Research*eu focus magazine. No 14, April 2014.
Date: 2014-04-04
Institutions: CORDIS, Publications Office of the European Union
Subjects: agronomic research, fishery research, forestry research, research, research and development, research project, serial publication

ISSN 1977-4036

research eu

F O C U S   M A G A Z I N E

No 14  April 2014

Towards a sustainable  
food future

research*eu focus magazine — N° 14 — April 2014

Research and innovation for sustainable food production

In  February  2012,  the  Commission  adopted 
a  strateg y  to  help  Europe  move  towards  a  food-
secure,  more  sustainable,  post-petroleum  society 
based on a thriving bioeconomy. A key component 
of the strategy is the use of renewable resources from 
land  and  sea  to  transform  waste  into  valuable 
resources, to produce food and feedstuffs, biobased 
products  and  bioenerg y  —  while  respecting  the 
environment. The bioeconomy strategy, therefore, 
makes a significant contribution to the objectives 
of the Europe 2020 flagship initiatives ‘Innovation 
Union’ and ‘A Resource Efficient Europe’.

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Furthermore,  securing  access  to  sufficient,  safe  and  nutritious  food  for  a  growing  world 
population is an enormous challenge. Environmental pressures and shrinking natural resources 
will make it difficult for global agri-food systems to adapt to new demands. So Europe needs to 
mobilise its science and innovation capacity to achieve the necessary transition towards more 
resilient primary production methods.

This means that we need innovative ideas based on cutting-edge research: to develop new 
paradigms to build a green future in which biological resources from farmland, sea and forest 
can be sustainably converted into food, feedstuffs, biobased products and energy with minimal 
loss or waste. Horizon 2020, the EU’s new funding programme for research and innovation 
(2014-2020), will play a central role in turning this vision into reality over the next decade.

Horizon 2020 will of course build on the successes of its predecessor ‘FP7’ and this special 
edition of research*eu focus magazine presents some of the outstanding successes achieved 
across a wide range of disciplines, including agronomy, plant and animal health, forestry and 
marine research, improving primary production, processes and consumer benefits.

I am convinced that building on these achievements through Horizon 2020 will pave the way 
to a more innovative and low-carbon society.

Máire Geoghegan-Quinn
European Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science

Do you know research*eu focus magazine?
You can order it from EU Bookshop: 
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F O R E WO R D

research eu

F O C U S   M A G A Z I N E

Published by
The Community Research and Development 
Information Service (CORDIS) 
managed by the Publications Office of the 
European Union
2, rue Mercier
2985 Luxembourg
LUXEMBOURG 
E-mail:  
cordis-helpdesk@publications.europa.eu

Editorial coordination 
Gyn Nilsson, CORDIS

The research*eu focus magazine is published by 
the Publications Office of the European Union 
as part of the EU-funded research programmes. 

The research*eu magazines are free of charge.

For all issues of the research*eu focus 
magazine you can:
- download the PDF or e-book version
- order single paper copies
-  subscribe to have every issue posted to you 
at http://cordis.europa.eu/research-eu/

Disclaimer 
Online project information and links 
published in the current issue of research*eu 
focus magazine are correct when the publication 
goes to press. The Publications Office cannot 
be held responsible for information which is 
out of date or websites that are no longer live.

The technologies presented in this magazine 
may be covered by intellectual property rights.

ISSN 1831-1903 (printed version) 
ISSN 1977-4036 (PDF, EPUB) 

© European Union 2014

Reproduction permitted, provided the source 
is acknowledged. Neither the Publications 
Office nor any person acting on its behalf is 
responsible for the use that may be made of 
the information contained in this publication 
or for any errors that may remain in the texts, 
despite the care taken in preparing them.

Cover photos:
© Shutterstock

FOCUS● Introduction to RSFF 4● How does RSFF work? 8● RSFF progress & fi nance needs 18● RSFF stories 24● Other RDI instruments 32● Key challenges & conclusions 38ISSN 1831-1903© PaulPaladin, ShutterstockEuropean CommissionNo 9 December 2010Risk-Sharing Finance Facility Innovative loans for innovative ideasFOCUS●	FET overview 5●	Projects in focus 11●	FET community 37●	Publications and info 39ISSN 1831-1903European CommissionNo 9 May 2011Pilot Flagship Initiatives pull-out Future and Emerging TechnologiesNo 12 February 2012FOCUS MAGAZINEresearch euISSN 1831-1903build connectgrowFOCUS● A strategy for the Danube 4● The Innovation Union ﬂ agship initiative 6● Innovation on the Danube 7● River transport 10● Environment matters 12 ● Energy links 17 ● Socio-economic research 20 ● RTDI on the Danube 22ISSN 1831-1903European CommissionNo 11 October 2011The Danube A river of innovationNo 13 May 2012FOCUS MAGAZINEresearch euISSN 1831-1903Green innovationfor sustainablesolutionsFOCUS● Mobile communications 7● Micro- and nanoelectronics 10● Safety critical systems 13● Digital media 16● Photonics 19● Broadband communications 22● ICT and healthcare 25● ICT on the roads 28● Robotics 31● Information management 34ISSN 1831-1903© PaulPaladin, ShutterstockEuropean CommissionNo 8 September 2010INT-09-001_Focus8-ICT.indd   130/08/10   16:56research euYou can still order previous issues of research*eu results magazine from EU Bookshop: http://bookshop.europa.eu/research_euDo you know research*eu focus magazine?You can order it from EU Bookshop: http://bookshop.europa.eu/research_eu_focusNo 24 July 2013RESULTS MAGAZINEresearch euISSN 1831-9947In this issue:Special feature:  ‘Plugging into wireless technologies’.Interviews: Dr Vincent Peiris of CSEM on  ‘Enhanced wireless technology for body implants and sensors’, page 7 ••	Science	education	gets	a	revamp	across	Europe,	page	14•	A	vision	turns	into	reality	in	the	development	of	 electricity	networks,	page	18•	Conserving	biodiversity	for	the	future	health	of	the	planet,	page	23•	Perfect	skin:	more	touchy-feely	robots,	page	30•	Badminton-playing	robot	tests	software	designs	of	 the	future,	page	35Other highlights:No 25 September 2013RESULTS MAGAZINEresearch euISSN 1831-9947In this issue:Special feature:  ‘The big clean-up: how to tackle toxic substances’.Interview: ‘Spotlight on nanoparticles’ imperceptible effects’ with Dr Maria Diez-Ortiz  from the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, page 35 ••	Towards	evidence-based	public	policy	for	alcohol,	page	6•	Inspirational	education	for	budding	scientists,	page	13•	Addressing	aircraft	hazards	through	cutting-edge	simulation,	page	17•	Unique	study	looks	at	global	population	projections	up	to	2100,	page	22•	Empowering	innovation	in	photonics	through	collaboration,	page	29•	The	EU	keeps	an	eye	on	the	sky,	page	41Other highlights:No 26 October 2013RESULTS MAGAZINEresearch euIn this issue:Special feature:  ‘Turning waste into the key resource of tomorrow’.Interviews: Dr Sonia Heaven of the University of Southampton on  ‘Digesting food waste to produce energy’, page 17 Dr Mario Malinconico of IUPAC on  ‘Closing the loop for lightweight materials’, page 36•• Fractures fixed in a fraction of time, page 6• Learning workplace skills through gaming, page 13• Assessing the sustainability of aquaculture production, page 25• Breaking through the fault-testing bottleneck  in chip production, page 31• Keeping an eye on Europe's biodiversity… from space, page 41Other highlights:ISSN 1831-9947No 27 November 2013RESULTS MAGAZINEresearch euISSN 1977-4028In this issue:Special feature:  ‘Spotlight on international cooperation under FP7’.Interviews: Andy Morse of the University of Liverpool on  ‘Predicting climate-change-related disease in Africa’,  Kay Matzner of Fraunhofer on ‘Towards EU-China cooperation in ICT’,  and Luigi Carotenuto of Telespazio on  ‘Ensuring sky-high return on investment for the ISS’.•• Fixing the economy by rewarding long-term investment  in innovation, page 13• A brighter future? Anti-ageing treatment for solar panels, page 17• Unravelling the secrets to achieving high-yield plants, page 22• Save energy: commercial cooler chills beverage  in just 50 seconds!, page 36Other highlights:No 28 December 2013RESULTS MAGAZINEresearch euISSN 1977-4028In this issue:Special feature:  ‘Robots lend a helping hand’.Interviews: Paolo Fiorini of the University of Verona on  ‘Moving robot surgery from labs to hospitals’  and Markus Waibel of ETH Zürich on  ‘A new World Wide Web strictly for robots’.•• Personalised, dynamic stories for engaging museum visits, page 13• Electronics for safe, efficient electric vehicles, page 17• Weather and environmental forecasts tailored to you, page 23• Nanodevices for a ‘More than Moore’ world, page 38• Flexibility for effective satellite communication, page 43Other highlights:No 29 February 2014RESULTS MAGAZINEresearch euIn this issue:Special feature:  ‘Shaping the future of air transport’.Interview: Massimiliano Amirfeiz of Selex ES on ‘Networking the sky  with new aircraft communication technology’, page 28•• A ‘smart’ knife to fight cancer, crime and contamination, page 6• Sound advice: modelling music halls, page 14• Effectively monitoring the state of Europe’s marine environment, page 22 Achieving chameleon-like adaptability in the machine tool sector, page 36• Improved port accuracy and safety  through novel (satellite) technology, page 40Other highlights:ISSN 1977-40282research*eu results magazine — N° 30 — March 2014Published byPublications Office of the European Union2, rue Mercier2985 LuxembourgLUXEMBOURGE-mail: cordis-helpdesk@publications.europa.euEditorial coordinationGyn NilssonThe research*eu results magazine is published by the Publications Office of the European Union, as part of the EU-funded research programmes.  Content is prepared using several sources, including CORDIS, the Research Information Centre, ERC, as well as original material collected specifically for this publication.The research*eu magazines are free of charge.For all issues of the research*eu results magazine you can:- download the PDF or e-book version- order single paper copies-  subscribe to have every issue posted to youat http://cordis.europa.eu/research-euDisclaimer Online project information and links published in the current issue of research*eu results magazine are correct when the publication goes to press. The Publications Office cannot be held responsible for information which is out of date or websites that are no longer live.The technologies presented in this magazine may be covered by intellectual property rights.RESULTS MAGAZINE© European Union, 2014Reproduction permitted, provided the source is acknowledged. Neither the Publications Office nor any person acting on its behalf is responsible for the use that may be made of the information contained in this publication or for any errors that may remain in the texts, despite the care taken in preparing them. For reproduction or use of photos and any other artistic material, permission must be sought directly from the copyright holder. Excluded from this constraint are the photos and artistic material owned by the European Union.‘Specials’ icon: © iStockphoto.com/Tom NulensCover photo: © ShutterstockISSN 1831-9947 (printed version)ISSN 1977-4028 (PDF, EPUB) 
 
 
research*eu focus magazine — N° 14 — April 2014

3

TA BLE OF CO NTENTS

GLOB AL OVE RVIEW 

4

Agricultural research and the bioeconomy: our bread and butter ..................................................4

Steering agricultural research agendas in Europe  ..................................................................................7

Knowledge from the networks ............................................................................................................................8

Drones have EU crop fields covered ..............................................................................................................11

European Technology Platforms for the bioeconomy..........................................................................12

RES EARCH IN F P7 

16

Agriculture, forestry and fisheries research under FP7 ......................................................................16

Food, feed, fuels and fibre: a wealth of knowledge  ............................................................................17

Safeguarding Europe’s forest ecosystems  ...............................................................................................22

EU-funded projects for a sea change in fisheries..................................................................................24

The genomics revolution in European agricultural research ...........................................................26

Farming, fisheries and forests: the ground the bioeconomy is built on ....................................28

LOOK ING FORWARD 

30

Agriculture and the bioeconomy in Horizon 2020 .................................................................................30

Round-table discussion: Lessons for the future and Horizon 2020 ............................................32

M O R E   I N F O R M AT I O N  

35

Useful links and references and relevant publications: ......................................................................35

You can still order previous issues of  research*eu results magazine
from EU Bookshop: 
http://bookshop.europa.eu/research_eu

