂

• Continue the conversation during the networking cocktail at the Innovations Booth, where cutting-edge technologies in agriculture and viticulture are on display!

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Workshops

• Some of the workshops are in English, some others are in French
• Workshop registration is mandatory (through registration links below). Since space is limited, participation in the workshops is subject to confirmation of registration.

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Atelier 1.A _{________________________________________________________________________________________________}

‍Transition vers une agriculture régénérative : enseignements tirés d'un an d'expérience sur le terrain et le rôle des start-ups

• Langue:
  
  • Français
• Description:
  
  • Un an après le lancement de sa transition régénérative, menée en collaboration avec Edmond de Rothschild Systemic Regeneration, le Domaine des 30 Arpents partagera les enseignements concrets tirés de cette première année sur le terrain.
  • La table ronde explorera également le rôle des startups dans ces transformations, avec les témoignages du directeur du Domaine, du directeur du Pôle Nature d’EdR Heritage et le co-fondateur d'Edmond de Rothschild Systemic Regeneration.

• Modérateurs:
  
  • Dr. Rita Sarkis, Responsable de la recherche scientifique à Edmond de Rothschild Systemic Regeneration

• Experts:
  
  • Arthur Garaud, co-fondateur d'Edmond de Rothschild Systemic Regeneration
  • Francois Levesque, directeur opérationnel du domaine, Edmond de Rothschild Heritage
  • Arthur Lassale, directeur Général Délégué du pôle nature d'Edmond de Rothschild Heritage

• Horaire:
  
  • 14h45 à 15h40
• Salle: 
  
  • 114

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Workshop 1.B _{________________________________________________________________________________________________}

The Cognitive Vineyard Project

• Language:
  
  • English

• Description:
  
  • A vineyard is a living system. Soil biology, vines and insects interact and influence each other. What if we approached vineyard management as a collaboration with this living system?
  • Using The Cognitive Vineyard Project, an Innosuisse Innovation project, as a case study, this panel explores how sensors, soil and plant analysis, and AI can help us participate in that collaboration. These technologies help guide field management decisions using biological signals and feedback from the living system. The guests will discuss how this cycle of sensing, acting and learning connects human and biological cognition, and how it could support regenerative vineyard management.

• Moderator:
  
  • Prof. Markus Rienth, Professor of Viticulture, Changins
• Experts:
  
  • Craig S. Arnold, CEO, SwissSoil
  • Carrol Plummer, Co-founder & Co-CEO, Vivent Biosignals
    
• Time:
  
  • 14h45 - 15h40
    

• Room: 
  
  • 116

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Workshop 1.C _{________________________________________________________________________________________________}

‍Data intelligence for a nature-positive ecosystem — holistic water (& pest) management at canton scale

• Language:
  
  • English

• Description:
  
  • Cantons face competing water demands across viticulture, orchards, field crops, forestry, inhabitants and industry. Fragmented monitoring means each sector optimizes alone.
  • This workshop shows how a shared sensor + model layer lets a canton plan across sectors — not silo by silo.
• Moderator:
  
  • Dr Cara Tobin, Tech4Regen coach, Innosuisse Coach, Venture Partner and Impact Investor

• Experts:
  
  • Dr. Saurabh Pandey, Co-Founder & Managing Director, databaum
  • Paul Edmunds, Founder & CEO, Aquascope
  • TBC, EPFL Laboratory of Catchment Hydrology and Geomorphology

• Target audience:
  
  • Agricultural and forest land managers, irrigation and hydrology systems operators, head of conservation and regulations at public institutions, nature-based investors
    

• Time:
  
  • 14h45 - 15h40
• Room: 
  
  • 216

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Atelier 2.A _{________________________________________________________________________________________________}

‍Mesurer la qualité des sols : un levier technologique pour l'agriculture régénérative ?

• Langue:
  
  • Français

• Description:
  
  • L'agriculture régénérative peine encore à s'imposer dans les systèmes soumis à de fortes contraintes économiques, comme les grandes cultures et le maraîchage industriel. Manque-t-on de connaissances sur les bonnes pratiques ou plutôt d'outils fiables pour mesurer la qualité du sol et desplantes ? Y a-t-il d’autres freins majeurs, par exemple financiers ?
  • Cet atelier réunit une porteuse de technologies de mesure du sol et de la santé des cultures (Digit Soil), un expert du diagnostic de la santé des sols (FiBL), et un producteur confronté à ces contraintes à grande échelle, mais ayant quand même réussi à faire le pas vers l'agriculturerégénérative. Ensemble, ils débattront d'une question centrale : a-t-on encore besoin de nouvelles technologies pour assurer la transition vers une agriculture plus saine à grande échelle, ou le véritable enjeu est-il d'appliquer les pratiques déjà connues ? L’industrialisation de l’agriculture a souvent été critiquée pour avoir tenté de « trop » simplifier les systèmes agro-écologiques, au risque de les mettre en péril. Les nouvelles générations d'outils, comme les technologies pour analyser le sol (Digit Soil), la prédiction (par l'IA) et la détection (par l'ADN environant) de bioagresseurs et organismes nuisibles aux cultures (databaum, DecodeNAture), conçus pour optimiser les systèmes agro-écologiques plutôt que pour les intensifier, permettent-ils enfin des interventions plus ciblées et une gestion plus fine des intrants ? Ou restent-elles difficiles à intégrer dans les pratiques agricoles actuelles ?

