HTML Preview Pre Event Report page number 1.
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This report presents the various sessions of the Pre Event held in Brussels prior to
the DG AGRI Conference presenting and discussing their new strategic approach to
research and innovation. The report has been written by Nicole Metz and Vanessa
Nigten from Dutch Food & Business Knowledge Platform.
Report ARCH Pre-event: How to foster the impact of agricultural research and innovation for
global challenges
The role of platforms, partnerships and policies
On January 26, 2016, the Strategic Working Group ARCH
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of the Standing Committee on Agricultural
Research (SCAR) and the European Commission organized a pre-event before the Directorate-
General for Agriculture and Rural Development (DG AGRI) Conference on Agricultural research and
innovation titled, “Designing the path: a strategic approach to EU agricultural research and innovation”.
The pre-event addressed the issue of global cooperation and food and nutrition security, one of the
main objectives of the two-day conference. Topics focused on key features of research and innovation
platforms, partnerships and policies and aimed to provide recommendations for future activities.
Discussions at the pre-event were later brought to the main conference by ARCH Co-chair, Patricia
Wagenmakers. She presented seven recommendations that can contribute to research and innovation
for global food and nutrition security that were warmly welcomed by the audience.
The half-day session (video available here) gathered about 100 professionals with a private, public
and/or research background in the field of agriculture and food and nutrition security. During the
opening remarks, Marc Duponcel of DG AGRI of the European Commission stressed the aim of the
pre-event which was to move away from identifying needs towards concrete proposals for how
partnerships could be implemented for global food security challenges. The pre-event outcomes would
serve as input for the European Commission’s research and innovation strategy. In her opening
speech, Patricia Wagenmakers, Policy Coordinator at the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs, stated
that “we need to change our entire view on the future of producing and consuming food. This is
innovation: not just doing things differently, but doing different things.” In addition, Aldo Longo, Director
for general aspects of rural development and research at DG AGRI, emphasized the importance of
research for global food security issues in Europe, Africa and Asia. The pre-event concretely focused
on scaling local impact and involving the private sector for increased research impact. Both of which
were later illustrated by the example of multi-stakeholder partnerships in several areas, including the
field of food losses. Respective presentations were given by the following experts: Laurens Klerkx,
Associate Professor of Knowledge, Technology and Innovation at Wageningen University; Morag
Webb, Policy Advisor at COLEACP, an inter-professional network of the private sector promoting
sustainable horticultural trade and; Craig Hanson, Global Director of Foods, Forests and Water at the
World Resources Institute. Following the presentations, lively debates ensued, including interesting
reflections from three different groups of panel members from various continents, plus valuable
additions from the audience. From these debates, seven recommendations emerged.
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A Joint EIARD SCAR Strategic Working Group for improved linkages between Agricultural Research and
Agricultural Research for Development aims at identifying and working towards ways to increase the
contribution of European Agricultural Research investments for solutions to global challenges.