FOCUS● Introduction to RSFF 4● How does RSFF work? 8● RSFF progress & fi nance needs 18● RSFF stories 24● Other RDI instruments 32● Key challenges & conclusions 38ISSN 1831-1903© PaulPaladin, ShutterstockEuropean CommissionNo 9 December 2010Risk-Sharing Finance Facility Innovative loans for innovative ideasFOCUS●	FET overview 5●	Projects in focus 11●	FET community 37●	Publications and info 39ISSN 1831-1903European CommissionNo 9 May 2011Pilot Flagship Initiatives pull-out Future and Emerging TechnologiesNo 12 February 2012FOCUS MAGAZINEresearch euISSN 1831-1903build connectgrowFOCUS● A strategy for the Danube 4● The Innovation Union ﬂ agship initiative 6● Innovation on the Danube 7● River transport 10● Environment matters 12 ● Energy links 17 ● Socio-economic research 20 ● RTDI on the Danube 22ISSN 1831-1903European CommissionNo 11 October 2011The Danube A river of innovationNo 13 May 2012FOCUS MAGAZINEresearch euISSN 1831-1903Green innovationfor sustainablesolutionsFOCUS● Mobile communications 7● Micro- and nanoelectronics 10● Safety critical systems 13● Digital media 16● Photonics 19● Broadband communications 22● ICT and healthcare 25● ICT on the roads 28● Robotics 31● Information management 34ISSN 1831-1903© PaulPaladin, ShutterstockEuropean CommissionNo 8 September 2010INT-09-001_Focus8-ICT.indd   130/08/10   16:56research euYou can still order previous issues of research*eu results magazine from EU Bookshop: http://bookshop.europa.eu/research_euDo you know research*eu focus magazine?You can order it from EU Bookshop: http://bookshop.europa.eu/research_eu_focusNo 24 July 2013RESULTS MAGAZINEresearch euISSN 1831-9947In this issue:Special feature:  ‘Plugging into wireless technologies’.Interviews: Dr Vincent Peiris of CSEM on  ‘Enhanced wireless technology for body implants and sensors’, page 7 ••	Science	education	gets	a	revamp	across	Europe,	page	14•	A	vision	turns	into	reality	in	the	development	of	 electricity	networks,	page	18•	Conserving	biodiversity	for	the	future	health	of	the	planet,	page	23•	Perfect	skin:	more	touchy-feely	robots,	page	30•	Badminton-playing	robot	tests	software	designs	of	 the	future,	page	35Other highlights:No 25 September 2013RESULTS MAGAZINEresearch euISSN 1831-9947In this issue:Special feature:  ‘The big clean-up: how to tackle toxic substances’.Interview: ‘Spotlight on nanoparticles’ imperceptible effects’ with Dr Maria Diez-Ortiz  from the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, page 35 ••	Towards	evidence-based	public	policy	for	alcohol,	page	6•	Inspirational	education	for	budding	scientists,	page	13•	Addressing	aircraft	hazards	through	cutting-edge	simulation,	page	17•	Unique	study	looks	at	global	population	projections	up	to	2100,	page	22•	Empowering	innovation	in	photonics	through	collaboration,	page	29•	The	EU	keeps	an	eye	on	the	sky,	page	41Other highlights:No 26 October 2013RESULTS MAGAZINEresearch euIn this issue:Special feature:  ‘Turning waste into the key resource of tomorrow’.Interviews: Dr Sonia Heaven of the University of Southampton on  ‘Digesting food waste to produce energy’, page 17 Dr Mario Malinconico of IUPAC on  ‘Closing the loop for lightweight materials’, page 36•• Fractures fixed in a fraction of time, page 6• Learning workplace skills through gaming, page 13• Assessing the sustainability of aquaculture production, page 25• Breaking through the fault-testing bottleneck  in chip production, page 31• Keeping an eye on Europe's biodiversity… from space, page 41Other highlights:ISSN 1831-9947No 27 November 2013RESULTS MAGAZINEresearch euISSN 1977-4028In this issue:Special feature:  ‘Spotlight on international cooperation under FP7’.Interviews: Andy Morse of the University of Liverpool on  ‘Predicting climate-change-related disease in Africa’,  Kay Matzner of Fraunhofer on ‘Towards EU-China cooperation in ICT’,  and Luigi Carotenuto of Telespazio on  ‘Ensuring sky-high return on investment for the ISS’.•• Fixing the economy by rewarding long-term investment  in innovation, page 13• A brighter future? Anti-ageing treatment for solar panels, page 17• Unravelling the secrets to achieving high-yield plants, page 22• Save energy: commercial cooler chills beverage  in just 50 seconds!, page 36Other highlights:No 28 December 2013RESULTS MAGAZINEresearch euISSN 1977-4028In this issue:Special feature:  ‘Robots lend a helping hand’.Interviews: Paolo Fiorini of the University of Verona on  ‘Moving robot surgery from labs to hospitals’  and Markus Waibel of ETH Zürich on  ‘A new World Wide Web strictly for robots’.•• Personalised, dynamic stories for engaging museum visits, page 13• Electronics for safe, efficient electric vehicles, page 17• Weather and environmental forecasts tailored to you, page 23• Nanodevices for a ‘More than Moore’ world, page 38• Flexibility for effective satellite communication, page 43Other highlights:No 29 February 2014RESULTS MAGAZINEresearch euIn this issue:Special feature:  ‘Shaping the future of air transport’.Interview: Massimiliano Amirfeiz of Selex ES on ‘Networking the sky  with new aircraft communication technology’, page 28•• A ‘smart’ knife to fight cancer, crime and contamination, page 6• Sound advice: modelling music halls, page 14• Effectively monitoring the state of Europe’s marine environment, page 22 Achieving chameleon-like adaptability in the machine tool sector, page 36• Improved port accuracy and safety  through novel (satellite) technology, page 40Other highlights:ISSN 1977-40282research*eu results magazine — N° 30 — March 2014Published byPublications Office of the European Union2, rue Mercier2985 LuxembourgLUXEMBOURGE-mail: cordis-helpdesk@publications.europa.euEditorial coordinationGyn NilssonThe research*eu results magazine is published by the Publications Office of the European Union, as part of the EU-funded research programmes.  Content is prepared using several sources, including CORDIS, the Research Information Centre, ERC, as well as original material collected specifically for this publication.The research*eu magazines are free of charge.For all issues of the research*eu results magazine you can:- download the PDF or e-book version- order single paper copies-  subscribe to have every issue posted to youat http://cordis.europa.eu/research-euDisclaimer Online project information and links published in the current issue of research*eu results magazine are correct when the publication goes to press. The Publications Office cannot be held responsible for information which is out of date or websites that are no longer live.The technologies presented in this magazine may be covered by intellectual property rights.RESULTS MAGAZINE© European Union, 2014Reproduction permitted, provided the source is acknowledged. Neither the Publications Office nor any person acting on its behalf is responsible for the use that may be made of the information contained in this publication or for any errors that may remain in the texts, despite the care taken in preparing them. For reproduction or use of photos and any other artistic material, permission must be sought directly from the copyright holder. Excluded from this constraint are the photos and artistic material owned by the European Union.‘Specials’ icon: © iStockphoto.com/Tom NulensCover photo: © ShutterstockISSN 1831-9947 (printed version)ISSN 1977-4028 (PDF, EPUB)FOCUS● Introduction to RSFF 4● How does RSFF work? 8● RSFF progress & fi nance needs 18● RSFF stories 24● Other RDI instruments 32● Key challenges & conclusions 38ISSN 1831-1903© PaulPaladin, ShutterstockEuropean CommissionNo 9 December 2010Risk-Sharing Finance Facility Innovative loans for innovative ideasFOCUS●	FET overview 5●	Projects in focus 11●	FET community 37●	Publications and info 39ISSN 1831-1903European CommissionNo 9 May 2011Pilot Flagship Initiatives pull-out Future and Emerging TechnologiesNo 12 February 2012FOCUS MAGAZINEresearch euISSN 1831-1903build connectgrowFOCUS● A strategy for the Danube 4● The Innovation Union ﬂ agship initiative 6● Innovation on the Danube 7● River transport 10● Environment matters 12 ● Energy links 17 ● Socio-economic research 20 ● RTDI on the Danube 22ISSN 1831-1903European CommissionNo 11 October 2011The Danube A river of innovationNo 13 May 2012FOCUS MAGAZINEresearch euISSN 1831-1903Green innovationfor sustainablesolutionsFOCUS● Mobile communications 7● Micro- and nanoelectronics 10● Safety critical systems 13● Digital media 16● Photonics 19● Broadband communications 22● ICT and healthcare 25● ICT on the roads 28● Robotics 31● Information management 34ISSN 1831-1903© PaulPaladin, ShutterstockEuropean CommissionNo 8 September 2010INT-09-001_Focus8-ICT.indd   130/08/10   16:56research euYou can still order previous issues of research*eu results magazine from EU Bookshop: http://bookshop.europa.eu/research_euDo you know research*eu focus magazine?You can order it from EU Bookshop: http://bookshop.europa.eu/research_eu_focusNo 24 July 2013RESULTS MAGAZINEresearch euISSN 1831-9947In this issue:Special feature:  ‘Plugging into wireless technologies’.Interviews: Dr Vincent Peiris of CSEM on  ‘Enhanced wireless technology for body implants and sensors’, page 7 ••	Science	education	gets	a	revamp	across	Europe,	page	14•	A	vision	turns	into	reality	in	the	development	of	 electricity	networks,	page	18•	Conserving	biodiversity	for	the	future	health	of	the	planet,	page	23•	Perfect	skin:	more	touchy-feely	robots,	page	30•	Badminton-playing	robot	tests	software	designs	of	 the	future,	page	35Other highlights:No 25 September 2013RESULTS MAGAZINEresearch euISSN 1831-9947In this issue:Special feature:  ‘The big clean-up: how to tackle toxic substances’.Interview: ‘Spotlight on nanoparticles’ imperceptible effects’ with Dr Maria Diez-Ortiz  from the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, page 35 ••	Towards	evidence-based	public	policy	for	alcohol,	page	6•	Inspirational	education	for	budding	scientists,	page	13•	Addressing	aircraft	hazards	through	cutting-edge	simulation,	page	17•	Unique	study	looks	at	global	population	projections	up	to	2100,	page	22•	Empowering	innovation	in	photonics	through	collaboration,	page	29•	The	EU	keeps	an	eye	on	the	sky,	page	41Other highlights:No 26 October 2013RESULTS MAGAZINEresearch euIn this issue:Special feature:  ‘Turning waste into the key resource of tomorrow’.Interviews: Dr Sonia Heaven of the University of Southampton on  ‘Digesting food waste to produce energy’, page 17 Dr Mario Malinconico of IUPAC on  ‘Closing the loop for lightweight materials’, page 36•• Fractures fixed in a fraction of time, page 6• Learning workplace skills through gaming, page 13• Assessing the sustainability of aquaculture production, page 25• Breaking through the fault-testing bottleneck  in chip production, page 31• Keeping an eye on Europe's biodiversity… from space, page 41Other highlights:ISSN 1831-9947No 27 November 2013RESULTS MAGAZINEresearch euISSN 1977-4028In this issue:Special feature:  ‘Spotlight on international cooperation under FP7’.Interviews: Andy Morse of the University of Liverpool on  ‘Predicting climate-change-related disease in Africa’,  Kay Matzner of Fraunhofer on ‘Towards EU-China cooperation in ICT’,  and Luigi Carotenuto of Telespazio on  ‘Ensuring sky-high return on investment for the ISS’.•• Fixing the economy by rewarding long-term investment  in innovation, page 13• A brighter future? Anti-ageing treatment for solar panels, page 17• Unravelling the secrets to achieving high-yield plants, page 22• Save energy: commercial cooler chills beverage  in just 50 seconds!, page 36Other highlights:No 28 December 2013RESULTS MAGAZINEresearch euISSN 1977-4028In this issue:Special feature:  ‘Robots lend a helping hand’.Interviews: Paolo Fiorini of the University of Verona on  ‘Moving robot surgery from labs to hospitals’  and Markus Waibel of ETH Zürich on  ‘A new World Wide Web strictly for robots’.•• Personalised, dynamic stories for engaging museum visits, page 13• Electronics for safe, efficient electric vehicles, page 17• Weather and environmental forecasts tailored to you, page 23• Nanodevices for a ‘More than Moore’ world, page 38• Flexibility for effective satellite communication, page 43Other highlights:No 29 February 2014RESULTS MAGAZINEresearch euIn this issue:Special feature:  ‘Shaping the future of air transport’.Interview: Massimiliano Amirfeiz of Selex ES on ‘Networking the sky  with new aircraft communication technology’, page 28•• A ‘smart’ knife to fight cancer, crime and contamination, page 6• Sound advice: modelling music halls, page 14• Effectively monitoring the state of Europe’s marine environment, page 22 Achieving chameleon-like adaptability in the machine tool sector, page 36• Improved port accuracy and safety  through novel (satellite) technology, page 40Other highlights:ISSN 1977-40282research*eu results magazine — N° 30 — March 2014Published byPublications Office of the European Union2, rue Mercier2985 LuxembourgLUXEMBOURGE-mail: cordis-helpdesk@publications.europa.euEditorial coordinationGyn NilssonThe research*eu results magazine is published by the Publications Office of the European Union, as part of the EU-funded research programmes.  Content is prepared using several sources, including CORDIS, the Research Information Centre, ERC, as well as original material collected specifically for this publication.The research*eu magazines are free of charge.For all issues of the research*eu results magazine you can:- download the PDF or e-book version- order single paper copies-  subscribe to have every issue posted to youat http://cordis.europa.eu/research-euDisclaimer Online project information and links published in the current issue of research*eu results magazine are correct when the publication goes to press. The Publications Office cannot be held responsible for information which is out of date or websites that are no longer live.The technologies presented in this magazine may be covered by intellectual property rights.RESULTS MAGAZINE© European Union, 2014Reproduction permitted, provided the source is acknowledged. Neither the Publications Office nor any person acting on its behalf is responsible for the use that may be made of the information contained in this publication or for any errors that may remain in the texts, despite the care taken in preparing them. For reproduction or use of photos and any other artistic material, permission must be sought directly from the copyright holder. Excluded from this constraint are the photos and artistic material owned by the European Union.‘Specials’ icon: © iStockphoto.com/Tom NulensCover photo: © ShutterstockISSN 1831-9947 (printed version)ISSN 1977-4028 (PDF, EPUB)research euRESULTS MAGAZINEENERGY AND  TRANSPORTDOWN TO EARTH ENERGY» PAGE 22ENVIRONMENT  AND SOCIETYIF DARWIN COULD HAVE SCUBA DIVED...» PAGE 29ISSN 1831-9947N°31APRIL 2014SPECIAL FEATUREFROM THE OBVIOUSTO THE UNKNOWNA NEW ERA FOR  MOBILE APPS4

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Agricultural research and the bioeconomy: our bread and butter

Europe  faces  huge  challenges  in  agricultural,  forestry  and  fisheries  production:  from  climate  change  and  food  security 
to  securing  a  competitive  food  market  and  optimising  primary  production  in  a  global  context.  The  EU  is  meeting  these 
challenges through a range of coordinated policy responses: EU 2020, the Innovation Union, the Bioeconomy Strategy, and 
increased international cooperation.

