10 year anniversary and final event
“Looking back – moving forward”
16/17 June 2022 in Brussels (Belgium)
During the days of 16th and 17th of June 2022, SUSFOOD celebrated its 10th anniversary at the German representation of the State of Northrhine-Westphalia. The meeting from Lunch to Lunch was also streamed online to allow participants to follow the event remotely. 54 participants joined the live event and 18 participants followed the livestream. Nikola Hassan, Frank Hengen (Juelich) and Hendrik de Ruyck (ILVO) welcomed the participants and opened the meeting. At first, the achievements and lessons learned were presented by Nikola Hassan and Marijke Hunninck (ILVO), who displayed that a number of significant impacts have already been achieved.
One very important part of SUSFOOD are of course the research projects and a selection of projects representatives for the diversity of SUSFOOD were present during the meeting. The projects were asked to pitch their project using a unique object they brought along.
The keynotes on the first day were held by Florence Tartanac (FAO) and Daniela Lüth (DG RTD, European Commission). Florence Tartanac presented a keynote on “Food systems as holistic approach”, an approach SUSFOOD tried to promote during the whole lifetime of the project. Daniela Lüth presented the “mid- and longterm goals from Farm2Fork and Food2030“. Both presentations can be downloaded. A panel discussion, led by Wim Haentjens (ILVO), on “Impact of R&I on the transition of food systems, and future R&I needs” featuring the panelists Daniela Lüth, Sirpa Kurppa (Luke), Minna Huttunnen (MMM), Susanne Braun (FoodForce) and Inge Arents (Flanders´Food) tried to answer the question “did SUSFOOD make an impact”. Important achievements mentioned were the prosperous networking, the importance of the transnational projects for industry and “EU-new comers”, the strong strategic basis from FP7, clear relevance and followed systems approach. For the future, biodiversity, place-based solutions and citizen engagement will be important aspects, among others.
The first day was closed with another round of project pitches and a very nice social dinner.
The second day marked the transition from looking at the past to the way forward.
A discussion round with the SUSFOOD projects showed interesting lessons to learn (e.g. how to cooperate with the industry and achieve technology transfer, importance of providing continuity in research and also options for follow-up projects or longer project durations, controversy of multidisciplinarity and academic pressure for excellence, very different levels of the understanding of who or what is a food system, the role of policy etc.)
A presentation by Dorri te Boekhorst (WUR) showcased the Green ERA HUB CSA and conveyed the importance of this initiative for the future of the SUSFOOD community. GEH is perserving on the achievements of different ERA-NETS, and will further explore how to valorise the projects results (see presentation). Another presentation by Hugo de Vries (INRAE) introduced the CSA « FOODPathS » and how this CSA helps to lead the way towards the Sustainable Food Systems partnership. A panel discussion moderated by Nikola Hassan took up the topic of transition by discussing under the headline “From ERA-Nets to Partnerships — transition of the collaborative framework and practices”. The panelists were Ivana Trkulja (ICROFS/CORE Organic), Hugo de Vries and Niels Gotke (UFM). Important insights were the strong strategic and co-creation approach towards the partnerships which also leads to new dialogues on all levels as well as challenges and opportunities for the new instrument, which the networks as living organisms will tackle. The meeting closed with a look forward, expectations from SUSFOOD partners and many thanks from the coordination team.
Agenda:
Thursday, 16th of June
Friday, 17th of June
Presentations: