“Have Your Say!” Workshop in Vienna: Turning Food Side Streams into Soil Health Solutions

On July 8, 2025, the AGES Akademie in Vienna buzzed with energy as more than 30 participants from Austria and neighbouring countries came together for the “Have your say! Promoting sustainable agriculture effectively” stakeholder workshop. This dynamic event, co-organised by the EU-funded DeliSoil, NutriBudget, and FOLOU projects, brought together perspectives from academia, policy, industry, and agriculture.

From Food Waste to Circular Solutions

Throughout the day, participants tackled some of the most pressing challenges in sustainable agriculture: How can food industry side streams and waste be transformed into valuable soil health resources? What will it take for nutrient recycling and circular practices to move from research into national mainstream? And crucially, what roles do farmers, producers, authorities, and innovators play in making these systems a reality?

Representatives from AGES, BOKU University, Compo Expert, Kompost & Biogas Verband Österreich, FFG, RWA Raiffeisen Ware Austria, Umweltbundesamt, and the Austrian Ministry of Agriculture and Climate Action (BMLUK) ensured that the conversation was as diverse as it was inspiring.

Spotlight on Policy and Innovation

Two keynote talks set the tone for the day:

• Andrea Spanischberger (BMLUK) offered a deep dive into Austria’s CAP Strategic Plan and ÖPUL 2023, highlighting the drive for nutrient efficiency, organic farming, and smarter fertiliser use. Her insights sparked debate on how circular agriculture can work within new subsidy frameworks.
• Sophia Götzinger (AGES) introduced the BENCHMARKS project, featuring state-of-the-art soil health indicators and innovative citizen science tools like SoilBlitz. Her talk grounded the audience in practical methods for measuring, validating, and improving soil improvers’ impact.

The workshop was alive with group work and animated discussion, all captured in vibrant event photos.

Deep Dive: Project Workshops

After a detailed introduction to each project, participants split into thematic sessions:

• NutriBudget: Four groups, including one led by Christoph Feichtenschlager (TSHN), untangled the language of “bio-based” and “renewable.” Even among experts, interpretations varied—underscoring the urgent need for harmonized definitions if future support schemes are to work.
• DeliSoil: A lively podium discussion brought together industry voices from wastewater, food retail, agriculture, and innovation. Dr. Marina Ettl (wastewater microbiology, former YARA), DI Erwin Pfundtner (AGES), Ing. Johannes Rötzer (RWA), Mag. Nikola Vucen (Smart Village Knežica), and Fabian Weinländer (Blattmann Group, Switzerland) explored real-world financial, regulatory, and practical barriers to scaling circular solutions. The DeliSoil team shared models for upcycling food side streams as soil improvers, alongside a benchmarking policy review led by Andrea Spanischberger.
• FOLOU: Table discussions facilitated by Julia Tanzer, Ludwig Hermann, and Ronald Farrar-Tobar (Proman) focused on how food companies can better tackle food loss and valorise by-products. Attendees shared real-world examples, dissected barriers, and pinpointed needs for change along the value chain.

Wrapping Up: Shared Purpose

The day ended on a high note: a collective commitment to cross-sector cooperation and better connections between regional nutrient initiatives and research, policy, and funding. Even as Vienna’s summer heat lingered, the spirit in the room remained lively, constructive, and hopeful.

This workshop confirmed that turning food waste into soil value brings not only technical challenges, but also challenges in shared understanding, supply chain coordination, and the lack of real business cases as role models. The energy and awareness in the room showed we are moving on—perhaps not as fast as we’d like and definitely without a solid compass, but certainly more These discussions are contributing to provide a context in which better solutions can be worked on more and more.