For  the  past  10 000  years,  ever  since  the 
agricultural  revolution  in  the  Near  East, 
farming  has  been  of  fundamental  import-
ance to human society. Yet today, more than 
ever before, we are facing new challenges 
in  this  sector.  We  need  to  produce  ‘more 
and different’ things from our land and sea 
— to be used as the primary resources for 
food, energy and industry — as well as pro-
ducing  ‘better  with  less’  —  to  ensure  that 
agricultural  production  is  sustainable  and 
that we reduce resource use and waste. 

Feeding 10 billion
The  UN  Food  and  Agriculture  Organization 
(FAO)  estimates  that  a  70 %  increase  in 
food  production  is  needed  by  2050,  when 
the world’s population is expected to reach 
10  billion.  However,  farming  and  animal 
husbandry  already  take  up  40 %  of  the 
earth’s  land  surface,  agriculture  utilises 
70 %  of  all  the  freshwater  we  use,  and 
33 %  of  greenhouse  gases  originate  from 
agriculture. 

‘European agriculture has an obligation to 
address forecasted growth in food demand 

and the need to provide a sustainable, safe 
and secure food supply for the European 
and an increasing global population,’ says 
Máire  Geoghegan-Quinn,  the  European 
Commissioner  for  Research.  ‘Farmers  in 
Europe and elsewhere will have to face up 
to  increased  competition  for  limited  and 
finite natural resources, as well as the add-
itional  pressure  that  this  poses  on  ecosys-
tem  services,  such  as  biodiversity,  water 
retention, and pollination or soil quality.’

The 
increasing  demands  of  climate 
change,  global  population,  changing  diet, 
and  reduced  access  to  natural  resources 
are  already  putting  immense  pressure  on 
attempts  to  maintain  current  production 
levels.  So  Europe  needs  to  find  a  way  to 
‘square  the  circle’  —  using  research  and 
innovation  to  meet  the  growing  demand 
for  food,  bioenergy  and  biofuels  in  the 
face of climate change and limited natural 
resources. 

‘We must not only mitigate the impact of 
agriculture  on  climate  change,  but  also 
enable  agriculture  to  adapt  to  the  impact 

climate change is putting on farming, for-
estry, fisheries and aquaculture,’ observes 
Commissioner Geoghegan-Quinn. ‘Climate-
change scenarios envisage a higher risk for 
crop  failures  and  global  food  price  spikes 
resulting from diminished harvests due to 
extreme  weather  events.  The  challenge  is 
therefore  not  only  to  produce  more,  but 
also  to  produce  more  effectively,  and  in 
more difficult conditions.’ 

Research  is  needed  to  better  understand 
the  complexity  and  diversity  of  farming 
practices, economies, environments, socio-
economic  conditions  and  market  struc-
tures. One-third of food calories produced 
worldwide  are  lost  or  wasted  —  while 
more than 800 million people in the world 
still suffer from chronic hunger.

Research  can  also  point  the  way  to  food 
production systems that are feasible, sus-
tainable and profitable. Fortunately, innov-
ation  in  agricultural  techniques  and  the 
promise  of  biobased  technologies  could 
help  transform  our  use  of  farmland,  sea 
and forests into a thriving bioeconomy.

research*eu focus magazine — N° 14 — April 2014GLOBAL OVERVIEW 
 
 
Producing more … better
The bioeconomy, and the potential of research 
and innovation to produce ‘more and better’, 
hold  great  potential  for  squaring  the  circle 
of  economic  competitiveness,  sustainable 
food  production,  alternative  energy  sources 
and  cutting  waste.  In  March  2012,  there-
fore,  the  European  Commission  launched 
a  comprehensive  strategy  and  action  plan 
for a European bioeconomy by 2020 — in its 
Communication  ‘Innovating  for  Sustainable 
Growth: A Bioeconomy for Europe’, COM(2012) 
60  —  which  addresses  the  challenges  of 
sustainable agriculture and food security. 

Land-based industries form the foundation 
of about one-fifth of the European economy, 
so the strategy covers many areas of EU pol-
icy. It was co-signed by five Commissioners, 
responsible  for  Research  and  Innovation, 
Industry  and  Entrepreneurship,  Agriculture 
and Rural Development, Environment, and 
Maritime  Affairs  and  Fisheries.  It  also 
complements the EU’s Europe 2020 strategy. 

5

Under  this  flagship  initiative,  the  European 
Commission’s proposals for Horizon 2020 — 
the EU's research and innovation programme 
for  2014-2020  —  identify  food  security 
and  sustainable  agriculture  as  a  specific 
challenge for future research priorities. 

The new programme will fund research into 
changing the way we farm our land and use 
our  oceans.  The  EU  funding  available  for 
agriculture  and  food  research  will  double 
to more than EUR 4 billion under this new 
programme.

•  Controlling ‘zoonoses’ (infectious diseases 
that  can  be  transmitted  from  animals  to 
humans);

•  Sustainable,  competitive,  multifunctional 
agriculture and rural development, includ-
ing forestry;

•  Better fisheries management and sustain-

able and competitive aquaculture;

•  Biotechnology  and  biochemistry  for  sus-
tainable non-food products and processes;

Research goals for Horizon 2020 include: 

•  Biobased  products  and  processes  for 
‘greening’ industry — and synthetic biology.

• Crop harvesting, storage and distribution; 

•  Food consumption, behaviour and diets; 

•  Second-generation biofuels and industrial 

‘white’ biotechnologies; 

• Life-cycle analysis to cut waste; 

For  instance,  the  Europe  2020  flagship 
‘Resource-efficient  Europe’  emphasises 
that  we  need  a  significant  transition  in 
agriculture and alignment of the common 
agricultural  policy  (CAP)  to  a  low-carbon 
economy.  Environmental  and  biodiversity 
protection  is  another  crucial  target  if  the 
goals of Europe 2020 are to be achieved.

Research  for  agriculture,  animal  health  and 
welfare, and forestry are also key elements of 
the Europe 2020 flagship ‘Innovation Union’. 

•  Phenotyping and genotyping of crop plants 
to  improve  health,  yields  and  climate 
adaptability; 

•  Environmental 

impacts  of  agricultural 
practices and their effects on landscapes; 

•  Understanding the role of biodiversity and 

analysing soil metagenomics;

•  Animal health and the control of infectious 

diseases;

The Europe 2020 strategy also includes new 
approaches  to  providing  favourable  condi-
tions  for  research  and  innovation  partners 
to cooperate and achieve better and faster 
results.  European  Innovation  Partnerships 
(EIPs),  for  example  —  such  as  those  on 
‘Agricultural productivity and sustainability’ 
(EIP-AGRI) and ‘Raw materials’ — will foster 
innovation that is not just technological, but 
also organisational or social. EIP-AGRI could 
be supported by funds from both the CAP 
and Horizon 2020 in order to build bridges 
and  partnerships  between  the  worlds  of 
research and those who use it — such as 
farmers, businesses and NGOs. 

(PPPs)  are 
Public-Private  Partnerships 
another  model  that  is  becoming  more 
important.  The  planned  PPP  on 

‘Biobased  Industries’  brings  together  >

“We want to put agriculture and food research well and truly back on 
the agenda.”                                  
Máire Geoghegan-Quinn,  
European Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science

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6

50  European  large  and  small  companies 
and  organisations  for  research,  devel-
opment  and  demonstration  of  biobased 
technologies.

Regional  funding  will  also  complement 
these research priorities. The Commission 
has  proposed  that  part  of  the  European 
Regional  Development  Fund  should  be 
reserved  for  ‘low-carbon  economy’  pro-
jects.  And  regional  Smart  Specialisation 
Strategies  under  the  EU  Cohesion  Policy 
will  support  sustainable  agriculture  and 
the bioeconomy.

International cooperation for 
agricultural research
As  the  main  funders  of  research,  EU 
Member  States  also  play  a  vital  role.  The 
Standing  Committee  on  Agricultural 
Research  (SCAR)  promotes  better  coord-
ination  between  the  Member  States  with 

the  support  of  the  European  Commission, 
which has also facilitated the creation of two 
Joint  Programming  Initiatives  on  healthy 
diet  and  agriculture,  food  security  and 
climate change to better coordinate national 
research efforts.

This  policy  also  calls  on  Member  States 
to  increase  their  support  for  agricultural 
research,  and  the  European  Commission 
is discussing an increase in research fund-
ing  under  the  Food  Security  Thematic 
Programme of the EU Development Funds.

Global problems — such as climate change, 
sustainable  farming  and  food  security  — 
cannot  be  addressed  without  more  inter-
national  cooperation.  The  EU  is  a  major 
player in defining a global agricultural R&D 
agenda,  in  collaboration  with  international 
organisations  such  as  UN  agencies,  the 
World Bank, the OECD, and G8, multilateral 
organisations  such  as  the  African  Union, 
ASEAN,  and  Mercosur,  and  agricultural 
research bodies like GFAR and CGIAR.

In  particular,  a  new  EU  policy  framework 
was adopted in March 2010 to help devel-
oping  countries  address  food  security. 

‘The  bioeconomy  is  our  daily  bread  and 
butter  — 
literally,’  says  Commissioner 
Geoghegan-Quinn.  ‘It  is  the  food  on  our 
plates, the water from our taps, the news-
paper  in  our  hands.  It  can  transform  our 
waste  into  valuable  resources.  And  more 
and  more,  it  will  be  the  fuel  in  our  cars 
and the source of power for our workplaces 
and homes.’

As the rest of this special research*eu focus 
magazine  will  illustrate,  EU  research  has 
already  achieved  significant  progress  in 
building this bioeconomy — and plans to do 
much more!

Food research under Horizon 2020 will look into:

 1.  Maintaining an affordable, safe, healthy and nutritious food supply in the face of 
changing demographics — a growing world population and increasing urbanisation; 

 2.  Finding technological solutions to increase yields, reduce inputs, define and monitor 

sustainability, and improve nutritional and dietary quality; 

3.  Support  innovation  at  the  socio-economic  level  with  respect  to  price  transpar-
ency on food markets and supply chains, on social capital, rural development, and 
governance.

Size of the bioeconomy, and its sectors, in the European Union

Sector

Food

Agriculture

Paper/Pulp

Forestry/Wood industries

Fisheries and Aquaculture

Biobased industries

Annual turnover 

(in EUR billion)

Employment

(thousands)

965

381

375

269

32

4 400

12 000

1 800

3 000

500

Biochemicals and plastics

50 (estimate)

150 (estimate)

Enzymes

Biofuels

TOTAL

0.8 (estimate)

5 (estimate)

6

2078

150

22 005

Data source 

(figures for 2009)

CIAA

COPA-COGECA, Eurostat

CEPI

CEI-BOIS

European Commission

USDA, Arthur D. Little, Festel, 
McKinsey, CEFIC

Amfep, Novozymes, Danisco/
Genencor, DSM

EBB, eBio

research*eu focus magazine — N° 14 — April 2014GLOBAL OVERVIEW 
 
 
7

Steering agricultural research agendas in Europe 

SCAR: 40 years setting the agenda for agricultural research 

The  Standing  Committee  on  Agricultural 
Research  (SCAR)1  is  a  platform  of  EU 
Member  States  representatives  with  a 
mandate to provide strategic advice on the 
alignment  of  agricultural  research  policies 
in Europe.  Originally established in 1974 by 
the Council of the EU to coordinate European 
agricultural  research,  SCAR  was  given  a 
new role in 2005 to contribute to research 
agendas  in  the  field  of  the  Knowledge-
based Bioeconomy (KBBE) and support the 
European Research Area. In the SCAR com-
mittee, delegates from national agricultural 
and research ministries set up collaborative 
working  groups  to  define  research  priori-
ties on a number of issues, including food, 
non-food  uses,  biodiversity,  forestry,  rural 
development,  fisheries  and  aquaculture. 
A  broader  interpretation  of  agricultural 
research enabled the SCAR to cover multi-
disciplinary  research  and  global  contexts. 
New challenges and developments, such as 
climate  change,  resource  scarcities,  world 
trade  agreements,  the  Kyoto  Protocols  or 
the  International  Convention  on  Biological 

Diversity,  have  an  impact  on  research  and 
require a joint approach at EU level. 