• Modératrice:
  
  • Dr Alyssa Deluz, Office Fédéral de l'Environnement (OFEV)

• Experts:
  
  • Hélène Iven, co-fondatrice et CEO, Digit Soil
  • Dr Raphaël Charles, Département Suisse romande, membre de la direction élargie Institut de recherche de l'agriculture biologique FiBL
  • Pierre-Alain Urfer, agriculteur à Champvent (VD)

• Format:
  
  • Présentation des intervenants et débat (15-20 minutes), puis temps de questions ouvert à la salle (25 minutes)

• Audience visée :
  
  • Agriculteurs, maraîchers et viticulteurs, entreprises de services et produits agricoles
• Horaire:
  
  • 15h45 à 16h45
• Salle: 
  
  • 114

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Workshop 2.B _{________________________________________________________________________________________________}

‍Investing in Resilience: Financing the Transition to Regenerative Agriculture

• Langue:
  
  • Français/English (to be defined)

• Description:
  
  • Scaling regenerative agriculture requires new ways of mobilising and directing finance towards the agricultural transition. But what can be financed, through which mechanisms, and by whom?
  • This roundtable will bring together different perspectives on how finance can support the transition towards more regenerative and resilient agriculture. Through concrete approaches and examples, the discussion will explore the diversity of financing and investment pathways available, the opportunities they create, and the conditions needed to translate capital into meaningful impact on the ground.
  • Rather than looking for a single solution, the workshop will explore how different approaches can complement each other — and what is still needed to unlock finance and accelerate the transition at scale.

• Moderator:
  
  • Ivanoé Koog, Regenerative Agriculture Manager Switzerland, Earthworm Foundation

• Experts:
  
  • Frederic Fournier, CEO and Co-founder, Open Forest Protocol
  • Aymeric Jung, Impact Investing and Regenerative Economy Advisor
  • ‍more to be announced soon...

• Time:
  
  • 15h45 - 16h45
• Room: 
  
  • 116

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Workshop 2.C _{________________________________________________________________________________________________}

‍Building Circular Supply Chains: Turning By-Products into Value

• Language:
  
  • English

• Description:
  
  • How can waste streams become valuable resources?
  • ‍This interactive workshop brings together innovators from the fields of biogenic CO₂ recovery, bio-based packaging, and fermentation biomass waste valorization to explore practical approaches for building circular value chains. Through real-world examples, participants will discover how by-products from agriculture, food processing and fermentation can be transformed into high-value products and services, including renewable CO₂, sustainable packaging materials, and future functional ingredients. The session will highlight the technological, economic, and collaborative conditions required to scale circular solutions and accelerate the transition towards aregenerative and circular bioeconomy.

• Moderator:
  
  • Prof. Liming Zeng, Professeure HES associée en Technologie de Cave, Changins‍

• Experts:
  
  • Jean-Valentin de Saussure , CEO, CIRCEA, Upcycle biogenic CO₂ into value ‍
  • ‍Slava Drigloff, Co-founder, Chairman of the Board, PeelPack, Replace fossil plastics with a thermoplastic biomaterial made from food side streams‍
  • Prof. Benoit Bach, Professeur HES ordinaire en oenologie, Changins, recycling of fermentation waste and supporting companies in validating, developing and financing their proposals

• Target audience:
  
  • Entrepreneurs and professionals interested in developing business models based on the valorization of by-products and renewable resources, as well as researchers engaged in technology transfer of innovative solutions.

• Time:
  
  • 15h45 - 16h45
• Room: 
  
  • 216

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Workshop 2.D _{________________________________________________________________________________________________}

Interactive guided tour of the laboratory of Changins

• Langue:
  
  • French

• Description:
  
  • Dorothea Noll, Maître d'enseignement HES en sciences du sol et de l'environnement, présentera différents sols via les monolithes de Changins.
  • Ceci permettra différents échanges autours de thèmes tels la résilience face à la sécheresse, à l’érosion, à la compaction, etc.

• Horaire:
  
  • 15h45 - 16h45
• Emplacement: 
  
  • La visite part du comptoir à l'entrée du Forum

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Solutions Exhibition | Expositio

• Meet different stakeholders of the innovation ecosystem, from support programs to startups with cutting-edge technologies and solutions

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