Bringing Together Montpellier Metropolis Departments and Agricultural Stakeholders
As part of the SPADES project, INRAE is supporting Montpellier Metropolis in developing agroecological management plans for publicly owned land, particularly on plots belonging to the municipalities or the metropolis itself.
The first workshop, held on 23 September 2025, brought together 27 participants. Its aim was to foster collaboration between metropolitan departments and actors from the agricultural sector, to better integrate agriculture into the management of public land and to establish a long-term, multi-stakeholder, co-design process.
Beyond the Agroecology Department – SPADES’ main partner within the metropolis – other departments design land management plans. Agricultural and natural areas have been acquired (and are now managed) under various public policies – for example, for water management, for the construction of new residential areas or infrastructure, or to compensate for biodiversity losses resulting from urban development.
The workshop first enabled the different departments of the metropolis to share information and identify potential synergies. Participants discussed opportunities for collaboration during site diagnostics, the sharing of contracts with well-formulated environmental clauses, and ways to improve the flow of information about available plots and funding opportunities that could support agroecological practices.
Renting public land to farmers committed to agroecological practices appears to be a promising management option for certain plots. However, it requires metropolitan officers to understand and anticipate the working constraints of farmers – whether livestock breeders, market gardeners, grain farmers or orchardists.
It is equally important that farmers and agricultural partners clearly understand the expectations of the local authority as landowner, depending on the nature of each site: What types of crops are feasible? What should be taken into account to restore soils and habitats?
During the workshop, agricultural stakeholders clarified farmers’ needs, particularly when they become tenants of fragmented public land, with possibly degraded soils requiring specific care to restore their fertility and health. Discussions also addressed how to share the costs of land improvement measures (such as composting, hedgerows and fencing) and soil health restoration.
Following this workshop, INRAE and Montpellier Metropolis will co-produce a methodological guide outlining the key steps and possible roles of the various stakeholders involved in developing agroecological management plans on public land. This will be the first tangible outcome of the SPADES project on the Montpellier pilot.
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