SCAR’s strategic approach to research pro-
gramming and coordination led to the cre-
ation  of  two  Joint  Programming  Initiatives 
(JPI) ‘FACCE – Food, Agriculture and Climate 
Change’  (see  box)  and  ‘Healthy  Diet  for 
a  Healthy  Life’,  emerged  from  the  SCAR 
2nd  Foresight  Exercise,  which  focused  on  
crises  and  resilience  as  well  as  on  future 
challenges  like    climate  change  and    food 
security. Coordination efforts are also sup-
ported via the ERANET scheme which funds 
joint  research  and  capacity-building  under 
the Framework Programme.

Mapping  research  capacities  and  foresight 
studies are the main instruments for SCAR 
to  develop  its  expertise  on  crucial  topics 
such as biodiversity, green-house gas emis-
sions  in  the  agricultural  sector,  or  global 
food  security  challenges.    ‘Foresight  is  our 
engine  for  advisory  function  of  the  SCAR, 
to  feed  the  strategic  process  of  research 

policy-making and to come to more integrated 
systems of agricultural research,’ summarises 
Elke Saggau from the German Federal Office 
for Agriculture and Food.Currently SCAR goes 
towards the 4th Foresight under the headline 
“Sustainable  agriculture,  fisheries  and  for-
estry  in  the  Bioeconomy  –  A  challenge  for 
Europe”.

A  predicted  world  population  of  9  billion 
by  2050,  along  with  predictions  of  food 
scarcity,  put  great  pressure  on  agricul-
tural  and  food  systems  which  may  get 
important for the agricultural sector in a 
20  –  30  year  perspective.  Research  and 
innovation  play  a  key  role  in  providing 
solutions  to  cope  with  these  challenges. 
In  Europe,  the  Standing  Committee  on 
Agricultural  Research  and  its  working 
groups  make  sure  that  changing  condi-
tions  in  the  agri-food  sector  are  better 
reflected upon and tackled by science.

1 ‘http://ec.europa.eu/research/agriculture/scar/index_en.html 

Joint programming: bigger is better 

Environmental pressures will be felt by agriculture first — joint action is the answer

The overall aim of Joint Programming Initiatives (JPI) is to pool national research efforts in order 
to make better use of Europe’s public R&D resources in a few key areas of major importance. In 
a JPI, Member States develop common research agendas and engage in joint research activities 
on a voluntary basis to tackle major societal challenges. Among the main priority topics identified 
at European level, two relate to the bioeconomy: the JPI ‘A Healthy Diet for a Healthy Life’ (HDHL) 
and the JPI ‘Agriculture, Food Security and Climate Change’ (FACCE).   

The JPI FACCE, which has its secretariat in Paris (FR) and Swindon (UK), has already launched five 
different actions. It has created a knowledge hub for concerted risk assessment for European 
agriculture  and  food  security,  with  EUR  15  million  contributed  by  Member  States  to  fund  the 
efforts of 65 research groups across 17 countries. It has also launched an international call worth 
EUR 7 million on climate change mitigation. This call involves 11 JPI countries as well as the USA, 
Canada and New Zealand. In addition, actions are under way on ‘climate smart agriculture’, ‘food 
security  and  land  use  change’,  and  ‘promoting  synergies  and  reducing  trade-offs  between  food 
supply, biodiversity and ecosystem services’. For Horizon 2020, FACCE will help identify new topics 
for ERA-NETs. 

research*eu focus magazine — N° 14 — April 2014GLOBAL OVERVIEW8

Knowledge from the networks

Bioeconomy ERA-NETs: building up a European research community in the agri-food sector. 

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Security and Climate Change’ and JPI-HDHL 
‘A  Healthy  Diet  for  a  Healthy  Life’  —  and 
many ERA-NET projects. 

Networking ERA
One  way  of  reinforcing  the  European 
Research  Area  was  to  set  up  a  network  of 
Member  State  authorities  to  coordinate 
research  activities  in  key  areas.  Under  FP6, 
this constituted a major step towards boost-
ing  transnational  research  cooperation  in 
Europe. 

As  a  result,  ERA-NETs  established  a  com-
munity  of  national  research  organisations. 
ERA-NET  projects  are  typically  developed 
by  national  science  funding  bodies,  calling 
for  their  research  organisations  and  tech-
nology agencies to collaborate with part-
ners  across  borders.  With  a  goal  to  align 
and  map  ongoing  research  in  agriculture, 
networking  activities  are  co-funded  by 
national and European research funds. 

Mapping  exercises  and  workshops  for 
mutual  learning,  knowledge  exchange  and 
alignment  became  the  backbone  of  the 
thematic networks, encompassing research 
topics such as energy, ICT, transport, indus-
trial technologies and health. 

The 30 ERA-NETs in the bioeconomy sec-
tor,  including  agricultural  research,  are 
a good example of what European research 
coordination stands for. The number of top-
ics  covered,  ranging  from  animal  health 

and  welfare  to  biodiversity  and  biomass, 
including  international  biotechnology  and 
the  Agricultural  Knowledge  and  Innovation 
Systems  (AKIS)  network,  underlines  the 
importance of these cooperation initiatives 
aiming  to  foster  knowledge  circulation 
and promote technology transfer in primary 
production research.    

Growing stronger together
One  of  the  most  outstanding  examples  of 
innovative ERA-NETs in the agri-food sector 
combines  information  and  communication 
technologies (ICT), robotics and agricultural 
research  in  the  ICT-AGRI  ERA-NET1.  This 
project couples cutting-edge research in ICT 
applications with the need for innovation in 
agriculture. 

The 18 partners from 16 countries involved 
in this project have come up with a common 
vision  for  the  farm  of  the  future  —  preci-
sion farming equipped with high-tech sen-
sors,  cameras  and  monitors.  For  example, 
milk robots will serve the cows in the sta-
ble,  while  milking  machines  measure  the 
animals’  body  temperature  and  feeding 
requirements.  This  will  enable  the  treat-
ment  of  each  individual  animal  to  be  bet-
ter adapted to its well-being and metabolic 
needs to produce maximum animal welfare 
and performance on the farm.  

1 ‘http://ec.europa.eu/research/agriculture/scar/index_en.html 

Coordinating  Member  States’  research 
funding  and  programmes  is  the  main 
objective of the ERA-NET scheme. Initially 
intended  to  reduce  fragmentation  and 
duplication  of  research  efforts,  ERA-NET 
actions  have  contributed  to  the  develop-
ment  of  transnational  research  activities 
and  networking  of  funding  authorities, 
thereby  fostering  synergies  and  harmon-
isation  across  Member  States  in  research 
programming.

The  ERA-NET  scheme  is  part  of  EU  action 
to  strengthen  the  European  Research 
Area,  promoting  knowledge  and  the  free 
movement  of  researchers.  Under  the  Sixth 
Framework  Programme 
(FP6),  ERA-NET 
actions were created to encourage research 
funding  bodies  to  develop  joint  activities, 
common  research  agendas  and  joint  calls 
of transnational research. Since then, ERA-
NETs  have  been  involved  in  the  mapping 
and  mobilising  of  national  research  cap-
acities to implement collaborative research 
targeted at common scientific priorities.

forestry, 

fisheries, 

the  bioeconomy  sector, 

including 
In 
agricultural, 
food 
and  biotechnology  research,  more  than 
30  ERA-NETs  have  been  funded  under 
FP6  and  FP7.  Under  the  umbrella  of 
the  Standing  Committee  on  Agricultural 
Research  (SCAR),  EU  Member  States  iden-
tified  strategic  research  topics  which  led 
to  the  launch  of  two  Joint  Programming 
Initiatives  —  JPI-FACCE  ‘Agriculture,  Food 

research*eu focus magazine — N° 14 — April 2014GLOBAL OVERVIEW 
 
9

At  the  same  time,  groups  of  unmanned 
tractors  are  crossing  and  tilling  the  arable 
land,  while  the  growth  of  crops  and  status 
of  the  soil  are  being  monitored  by  sensor-
equipped drones flying silently over the fields 
and  sending  geo-information  data  directly 
to the ICT systems operating on the farms. 
Nowadays, the farmers using such high-tech 
applications  have  become  more  like  engi-
neers,  analysing  and  assessing  the  data  in 
order to define the next steps in the workflow.  

Within  the  ICT-AGRI  ERA-NET  (see  inter-
view on page 11), the smart farm vision is 
regarded as a key factor in fostering more 
sustainable and profitable agriculture. Niels 
Gøtke, coordinator of the ICT-AGRI ERA-NET 
project, sees agri-electronics as a lever for 
speeding  up  innovation  in  the  agri-food 
sector. ‘Usage of ICT applications in the dif-
ferent  fields  of  farming  will  not  only  con-
tribute  to  more  productivity,  but  also  to 
more  efficiency  via  precision  farming,’  he 
explains. His vision is that, thanks to infor-
mation  systems,  sensors  and  robots,  the 
individual status of plants and animals can 
be  recorded  exactly  allowing  for  individual 
and adapted treatment, and thereby saving 
precious resources. 

These  technological  solutions  will  enable 
a  more  precise  use  of  resources  such  as 
water or fertilisers, while reducing cultivation 

time. Optimising the steering of animal wel-
fare conditions in the stable can even reduce 
the use of antibiotics and improve the qual-
ity  of  meat.  Animals  will  only  be  taken  to 
the slaughterhouse if their meat is mature 
enough; with precise temperature measur-
ing, stress-free slaughter conditions can be 
determined  which  will  contribute  to  prime 
meat quality for the consumer. ‘Precise ICT 
tools  will  support  the  farmers’  profession 
and  will  shape  a  modern,  positive  image 
of an independent high-tech entrepreneur,’ 
Gøtke predicts. 

ICT-AGRI’s Meta Knowledge Database delivers 
a model for other ERA-NETs to open up their 
data and provide access for new stakeholders. 
Such  openness  is  seen  as  crucial  for  future 
interactions  in  open  and  dynamic  innovation 
models, considering end-user needs as valu-
able  information.  Cross-sectoral  innovation 
and  the  uptake  of  results  from  other  fields 
of  research  will  also  play  a  major  role  in 
this  process.  ‘The  smart  phone  revolution  in 
the  telecoms  sector  came  from  outside  to 
push  agriculture,’  says  Gøtke,  describing  the 
spillover effect of high-tech developments. 

Looking to the future
However,  there  is  still  a  long  way  to 
go  Mobile  ICT  applications,  coming  from 
other  fields,  need  to  be  adapted  to 
agricultural  production  and  processing 
while,  at  the  same  time,  being  engin-
eered by specialised software. Standards 
have  to  be harmonised,  while  new  ways 
of  using  ICT  must  become  widespread. 
According  to  Gøtke,  one  major  step 
depends on open data access for the sec-
tor. A Meta Knowledge Base in the ICT-agri 
field  has  been  started  by  the  ICT-AGRI 
ERA-NET  covering  the  latest  ICT  devel-
opments  and  applications.  It  will  enable 
scientists,  decision-makers  and  technol-
ogy  developers  to  accelerate  innovation 
in  agriculture,  including  in  remote  and 
outermost areas. 

Many  EU  countries  are  currently  adapt-
ing their regulations on open data access, 
and  are  starting  to  provide  repositories 
of  their  research  results  and  an  overview 
of  research  infrastructures.  Crucial  for 
boosting  science-based  innovation  in  EU 
Member States, the development of know-
ledge  and  technology  transfer  solutions 
will  allow  research  to  be  better  linked  to 
market and societal innovations. 

In a survey among ERA-NET members, only 
25 %  of  the  responding  Member  States 
were  satisfied  with  their  knowledge  and 
technology-transfer  practices.  Mapping 
such  transfer  systems  within  ERA-NETs 
will  pave  the  way  for  an  open  research 
and innovation space in the European 
Research Area. 

>

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10

ERA-NET projects funded under FP6 and FP7

Title of ERA-NET

FP6 ERA-NETs

ACENET

BiodivERsA

CORE ORGANIC

ERA-ARD

ERA-IB

ERA-NET BIOENERGY

ERA-PG

ERASysBio

EUPHRESCO I

EUROTRANS-BIO

MariFish

SAFEFOODERA

SNOWMAN

Field of research

Applied Catalysis

Biodiversity 

Organic Food and Farming

Agricultural Research for Development (ARD) 

Industrial Biotechnology

Bioenergy

Plant Genomics

Systems Biology

Phytosanitary (Statutory Plant Health)

Research for SMEs in Biotechnology

Marine and Fisheries 

Food Safety 

Sustainable Management of Soil and Groundwater

WOODWISDOM-NET

Wood Material Science and Engineering

FP7 ERA-NETs and ERA-NETs Plus

ANIWHA

ARIMNet & ARIMNet2

BiodivERsA2

CAPITA

C-IPM

CIRCLE-2

COFASP

CORE Organic II &
CORE Organic Plus

EMIDA

ERA-ARD II

ERA-CAPS

ERA-IB-2

ERA-MBT

ERASynBio & ERASysBio+

ERASysAPP

ETB-PRO

EUPHRESCO II

FACCE-ERANET+

FORESTERRA

ICT-AGRI & ICT-AGRI2

PReSto GMO ERA-NET

RURAGRI

SEAS-ERA

SUMFOREST

SUSFOOD

Animal Health and Welfare

Agricultural Research in the Mediterranean

Biodiversity

Catalytic Processes for Innovative Technology Applications

Integrated Pest Management (IPM) 

Climate Impact Research 

Sustainable Exploitation of Marine Resources in the Seafood Chains 

Organic Food and Farming Systems

Emerging and Major Infectious Diseases of Livestock

Agricultural Research for Development 

Plant Sciences

Industrial Biotechnology

Marine Biotechnology

Synthetic Biology 

Systems Biology Applications

Research for SMEs in Biotechnology

Phytosanitary Research

Agriculture, Food Security and Climate Change 

Forest Research in the Mediterranean

ICT and Robotics in Agriculture and Related Environmental Issues

Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs)

New Relationships between Rural Areas and Agriculture in Europe

Marine Research 

Sustainable and Multifunctional Forestry 

Sustainable Food Production and Consumption

WOODWISDOM-NET2 & WOODWISDOM-NET+ Wood Material Science and Engineering in the Forest-based  
Value Chains

research*eu focus magazine — N° 14 — April 2014GLOBAL OVERVIEW11

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Drones have EU crop fields covered

Interview with Niels Gøtke, coordinator of the ICT-AGRI ERA-NET 

Where  do  you  see  the  most  benefits  of 
smart farming? 

