Newsletter on Agriculture & Innovation June 2018
In Po Valley, Italy, farmers are using specially-grown crops to create electricity through anaerobic digestion. According to Anna Trettenero, a farmer who runs a biogas digester, it ticks both the environmental and income-generation boxes, so long as there is sufficient investment and feed stocks available. Find out more.
Wild bees and other pollinators play an essential part in agriculture, but as in many places, farming practices have contributed to their declining numbers. Six Welsh dairy farmers have set up an Operational Group aiming to boost pollinator populations. It will look at innovative management options in grass-based livestock farming, which is heavily dominant in Wales. Read on.
EIP-AGRI SERVICE POINT ACTIVITIES
The ‘share’ function on the EIP-AGRI website lets you share information on your projects, ideas for new projects and needs for research from practice. Have you already used this function? Made a connection with another member of the EIP-AGRI network? Or found partners for a project? We would love to hear about it! Share your experiences with us: tine.defour@eip-agri.eu.
Last year, DG AGRI organised an EIP-AGRI seminar dedicated to exploring existing experiences with implementing the EIP-AGRI via Rural Development Programme support. With over 600 Operational Groups now working on their projects and many more to come, the seminar focused on sharing current challenges that administrations are facing, and possible ways forward inspired by positive experiences. Read the report.
At the end of April, the EIP-AGRI workshop on AKIS and the digital age took place in Latvia. Participants explored how to strengthen the role of Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation Systems (AKIS) during the collaborative sessions, with a particular focus on advisers and rural networking, supporting the understanding and use of digital technologies at farm level. See the programme, participants list and presentations here. The report of the event will be available shortly.
This EIP-AGRI Workshop, held in Spain 2 weeks ago, brought together representatives from around 50 innovative projects: Operational Groups, Horizon 2020, LIFE, EIP Water action groups, Interreg and more. Participants shared their challenges and solutions regarding water and agriculture through interactive sessions. They also visited some innovative examples in Andalusia. The workshop documents are also online here. The report will be published later.
The European Commission aims to tackle the food and nutrition security challenge with research and innovation policies designed to future-proof our food systems to make them sustainable, resilient, diverse, inclusive and competitive for the benefit of society. More info here.
Discover a synthesis of global soil biodiversity research. This “atlas” takes you from a chapter on 'Soil habitat' through 'Ecosystem functions & services', to 'Policy, education, & outreach' and more. This is a joint venture from the Global Soil Biodiversity Initiative and the European Commission Joint Research Centre. Read it online or download for free.
Europe’s “Interreg” instrument supports cooperation across borders. To make Interreg more accessible, understandable and simple for a wider audience as well as promote its opportunities and benefits, the ‘interreg.eu’ portal has been developed. Check out the interactive map which breaks down the funding opportunities per region.
