The list of winning projects of the last transnational call jointly launched in 2019 by ERA-net CORE ORGANIC (Coordination of European Transnational Research in Organic Food and Farming Systems) and SUSFOOD2 (SUStainable FOOD production and consumption) has now been published. The call was launched to respond to the new global challenges for agriculture. The network consists of 21 funding bodies from 18 countries/regions (Mipaaf and MIUR for Italy), committing around 9.5M EUR for transnational research. Italy participated with an allocation of 1 million and 600 thousand euros.
In the Joint Call Step 2, 29 invited consortia have submitted full-proposals that were assessed for eligibility by the Call Board members and evaluated by international peer-reviewers. Based on the expert evaluation of Step 2, the Call Board members selected for funding 12 research projects (Italian research bodies participate in all projects, while in 4 projects Italy is also project coordinator) in the following themes:
- Resource-efficient, circular and zero-waste food systems
- Diversity in food from field to plate
- Mild food processing
- Sustainable and smart packaging.
Agriculture faces new global challenges for which a single country can do little without sharing data and tools with other international partners. Research can also make a qualitative leap if conducted in an interdisciplinary and transnational way, with even wider potential repercussions for the community.
The output of the call testifies the driving role played by Italy in terms of developing sustainable agriculture and organic agriculture in particular. Italy is not only among the first countries in terms of organic surface but, as a country, it can boast a know-how based on constant progress in terms of innovation and scientific research. Many of the solutions developed in the field of organic farming can help the whole agricultural sector in the transition towards increasingly sustainable models from an environmental and social point of view.
European policies, as most recently described by the Green Deal, place farmers in relation with demanding choices to meet the ambitious sustainability objectives that have been set. And they must be supported not only with incentives but also and above all by guaranteeing the essential technical knowledge and, where possible, also innovative tools and readily applicable solutions.
All information on the projects at the following LINK
Source: Core Organic