What are the barriers to the quick take-up 
of new technologies on farms? 

How did you launch calls?

Niels  Gøtke:  Robotic  and  ever-more  ICT 
applications will turn the image of agricul-
ture  into  a  high-tech  business.  In  future, 
dangerous  and  smelly  work  will  be  done 
by robots, since ICT allows for better plant 
management using fewer pesticides and for 
animals to be treated with fewer antibiotics, 
thereby  boosting  animal  and  plant  health 
and consumer safety at the same time.      

These new technologies are very costly. Will 
the farmers invest in them? 

NG: If a farmer sees an opportunity to reap 
the benefits and to be profitable he or she 
will  invest.  Technology  on  the  farms  will 
raise  productivity,  and  save  on  the  cost  of 
labour and materials.  

Which  new  ICT  applications  will  be  intro-
duced in agriculture soon? 

NG: Milking robots are already widespread. 
The  crop  sector  will  be  the  next:  the  run 
on drones delivering geo-information data 
and  precise  pictures  of  crops,  land  and 
soils  is  speeding  up,  and  is  much  quicker 
than we thought. Such devices already cost 
under EUR 10 000, although to link them to 
the right software remains a big task. The 
prototypes are already here, and more will 
come with mobile computing and apps for 
outdoor farm management.  

NG: When we talk about high-tech farm-
ing,  farmers  need  more  education  to  be 
able  to  use  the  technologies.  We  should 
also  focus  on  certain  fields  of  ICT  which 
come  from  other  business  sectors,  but 
require viable applications tailor-made for 
agriculture.  Standards  have  to  be  aligned 
—  too  many  incomplete  technology  sets 
for  farms  still  hamper  the  quick  uptake. 
Better access to data from other ICT sectors 
will be key. 

Will society accept robot farms? 

NG: Smart farming offers new opportunities 
for  rural  developments  which  can  attract 
the  young  and  well-educated  who  can  be 
their own managers. The positive image as 
independent  activists  for  the  environment 
and nature is giving agriculture a big push. 
If the profits are right, there will be enough 
chances  to  live  remotely  while  staying 
connected  to  networks  and  friends  across 
the country at the same time.       

How did ERA-NET help to improve coordin-
ation in this field of research? 

NG: An ERA-NET such as ICT-AGRI can focus 
on  very  specific  problems,  which  are  com-
mon  to  all  European  countries,  and  can 
create  collaboration  amongst  countries  to 
achieve common solutions.

NG:  The  national  representatives  in  ICT-
AGRI  agree  on  the  topics  for  the  call  and 
each  country  assigns  a  sum  of  money 
to  be  put  into  a  common  pot.  This  pot  is 
usually a virtual common pot in the sense 
that  a  country’s  funding  can  only  be  used 
by researchers from this country. The appli-
cations  are  reviewed  by  an  independent 
panel  of  experts  as  a  basis  for  decisions 
on which projects to fund.

What  benefits  has 
brought to smart farming?

ICT-AGRI  ERA-NET 

NG: In two calls in 2010 and 2012, respec-
tively,  ICT-AGRI  has  funded  15  projects 
aimed  at  different  aspects  of  smart  farm-
ing.  Each  project  has  research  partners 
from  at  least  three  European  countries. 
During  the  next  four  years,  ICT-AGRI  will 
launch  four  more  calls  with  a  focus  on 
smart  farming  and  benefits  for  the  farm-
ers  as  well  as  for  society  in  terms  of  cost 
efficiency, food availability and security, and 
less environmental footprint.

For further information:
ftp://ftp.cordis.europa.eu/pub/fp7/
coordination/docs/ictagri_en.pdf

research*eu focus magazine — N° 14 — April 2014GLOBAL OVERVIEW 
 
12

European Technology Platforms for the bioeconomy

Ten European Technology Platforms (ETPs) — and one FP7 project to coordinate them — are working to define and refine 
Strategic Research Agendas for the future of the EU’s bioeconomy.

European  Technology  Platforms  (ETPs)  aim  to  contribute  to 
European  competitiveness,  boost  research  performance,  con-
centrate R&D efforts and address fragmentation across Europe. 
Work began on creating the first ETPs in 2004, bringing together 
stakeholders from research, industry and administrations.

In  the  field  of  agricultural  research  and  the  bioeconomy,  there  are 
nine ETPs — with an additional project, BECOTEPS, to coordinate their 
efforts. Each has established a vision of where their sector — whether 
food or bio-based industries — needs to be in 20 years’ time, along 
with a Strategic Research Agenda (SRA) to achieve their objectives.

Food

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‘Plants for the Future’ 
The ‘Plants for the Future’ ETP is a stakeholder forum with members from industry, academia and the farming 
community. Its vision is to:

•  Meet increasing demand for more food and feed, with higher quality, greater health benefits and more diversity;

• Develop plants as green factories for bio-materials, pharmaceuticals and bioenergy; 

•  Produce  more  efficient  plants  —  improving  plant  productivity  and  quality  —  and  reduce  the  environmental 

impact of agriculture — enhancing biodiversity.

For further information: http://www.plantetp.org/

FABRE-TP: sustainable farm-animal breeding  
and reproduction technology platform 

The  FABRE-TP  aims  to  set  up  an  industry-led  partner-
ship  to  tackle  major  issues  concerning  sustainable 
animal breeding and reproduction in Europe, taking into 
account what is happening in the developing world. It 
intends to mobilise research, technological development 

and innovation efforts in Europe, and to bring together 
key  stakeholders  around  a  common  vision  for  the 
development of the technologies and issues central to 
farm-animal breeding and reproduction.
For further information: http://www.fabretp.info/ 

research*eu focus magazine — N° 14 — April 2014GLOBAL OVERVIEW 
 
 
13

‘Food for Life’ 

The ´Food for Life´ ETP addresses innovation in the agri-food sector — the largest manufacturing sector in the EU. 
It has forged strong links with industry, academia and researchers to determine what resources might be needed, 
where they might come from, and what non-research issues need to be addressed. 

Dr Mike Knowles, President of the ETP board, says: ‘It is through R&D and innovation that manufacturers remain 
at the cutting edge of developments, boosting the industry’s competitiveness and, in turn, contributing to Europe’s 
future economic growth.’

For further information: http://etp.fooddrinkeurope.eu/

ETPGAH: Global animal-health technology platform

The ETPGAH aims to provide a mechanism for focusing 
and  prioritising  research  to  deliver  new  or  improved 
tools such as veterinary vaccines and diagnostic tests. 
It will also help to speed up the delivery of new prod-
ucts to market by overcoming constraints throughout 
the supply chain. 

Therefore, it facilitates and accelerates the devel-
opment  and  distribution  of  the  most  effective  tools 
for the control of major animal diseases — whether 
vaccines, pharmaceuticals or diagnostic tests. 

For further information: http://www.etpgah.eu/ 

Coordination

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BECOTEPS: Bio-economy technology platforms join forces 

From 2009 to 2011, the FP7 project BECOTEPS built closer collaboration between the nine bioeconomy ETPs. 
It also made recommendations for better interaction between the ETPs’ stakeholders on products, research, 
innovation and policy.

The project addressed synergies and gaps between the ETPs’ research agendas and organised workshops to pre-
pare the scientific community for research in this area. In addition, it organised dissemination events to discuss 
KBBE and research collaboration. 

For further information: http://www.plantetp.org/index.php/about/thebecotepsproject 

research*eu focus magazine — N° 14 — April 2014GLOBAL OVERVIEW 
 
 
14

Biobased industries

TP Organics: European organic food  
and farming technology platform

TP  Organics  aims  to  identify  research  and  innovation  priorities  for 
the organic and low-input sector, by engaging stakeholders along the 
whole food supply chain, and to advance its development.

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Its vision for sustainable food systems combines eco-functional inten-
sification with high quality food and rural empowerment. TP Organics 
supports  European  research  and  development’s  efforts  towards  
innovative solutions for sustainable agriculture as well as for environment and consumer protection. The European 
organic market has a great economic potential and can act as a model for global organic value chains.

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For further information: http://www.tporganics.eu/ 

'SusChem’: the sustainable chemistry 
technology platform

SusChem addresses challenges to research and innovation 
in  the  European  chemical  and  industrial  biotechnology 
industries. 

‘SusChem’s involvement in FP7 has been profound for sus-
tainable  research  in  Europe,’  says  SusChem  Chairman  Dr 
Klaus Sommer. ‘Now we are looking forward to truly fulfil our 
potential also in the area of innovation through Horizon 2020, 
especially  with  our  involvement  in  major  EU  programmes 
such  as  the  Public-Private  Partnerships  SPIRE  and  BRIDGE, 
future emerging technologies, and key areas such as water, 
raw materials, key enabling technologies and skills.’ 

For further information: http://www.suschem.org/

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FTP: European forest-based-sector technology 
platform 

The forest-based sector accounts for 8 % of manufacturing added 
value in the EU and provides nearly 4 million jobs. The FTP provides 
a forum for European forest owners, companies, researchers, regu-
lators and financial institutions to work on new forest-management 
schemes, products, services and business models.

The FTP says: ‘Forestry in the future bioeconomy will provide renew-
able  and  green  energy  solutions,  and  wood  for  carbon-positive 
housing materials and furnishings. It will help to replace petroleum-based plastics and contribute to clean-water 
technologies, new medicines and healthy food ingredients, as well as wood-based alternatives to synthetic fibres.’

For further information: http://www.forestplatform.org/

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research*eu focus magazine — N° 14 — April 2014GLOBAL OVERVIEW 
 
 
 
 
 
 
‘Manufuture’: the agricultural-engineering 
technology platform 

Agricultural  technology  is  a  form  of  production  technology. 
Manufacturing can take place in the fields, in greenhouses or 
based on livestock.

The challenge, says ‘Manufuture’, is ‘to show how agricul-
tural  manufacturing  can  take  place  in  a  highly  automated 
industrial-like  way  and  can  contribute  to  high  efficiency  and 
sustainability  for  agricultural  production,  thereby  contribut-
ing to socio-economic development in rural areas and having 
a highly beneficial impact on European society as a whole.’

For further information: http://www.manufuture.org/
manufacturing/?page_id=21

EATiP: European aquaculture 
technology and innovation 
platform

EATiP is dedicated to technology and innov-
ation  in  Europe  to  assure  a  sustainable 
aquaculture industry, and a strong relation-
ship  between  aquaculture,  the  consumer 
and society.

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EATiP’s  vision  is,  by  the  year  2030,  ‘to 
provide  annually  4.5  million  tonnes  of 
sustainable  food  products,  worth  EUR 
14  billion,  and  supporting  more  than 
150 000  direct  jobs.  This  will  be  achieved  by  enhancing  husbandry,  welfare,  technology  and  knowledge 
management,  while  improving  the  understanding  of  the  factors  influencing  sustainable  development  — 
whether technical, commercial or social.’

For further information: http://www.eatip.eu/ 

EBTP: European biofuels technology platform  

Development of sustainable advanced biofuels is part of the 
European bioeconomy strategy. EBTP brings together industry, 
biomass resource providers, research organisations and NGOs.

Lars  Christian  Hansen,  chair  of  the  EBTP  steering  commit-
tee, says: ‘EBTP was established in 2006 to contribute to the 
development of cost-competitive world-class biofuel technol-
ogies and accelerate the deployment of sustainable biofuels 
in the European Union, allowing the development of a healthy 
biofuels industry.’

For further information: http://www.biofuelstp.eu/

15

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research*eu focus magazine — N° 14 — April 2014GLOBAL OVERVIEW 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
16

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Agriculture, forestry and fisheries research under FP7

The European Union funds research through its Framework Programmes. When launched in 2007, the seventh of these, FP7, was 
the largest to date — and one of the biggest research programmes in the world. The programme supported ‘Food, agriculture 
and fisheries, and biotechnology’ research with the aim of building a European ‘Knowledge-based bioeconomy’ (KBBE).

The  Seventh  Framework  Programme  (FP7) 
—  proposed  by  the  European  Commission 
and  approved  by  the  European  Parliament 
and  Council  in  2006  —  set  out  to  ‘con-
tribute  to  the  Union  becoming  the  world’s 
leading  research  area’,  with  a  budget  of 
EUR  50  billion  for  the  period  2007-2013. 
This  made  it  one  of  the  biggest  research 
programmes in the world, ‘strongly focused 

on promoting and investing in world-class 
state-of-the-art  research,  based  primarily 
upon the principle of excellence’. 

FP7 was structured into four specific pro-
grammes  —  Cooperation,  Ideas,  People 
and Capacities — with the ‘Food, agriculture 
and  fisheries,  and  biotechnology’  research 
theme  funded  under  the  ‘Cooperation’ 

Number of FP7 projects funded under KBBE and ERANET  
programmes as part of Activity 1 (Sustainable primary production)

250

■ ANIMAL SECTOR
■ Animal health
■ Animal breeding

■ PLANT SECTOR
■ Plant health
■ Plant production

200

■ AGRICULTURAL POLICY
■ Rural development
■ Policy support

150

■ FORESTRY

100

■ FISHERIES AND AQUACULTURE
■ Fisheries
■ Aquaculture

57

■ TOTAL

50

39

66

48

41

41

18

18

7

12

0

219

36

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‘Knowledge-based 

programme. The goal was to build a Euro-
pean 
bioeconomy’ 
(KBBE)  to  address  the  growing  demand 
for  safer,  healthier,  higher-quality  food, 
and  the  sustainable  use  and  production 
of renewable biobased resources.

Guided  by  the  strategic  research  agen-
das of the relevant European Technology 
Platforms  and  requests  from  Member 
States, ERA-NETs, and expert groups, the 
EU  committed  more  than  EUR  1.9  billion 
to  fund  KBBE  research  over  the  dur-
ation of FP7, structured into three major 
activities:

1. Sustainable production and 
management of biological resources 
from land, forest and aquatic 
environments
At  the  heart  of  the  bioeconomy  are  the 
land and sea resources on which it depends. 
Intensive production practices, global com-
petition and climate change are all threats 
to the sustainability of European agriculture, 
forestry, aquaculture and fisheries. 

The  Commission  therefore  set  out  to  fund 
projects  proposing  a  balance  between 
socio-economic goals and responsible nat-
ural-resource  management,  favouring  an 
integrated approach that made full use of 
all  the  major  players  involved  —  farmers, 
consumers, regulatory bodies and scientists.

research*eu focus magazine — N° 14 — April 2014RESEARCH IN FP7 
 
2. ‘Fork to farm’: food (including 
seafood), health and well-being
The  production  and  consumption  of  food 
is central to any society. This is one reason 
why food-related science is so important — 
along with its potential to reduce the harm-
ful  effects  of  diseases,  through  functional 
foods, for example.

To address this, FP7 prioritised projects that 
reflected  the  increasingly  complex  dynam-
ics  of  food  production,  and  which  took 
a complementary approach to food, health 
and well-being. Research covered five top-
ics:  consumers;  nutrition;  food  processing; 

food quality and safety; and environmental 
impacts and the total food chain.

3. Life sciences, biotechnology and 
biochemistry for sustainable non-
food products and processes
Life  sciences  and  biotechnologies  also 
have  a  broad  variety  of  industrial  applica-
tions  in  producing  new  environmentally 
compatible  products  based  on  renewable 
raw  materials.  Research  leading  to  new 
biobased products — enabled by advances 
in nano-biotechnologies, bioinformatics and 
systems  biology  —  could  reduce  reliance 
on fossil fuels, for example.

17

Funding  therefore  focused  on  improved 
production  and  industrial  processing  of 
renewable  raw  materials,  as  well  as  on 
new ways to protect and improve the en-
vironment using biotechnology, such as cut-
ting  waste  and  cleaner  industrial  products 
and processes.

For further information:
http://ec.europa.eu/research/fp7/
index_en.cfm?pg=food

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Food, feed, fuels and fibre: a wealth of knowledge 

Securing  food  supplies  and  providing  the  raw  materials  for  biobased  products  is  the  main  goal  of  agriculture.  However, 
a growing scarcity of resources is making it more and more difficult for agricultural producers to maintain their performance.

Between 2007 and 2014, European research-
ers,  in  hundreds  of  collaborative  projects 
from the EU’s Seventh Research Framework 
Programme (FP7), went on a journey of dis-
covery in the ‘Knowledge-based bioeconomy’ 
(KBBE). Deploying their different skills in case 
studies, mapping exercises, interventions, tri-
als and innovative engineering, they achieved 
extraordinary  outcomes  resulting  in  new 
developments  and  products.  A  selection  of 
their  research  contributions  towards  solu-
tions  for  the  burning  issues  in  primary 
production in agriculture is presented here:

CSF-GODIVA: a new marker vaccine 
to control animal disease  
The  last  epidemic  of  classical  swine  fever 
(CSF) hit Europe hard: 700 000 pigs had to 

be  slaughtered  in  1997  in  an  emergency 
action  with  economic  consequences  that 
proved  disastrous  for  the  farmers.  In  the 
Netherlands,  1 300  meat  producers  had  to 
cull their herds in order to avoid further mass 
infection,  and  suffered  economic  losses 
amounting  to  over  EUR  1  billion.  Europe 
learnt its lesson: an appropriate vaccine and 
better  diagnostic  tools  to  keep  the  disease 
under control were lacking, and research was 
required to respond to these demands. 

In  the  FP7  project  CSF-GODIVA,  solutions 
were  finally  put  forward  after  17  national 
veterinary institutes across Europe and Asia 
started to collaborate in 2009. Three years 
later,  the  results  of  their  joint  research 
were  considerable:  a  robust,  live  marker 

vaccine  was  developed  which  is  currently 
being registered under the colourful name 
PESTIDIPORCI. 

Furthermore, the project developed a rapid 
diagnosis tool based on the so-called DIVA 
principle, which determines if the antibodies 
found in the animal’s blood stem from the 
infection  or  from  the  vaccine.  The  vaccine 
will  enable  new  epidemiologic  strategies 
to  be  considered,  including  separating  sick 
animals and controlling the disease through 
immunising  the  healthy  ones.  In  addition, 
pre-emptive  mass  slaughters  could  be 
avoided and meat exports would not need 
to be totally blocked as the diagnostic tool 
provides more certainty on the spread 
of infection.  

>

research*eu focus magazine — N° 14 — April 2014RESEARCH IN FP7  
 
 
18

RES EA RCH IN FP7

research*eu focus magazine — N° 14 — April 2014

TAPSIM: a project for the Indian milk revolution 

biggest milk-producing country in the world — 40 %  of 
milk is consumed in tea. But the productivity of the cattle 
was very low then — farmers carried five-litre cans by 
bike to small dairy factories. With ‘Operation Flood’, India 
started to bundle milk production into rural cooperatives 
and, in addition, breeding programmes raised productivity.

What has changed since then?    

FB: With the industrialisation and urbanisation of India 
comes a dynamically growing demand for high-value 
commodities,  such  as  preserved  dairy  products.  The 
middle class has grown to 200 million people over the 
last 10 to 20 years. Their purchasing power, together 
with being a comparatively young society, will count. 
More  investment  in  technology,  distribution  systems 
and  retail  are  desperately  needed  to  meet  demand. 
Unilever,  Tesco,  Pizza  Hut  —  they  are  all  there,  with 
growth rates of 50-70 % per year. 

Will India be a future importer or an exporter of food? 

FB: It will be both of those! There is not a simple picture 
to draw from the country because the disparities are still 
enormous. India is a big exporter of Bt-cotton, but needs 
a technology push in seeds, fertiliser, irrigation and infra-
structure to boost its agricultural primary production and 
food processing. Import tariffs will be a big issue in future 
free-trade  talks,  too.  The  Indian  administration  is  very 
cautious about lowering these. And, there is still the Indian 
dilemma: while they store millions of tonnes of rice, peo-
ple starve. Food security will become a big issue for India.

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Putting  agri-food  on  the  EU-India  policy  menu:  in 
the  TAPSIM  project,  trade  economists  and  agro-econo-
mists developed assessments of future trends in supply, 
demand  and  trade  for  the  main  agricultural  commodi-
ties and the agri-food chain in India. The country’s weight 
is  demonstrated  best  in  its  basic  figures:  a  population 
of more than 1 billion and an economic growth rate of 
6-8 %  a  year.  The  project,  under  the  leadership  of  Dr 
Floor  Brouwers  in  Wageningen,  the  Netherlands,  and 
including partners from India, not only investigated the 
main  domestic  trends  in  India  but  also  explored  how 
changes in the global agri-food system affect the country. 
At two dedicated meetings, the European Commission’s 
Directorate-General for Agriculture was informed about 
the  main  findings,  creating  a  better  understanding  of 
India’s position at international trade talks.  

The  Indian  ‘milk-revolution’  seems  to  be  the  leading 
transformation in the agri-food sector. What happened? 

Floor  Brouwers:  Actually,  it  was  the  ‘Operation  Flood’ 
which  started  in  the  seventies  in  India  to  increase  and 
better organise milk production in the country. India is the 

For further information:
http://cordis.europa.eu/projects/212617 
http://www.tapsim.eu 

‘We  save  a  lot  of  money  and  energy  from 
these  discoveries  in  veterinary  medicine,’ 
says  Frank  Koenen,  coordinator  of  the 
CFS-GODIVA  project  and  manager  at  the 
Veterinary  and  Agrochemical  Research 
centre  (VAR)  in  Brussels,  reflecting  on  long 
research  routes  involving  trial  and  error. 
Although  the  pestivirus  causing  CSF  has 
been eradicated in Western Europe, it is still 
virulent in wild boar and in home-raised pigs 
in some of the newer Member States. Cross-
border transport can spread it through direct 
or indirect contact of pigs with various items 
such  as    swill,  vehicles,  waste  and  equip-
ment. The pestivirus can survive in meat and 
pig products for many months. 

New knowledge in genetics and new support 
strategies  in  epidemiology  finally  led  to  the 
project's  successful  antiviral  vaccine  which 

was developed in the laboratory of the par-
ticipating German national research institute 
on Riem Island in the Baltic Sea. The patent 
was later sold to Pfizer Zoetis, a global animal 
health company.  

For project leader Frank Koenen, the significant 
benefit  of  this  collaborative  EU  project  goes 
far beyond the product’s success: the collabor-
ation allowed the unification of all the diverg-
ing national epidemiologic strategies into one 
common safety standard. ‘CSF GODIVA gath-
ered  together  all  the  EU  veterinary  experts, 
who were working separately before, and built 
trust,’ he comments. ‘For me, this is the biggest 
success among the story’s many successes.’

More information: http://www.csfvaccine.org/

ROBUSTMILK: more healthy milk 
from more robust cows  
Modern  dairy  cows  are  big  performers  on 
the  farm.  As  real  working  animals  which 
produce  the  high-value  proteins  for  dairy 
production,  on  average  they  each  pro-
vide  7 000  litres  of  milk  per  year  —  an 
energy-consuming  and  stressful  job  that 
can cause many cows to lose their energy 
balance and can even affect their fertility. 
An  EU  project  found  out  how  to  improve 
the health of milk cows, and how to main-
tain  high-quality  milk  production,  using 
an  adapted  genetic  selection  of  the  right 
traits for robust livestock. 

‘High-quality  food  combined  with  animal 
welfare  is  what  consumers  ask  for,’  says 
project  leader  Roel  Verkamp  from  the 
Animal  Sciences  Group  in  the  Netherlands. 

 
 
research*eu focus magazine — N° 14 — April 2014

19

RES EARC H IN FP 7 

‘We  therefore  had  to  develop  new  cow-
breeding  methods  and  new  breeding 
management  tools  to  stay  competitive  in 
Europe.’

ROBUSTMILK is the name of the FP7 project 
led  by  Wageningen  University.  The  project 
joined  together  six  EU  organisations  that 
are active in dairy cattle breeding and have 
strong links with the dairy industry. The cre-
ation of a common database across the part-
ners,  coming  from  the  Netherlands,  Ireland, 
Belgium, Sweden and Scotland, was the start 
of the work and included unique and scarcely 
recorded phenotypic measurements for traits 
underlying robustness and milk quality. These 
traits include measures such as feed intake, 
regular body condition scoring, and detailed 
health and fertility recordings. 

In  a  second  step,  measurement  tools  for 
robustness (energy balance) and milk quality 
(lactoferrin and fatty acid composition) using 
mid-infra-red spectrometry were developed 
and applied in routine feed and milk analysis. 
Finally,  ROBUSTMILK  developed  genomic 
selection  tools  through  the  identification  of 
genomic  markers  and  applied  them  in  cow 
breeding  by  combining  genomic  selection 
with knowledge of the phenotype databases.  

According  to  Verkamp,  ‘Europe  currently 
dominates  the  available  DNA  information 
for  the  traits  of  robustness  and  sustain-
ability. Others look to us and follow.’ 

He  says  the  EU’s  investment  in  the 
research  paid  off,  putting  farmers  on 
an  equal  footing  with  the  US  and  New 
Zealand.  ROBUSTMILK’s  knowledge  pro-
vides  more  power  to  farmers  and  will, 
according  to  Verkamp,  help  to  feed  the 
world  now  that  dairy  consumption  in  the 
emerging  countries,  such  as  Brazil,  India 
and China, is taking off.  

More information: http://www.robustmilk.eu/

SHARCO: sweet fruits protected from 
Plum pox viruses
Peaches,  apricots,  plums  and  cherries  have 
a  number  one  enemy:  the  Plum  pox  virus 
(PPV) which causes the so-called Sharka dis-
ease.  Sharka  affects  stone-fruit  trees,  ren-
dering them acidic and deforming the fruit, 
which means they cannot be sold. Moreover, 
the classic way to limit the disease’s spread 
is to destroy all trees infected with PPV, which 
is a very costly exercise for mainly Southern 
European,  low-  to  mid-income  rural  areas. 
EU-funded  researchers  have  now  found 
ways to protect money and jobs by attacking 
the virus by means of fortified plants.      

The  EU-funded  project  SHARCO  —  Sharka 
containment  —  not  only  created  knowledge 
about the infection in stone-fruit trees and viral 
diversity, but the researchers also discovered 
new cost-saving principles for plant resistance 
and new protection methods. The tools devel-
oped  in  the  project  will  help  gardeners  and 
fruit producers as well as the fruit industry to 

minimise  the  risk  of  infection.  Best  practices 
were  demonstrated  all  along  the  fruit-tree 
multiplication  chain,  such  as  resistant  germ 
plasm  evaluation,  molecular-assisted  selec-
tion  of  resistant  cultivates,  and  the  early 
monitoring of outbreaks in plum orchards. For 
apricot trees, markers were developed linked 
to  resistance  to  PPV  in  apricots.  For  plums, 
new breeding programmes have been imple-
mented to accelerate selection processes and 
engineer antiviral resistance.  

Led by the French INRA Centre in Villenave 
D’Ornon  in  the  département  de  la  Gironde 
in the Aquitaine region, researchers offered 
producers  access  to  PPV-resistant  plant 
materials  and  reliable  methods  of  PPV 
detection.  National  plant  protection  offic-
ers  received  new  insights  into  epidemics. 
Likewise, certification standards at EU level 
are needed to guarantee PPV-free produc-
tion,  transport  and  nursery  sales.  Experts 
estimate  that  millions  of  euros  could  be 
saved thanks to the results of four years of 
research into Sharka, creating a wide impact 
across the stakeholder community. A major 
scientific seminar in Sofia, Bulgaria reached 
80 high-level stakeholders. Moreover, prac-
titioners  received  insights  during  practical 
training  seminars  in  European  and  other 
PPV-endemic  regions,  such  as  Poland, 
Bulgaria, Romania, the Czech Republic and 
Turkey.  All  in  all,  sweet  fruits  of  their 
labours indeed!     

>

More information: http://www.sharco.eu/

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SIRRIMED: how to water fruit trees 
sustainably  
Irrigated  farms  in  the  Mediterranean  coun-
tries  are  the  largest  freshwater  consumers, 
taking up to 80 % of the water supply. To pre-
serve food production capacity, new research 
was  carried  out  into  integrated  water  man-
agement  methods,  with  results  in  farmers’ 
training  and  improved  water  governance 
and  policies  in  participating  regions.  In  the 
SIRRIMED  project,  researchers  from  Egypt, 
France, Greece, Italy, Lebanon, Morocco, Spain, 
the  Netherlands  and  the  United  Kingdom 
cooperated to lay the ground for solutions to 
the multifaceted challenge of water scarcity. 

Oussama  Mounzer,  project  partner  from 
the Spanish Centro de Edafologia y Biologia 
Aplicada del Segura (CEBAS), lists an array 
of causes for the increasing water scarcity 
in the Mediterranean regions. In Egypt, it is 
the  fast-growing  population;  in  Lebanon, 
the  political  instability  and  weak  govern-
ance;  and  in  southern  Spain,  the  reduced 
rainfall and increased extension of irrigated 
land over the last 20 years. Overall, water 
scientists observe more frequent droughts 
than before, which are being attributed to 
climate change. 

One citrus tree consumes 6 000-7 000 m³ 
of  water  annually,  but  the  sustainable 
maximum supply is 5 000 m³. Vast citrus 
plantations  in  Spain’s  Murcia  region  are 
currently  experiencing  water  problems 
and  have  called  for  new  management 
strategies. So, what can be done?        

ICT-steered 

Regulated  water  allocation  brought 
few  improvements  until  the  SIRRIMED 
researchers  tested  new  methods  of  pre-
cise, 
irrigation.  Moreover, 
improved systems to recycle waste water 
have been introduced, which have helped 
to  overcome  the  current  contribution 
made  by  waste  water  to  soil  salinisation 
and  pollution.  The  project  also  included 
drought-resistant  cultivars  and  began 
several case studies. 

‘The  Murcia  region  is  now  a  model  for 
limited  water  consumption  in  agriculture. 
Increasing  areas  of  irrigated  land  was 
stopped,  which  should  be  a  must  for  all 
stakeholders,’  says  Mounzer.  He  believes 
that  the  knowledge  gained  in  the  project 
should  now  be  transferred  to  other  parts 
of the world. Thus, SIRRIMED partners have 
become active in broadening their network, 

inside and outside the EU, looking to South 
Africa, the Middle East and South America. 

More information: http://www.sirrimed.org

JOLISAA: small-scale farming as 
a role model for Africa 
A deeper understanding of farming mod-
els in three sub-Saharan regions — Kenya, 
Benin and South Africa — was generated 
by the JOLISAA project, which put together 
fragmented  and  unstructured  knowledge 
to raise and link the innovation capacities 
of African farmers.  

A  lot  of  fieldwork,  including  structured  case 
studies, resulted in insights with the potential 
to change the rules of the game. 

‘There  is  no  one-size-fits-all  approach,’ 
says  system  agronomist  and  project  co-
ordinator  Bernard  Triomphe,  from  CIRAD, 
a  French  scientific  organisation  with  its 
main  offices  in  Montpellier,  which  special-
ises 
in  development-oriented  research. 
Besides  technologies,  the  solutions  most 
needed are access to markets and cheaper 
inputs, such as seed or fertiliser. The project 
put the emphasis on smallholders. ‘Twenty 

research*eu focus magazine — N° 14 — April 2014RESEARCH IN FP7 
 
 
21

years ago, theory told us they would disap-
pear.  Today,  we  know  that  they  are  there 
more  than  ever  and  are  eager  to  learn,’ 
according to Triomphe. 

More  flexibility  for  more  types  of  produc-
ers  is  the  main  lesson  to  be  learnt  from 
JOLISAA,  which  looked  at  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  farmers  in  the  case  studies. 
Farmers' responses to growing urbanisation 
in Africa play a big role. There will be new 

demands for traditional quality food as well 
as  the  establishment  of  new  value  chains 
offering  tools  and  management  know-how 
translated  to  local  needs.  Making  money 
from food production could start to improve 
standards  of  living.  Education,  health  and 
infrastructure should follow.

‘Benin  and  Kenya  are  very  dynamic.  A  lot 
of  our  JOLISAA  research  is  being  contin-
ued by Africans now. Civil society can drive 

a  new  agricultural  orientation  in  these 
regions,’  concludes  the  French  researcher, 
who  is  looking  forward  to  contributing  to 
social  innovation  and  alleviating  poverty 
through an EU project.    

More information: http://www.jolisaa.net/

3SR: genetic screening for sheep  
and goats   

The images of rural idylls in the good old days are still 
evocative:  flocks  grazing  on  green  hills  and  endless 
meadows  with  the  sun  going  down.  In  fact,  these  pic-
turesque scenes are still true for many parts of Europe 
where the shepherds’ flocks deliver unadulterated sheep’s 
wool, lamb meat and goat cheese for the gourmets. 

Outsiders  may  be  satisfied  with  the  nostalgia,  but 
insiders know better: genomics has taken off in the last 
decade, and made it possible for the breeders of small 
ruminants  to  adopt  new  selection  and  management 
methods. Keeping pace with both animal welfare require-
ments  and  sustainable  breeds  —  resistant  to  disease 
and climate change — European sheep and goat farmers 
are using the latest scientific methods of genetic selec-
tion, and are keeping abreast of their colleagues in New 
Zealand and Australia, the big sheep-breeding countries. 

‘The pooling of capacities in the EU has kept us at the 
forefront of research and linked us to the world-best 
international  consortia,’  says  Huw  Jones,  an  animal 
scientist from Edinburgh in Scotland. His experience in 
knowledge transfer in biosciences is added value in the 
3SR project he led.

What can genetics achieve for sheep and goat breeding?    

Huw Jones: By identifying genetic markers we are able 
to find the best parents for the next generation. 

What are the most desirable traits?       

HJ: It depends on the country. In France, farmers want 
animals with a high milk yield, whereas this does not 
play  a  role  in  UK.  Here,  the  meat  production  is  pre-
dominant in sheep farming, thus strong meat yield is 
the  trait  in  demand.  We  researched  a  wide  diversity 
of  breeds  because  reproductive  capacity  or  disease 
resistance also play major roles. 

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What are the project’s main achievements?  

HJ: We could transfer testing and genetic selection meth-
ods from other animal sectors to the farming of small 
ruminants. Breeders were offered a kind of genetic-fore-
cast of their flocks by genomic databases of traits and 
pedigrees as well as by selections after molecular tests. 
Here, we could develop an affordable ‘single nucleotide 
polymorphism’ (SNP) chip — a small chip with arrays of 
many SNPs that can be interrogated simultaneously — 
as a pre-competitive tool for tests in labs. 

Can EU farmers catch up with breeders overseas?  

HJ:  Flocks  in  Australia  and  New  Zealand  comprise 
more  than  5 000  animals;  they  are  kept  more  inten-
sively  than  in  Europe  where  small-ruminant  farming 
is  mostly  done  on  marginal  land,  with  flocks  of  sev-
eral hundreds. But thanks to the EU project, we could 
link the sector to the most eminent researchers in the 
world, in China, Argentina and Australia. Likewise, our 
EU  consortium  is  part  of  the  International  Goat  and 
Sheep Genetic Consortium providing genetic maps, but 
also keeping an eye on biodiversity.    

For further information:
http://cordis.europa.eu/result/brief/rcn/10038_en.html 
http://www.3srbreeding.eu/

>

research*eu focus magazine — N° 14 — April 2014RESEARCH IN FP7  
 
 
22

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Safeguarding Europe’s forest ecosystems 

Shrinking biodiversity and increasing demand for biological resources will put greater stress on European forests. As a major 
natural resource, forests are complex ecosystems in great need of preservation. 

In this context, EU-funded research projects 
are looking at approaches to safeguard for-
est ecosystems by better understanding tree 
genomics and offering breeding methods for 
climate-robust  forests.  At  the  same  time, 
wood  supply  chains  should  be  optimised 
to  tap  the  economic  potential  of  forests 
sustainably.        

NOVELTREE: creating novel vigorous 
forests 
Changing  climate  scenarios  need  differ-
ent  trees.  What  biology  achieved  naturally 
by  developing  adapted  species  over  time 
may  become  an  engineering  model  for 

genetically  selecting  and  cultivating  the 
best-fitted tree species in forest ecosystems 
to survive under difficult climate conditions. 

In  the  NOVELTREE  project,  researchers  in-
vestigated  an  improved  understanding  of 
the  biology  of  model  tree  species  of  high 
economic importance. A bold data collection 
exercise,  involving  phenotyping  and  geno-
typing, was launched to exploit the availa-
ble genetic diversity of forests and preserve 
them in the long term. A main prerequisite 
to meet the demands of industry and soci-
ety  are  healthy  and  vigorous  trees.  Novel 
breeding strategies may offer solutions.    

The  consortium,  coordinated  by  the  INRA 
research  centre  in  Orleans,  France  com-
prised  15  public  and  private  European 
entities. They took a close look at four tree 
species which form the backbone of regional 
forestry:  maritime  pines  in  Atlantic  and 
Mediterranean areas, Scots pine in Northern 
and  Central  Europe,  spruce  in  Scandinavia 
and  the  UK,  and  poplar  in  several  regions 
in Western Europe. 

The  researchers  analysed  a  large  network 
of  field  plots  where  tree  populations  have 
been replicated across a wide range of cli-
mate conditions. These trials played a major 

research*eu focus magazine — N° 14 — April 2014RESEARCH IN FP7 
 
23

role  in  documenting  the  genetic  patterns 
of  adaptation  and  identifying  phenotypic 
markers.  The  knowledge  gained  improves 
understanding  of  how  natural  populations 
will react under different climate conditions 
and how they might be adapted to different 
scenarios.  

A  further  example  illustrates  how  better-
focused tree breeding can lead to improved 
economic exploitation: wood properties that 
promote  the  transformation  of  cellulosic 
biomass  for  bioenergy  applications  were 
detected  by  genetic  screening.  A  genetic-
ally engineered selection of spruce or pop-
lar  trees  could  meet  these  characteristics 
and help boost the competitive advantage 
of  Europe's  forest  industry.  Other,  rapidly 

growing  trees  will  serve  the  requirements 
of a sustainable supply of forest raw ma-
terials.  Adapted  novel  tree  species  could 
also contribute to enhanced biodiversity in 
forest ecosystems while continuing to play 
their multifunctional role.   

In Northern Europe, tree survival and vigour 
very much depend on the timing of growth 
in relation to the prevailing climatic condi-
tions.  The  timing  is  under  strong  genetic 
control, which needs to be taken more into 
account for breeding.

Project  leader  Catherine  Bastien  from 
the  INRA  gives  details  about  some  of  the 
findings.

‘NOVELTREE  has  developed  phenotypic 
and  molecular  tools  which  allow  future 
matching  of  phenotypes  with  expected 
climatic  conditions.  In  Southern  European 
regions,  the  sustainability  of  forests  will 
depend on the genetic traits for water-use 
efficiency or pest resistance. 

NOVELTREE  developed  a  modelling 
approach  to  achieve  a  new  distribution 
of  tree  genotypes  over  European  land-
scapes.  It  will  allow  tree  breeders  to 
optimise  cultivation  towards 
industrial 
and wider societal needs. Forestry gained 
valuable  management  knowledge  from 
the project results — and the forest eco-
systems will benefit, too.’ 

More information: http://www.noveltree.eu/

FLEXWOOD: improved management in wood value chain    

Better  logistics  in  wood  supply  chains  would  put 
a higher value on the economic potential of forestry. 
Forest  researchers  in  the  FLEXWOOD  project  esti-
mate this potential to be worth a yearly turnover of 
EUR 100 billion in the EU. Improved logistic systems 
could boost forest management and EU wood indus-
try’s competitiveness.

leader  Barbara  Koch  from 
FLEXWOOD  project 
the University of Freiburg in Germany works with geo-
graphic  information  systems  (GIS)  for  efficient  data 
sourcing, gathering and mapping. 

Who will benefit most from the IT methods in forestry?

Barbara  Koch:  The  main  beneficiaries  will  be  the 
wood  industry,  paper  mills  and  sawmills.  So  far, 
uncertainties  in  the  supply  of  raw  materials  coming 
from forests are too high. IT can change that. Better 
standardised data can also be of use for public forest 
services, where traditions can hamper a more harmo-
nised approach which is a prerequisite for internation-
alised industries.  

What are the new IT tools in forestry?    

BK: There is a whole range of new imaging methods 
— geoinformatic data gathered by planes or drones, 
laser  scanning,  and  remote  sensing  for  record-
ing  growth  and  wood  quality.  All  these  tools  deliver 
parameters  for  cartographics  and  the  use  of  eco-
nomic data. Sawmills and furniture producers can be 
informed in advance about the quality of the material 
they will process. Cuts in time will raise quality.  

Do these tools fit the forester as a carer for nature? 

BK: The old days have gone. Information systems are 
a matter of fact in today’s forestry. Before going to 

the woods, the forester is informed through IT-based 
systems on the status of the lots. iPads are the instru-
ments for mobile and interactive working preferred in 
modern forestry.

Do  differing  national  attitudes  to  forests  pose  obs-
tacles to better exploitation of wood supply chains? 

BK:  Indeed,  many  Germans  have  a  romantic  look 
on their forests. They very much appreciate wooden 
floors  in  their  homes  —  the  so-called  ‘parquet-
mania’  —  but  they  don’t  want  the  material  to  be 
taken from their woods. Each felled tree is a drama 
in  their  eyes.  In  contrast,  Scandinavians  show  a 
much different behaviour, as many people there earn 
their living from wood industries. For them, forests 
are  economic  treasures.  In  Southern  Europe  there 
is  little  consciousness  on  forest  values,  whereas  in 
Germany,  free  access  to  all  forests  makes  them  a 
public space which should remain untouched in peo-
ple’s  minds.  Only  a  few  see  how  many  employees 
and how many public and private forest owners live 
from the output of forest products by respecting the 
sustainability  of  the  resources.  These  are  not  con-
tradictions. People should be better informed on the 
resources  and  their  management  in  forest  ecosys-
tems as well as being made aware of the economic 
systems of the wood industry.

For further information:
http://cordis.europa.eu/result/brief/rcn/11194_
en.html 
http://www.flexwood-eu.org/

research*eu focus magazine — N° 14 — April 2014RESEARCH IN FP7 24

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EU-funded projects for a sea change in fisheries

Better  understanding  marine  ecosystems  and  unlocking  the  economic  potential  of  the  oceans  are  the  main  goals  of  EU 
research into fisheries and aquaculture.

Offering  high-value  food,  both  wild  stock 
fisheries  management  and  the  cultivation 
of  seafood  in  aquacultures  are  important 
ways  of  fish  farming  in  both  marine  and 
freshwater. ‘Blue research’ in these fields is 
of great interest as experts predict that by 
the year 2050, 50 % of proteins in human 
nutrition  will  need  to  come  from  the  sea. 
Much  research  and  innovation  is  needed 
to manage these challenges in sustainable 
and environmentally friendly ways.       

FACTS: to eat and be eaten — 
how small fish swarms are a key 
component of sea ecosystems 
Forage  fish  —  herring,  mackerel,  sprat  and 
sand eel — nourish themselves on sea plank-
ton, while at the same time they are the feed 
and prey of bigger fish, such as tuna and cod, 
as  well  as  seals  and  birds.  As  the  key  link 
in  marine  ecosystems,  tonnes  of  small  fish 
swarms can set the scene for other species. 

‘Once a prey species becomes extinct, it does 
not  come  back,’  says  Stefan  Neuenfeldt, 
marine researcher at the National Institute 
of  Aquatic  Resources  and  Marine  Ecology 

in  Copenhagen  and  project  coordinator  of 
FACTS.  To  establish  the  right  balance  in 
marine  ecosystems  by  observing  and  sus-
tainably managing the sea will be crucial in 
maintaining wild stock fish and tapping into 
valuable protein sources from seas. 

The  FACTS  project,  joining  up  15  marine 
research  institutes  and  government  or-
ganisations, is analysing and assessing the 
basic challenges facing forage fish swarms 
in  different  sea  environments,  conducting 
case  studies  from  the  North,  Barents  and 
Baltic Seas to the Gulf of Biscay.  

Future,  robust  marine  ecosystems  will  be 
vital for food security in Europe and beyond. 
Maritime  experts  know  that  only  10-15 % 
of  forage  fish  are  the  prey  of  bigger  fish 
predators  —  much  of  small-mesh-fishing 
production nowadays goes to animal feed 
for pigs and chicken. To produce 1 kilogram 
of  pork,  10  kilograms  of  forage  fish  are 
needed.  Nutritionally,  the  pork  protein  is 
very  desirable.  But  from  the  biomass  and 
environmental  standpoint,  the  ratio  is 
not  optimal  for  a  rapidly  growing  world 

population.  Many  more  protein  sources 
should be  taken  directly  from  seafood  or 
plant resources. 

‘We  have  to  change  the  strategies,’  says 
marine expert Neuenfeldt, ‘forage fish could 
become primary nutrition, too.’

To do this will mean a sea change in fish-
eries policies in the EU with its traditional 
fisheries  sector.  The  knowledge  gained 
in  the  FACTS  project  can  provide  the  lat-
est  tools  and  assessment  studies,  and 
not  only  for  European  policy-makers.  The 
scientists have also established close con-
tacts with US researchers in forage fisher-
ies  and  marine  ecosystems.  Together  they 
are working towards a science-based inter-
national  fishery  policy,  a  must  in  times  of 
changing sea biodiversity caused by climate 
change  and  human  activities.  The  know-
ledge  on  ecosystem-based  management 
established in the project is also of interest 
for practitioners — from the UK’s Secretary 
of  State  for  Environment,  Food  and  Rural 
Affairs  to  the  fishermen  who  attended  the 
many  workshops  provided  by  the  FACTS 

research*eu focus magazine — N° 14 — April 2014RESEARCH IN FP7 
 
 
25

researchers,  and  who  are  now  working  on 
new projects on prototype models for ideal 
ecosystems and sea biodiversity maps.   

More information: http://www.facts-project.eu/

COCONET: protecting marine areas 
is a key issue globally 
Geographic  information  systems  (GIS)  and 
specific  software  are  powerful  tools  for 
analysing  and  managing  ocean  data.  The 
COCONET project is using all these tools to 
build a network of ‘marine protected areas’ 
(MPA). These form vital reservoirs of natural 
capital, helping fuel atmospheric restitution 
and recovering biospheres. 

Professor Ferdinando Boero from Italy, co-
ordinator of the COCONET project, manages 
22  countries  and  39  institutions,  ranging 

from Norway and Denmark to Morocco and 
Georgia,  covering  both  the  Mediterranean 
and the Black Sea. ‘We need to improve the 
perception of nature in our culture,’ he says, 
‘otherwise nature cannot sustain us.’ 

and  deep-sea  populations.  Another  aim  of 
the project is to establish feasibility scenarios 
for offshore wind farms in the Mediterranean 
and the Black Sea as a way to produce clean 
energy in line with MPA. 

The major pressure on the seas comes from 
coastal  urbanisation  and  industrialisation, 
while  others  stem  from  overfishing  and 
pollution.  COCONET’s  main  concern  is  that 
currently  only  3 %  of  the  oceans  are  pro-
tected.  Therefore  the  project  is  working  on 
the  establishment  of  MPA  both  in  coastal 
zones as well as on the high seas. 

Pilot  projects,  case  studies  and  workshops 
are the experts’ chosen methods. They aim 
to produce guidelines for the creation of MPA 
networks  in  the  Mediterranean  and  Black 
Sea,  including  the  protection  of  offshore 

‘The Mediterranean Sea is very deep and the 
coastal zones are too touristic to be touched,’ 
reports  Boero  on  the  project’s  assessments. 
At the same time, the professor is optimistic 
about  the  seas,  because  he  enjoys  the  ‘pris-
tine  zones’  —  untouched  areas,  pure  nature 
without any impact from humanity. ‘You do not 
find this on land anymore and these habitats 
have become rare in Europe,’ he says. His goal 
is to create a unitary vision for the protection 
and conservation of the zones by more inter-
national efforts. COCONET has made a start. 

More information: http://www.coconet-fp7.eu/

AQUAINNOVA: aquaculture in Europe provides 2.6 million tonnes of seafood 
and 190 000 jobs   

Fish farming has become an important factor in the provision of seafood in Europe — more than 50 % of EU fish 
consumption today comes from aquacultures inside and outside the Union. Researchers with close links to the sec-
tor are predicting a steep rise in this — they believe that aquaculture in 2030 will produce nutritious food with lower 
environmental footprints than any other type of food production for humans. 

To strengthen the capacities of this sector in the EU, the European Commission has set up a platform of all stake-
holders around aqua-farming — the European Aquaculture Technology and Innovation Platform, EATiP. In 2012, this 
platform issued a common strategic research agenda with a vision for 2030 of an annual production of 4.5 million 
tonnes of sustainable food products worth EUR 14 billion. 

Within the FP7-funded project AQUAINNOVA, the forces to achieve this vision were assembled. Integrated multifunc-
tional aqua-farms could be a model for the future: ideally, such a farm combines clean energy production and other 
services along coastal regions, producing safe and healthy food, and creating jobs and economic opportunities. To 
enhance knowledge and research, AQUAINNOVA is looking into all aspects of aquaculture and formulating future 
requirements concerning animal health and welfare, feed issues, technology systems, managing biological life cycles, 
integration within the environment and socio-economic aspects. 

Moreover, the project aims to promote the exploitation, dissemination and communication of results from EU RTD 
research projects, looking to improve the manner in which the knowledge generated is efficiently and effectively 
managed, disseminated and transferred.

The project issues technical leaflets summarising former FP projects in aquaculture — to take stock of the know-
ledge already gained. Cold-water marine fish (salmon) are being studied, as well as shellfish (offshore production), 
Mediterranean  fish  (such  as  sea  bass,  sole  and  turbot)  and  freshwater  fish  (such  as  trout  and  carp)  providing 
opportunities for inland fish farming.  

Integration with the environment and society will be future challenges since European aquaculture operates within 
a  commercial  globally  influenced  market.  Therefore,  governance  and  competitiveness  issues  play  another  role  in 
AQUAINNOVA, as do the export of cutting-edge aquaculture technologies from Europe to other parts of the world. 
European aquaculture professionals have a vision for a responsible aquaculture value chain, and a detailed action plan 
will be the next step in taking this further.  

For further information:
http://cordis.europa.eu/result/brief/rcn/10215_en.html  
http://www.eatip.eu/default.asp?SHORTCUT=100

research*eu focus magazine — N° 14 — April 2014RESEARCH IN FP7 26

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The genomics revolution in European agricultural research

‘Genomics’ is the science of sequencing and studying plant and animal genes. The field could help transform the production 
of food and other biobased products — and is an increasingly important part of the EU’s research programmes.

Most of us have heard of DNA, the deoxyri-
bonucleic acid that encodes our genes, and 
the  role  the  latter  play  in  shaping  plants 
and  animals  —  and  ultimately  ourselves. 
‘Genomics’  is  the  study  of  these  genetic 
codes,  from  sequencing  their  structure  to 
understanding the effects of each gene on 
the living organism.

Scientists’  ever-improving  understanding 
of  genetics  has  huge  potential  to  benefit 
agriculture, forestry and fisheries — which, 
after all, are industries based on biological 
organisms.  For  many  people,  this  brings 
to  mind 
‘genetically  modified  organ-
isms’ (GMOs), but this is only a small part 
of the story, as the rapidly developing field 
of  genomics  can  inform  everything  from 
traditional  plant  and  animal  breeding  to 
disease prevention.

What ‘omics’ can do
Basic  research  in  genomics  is  being  joined 
by other fields often referred to collectively 
as  ‘omics’:  the  study  of  proteins  and  their 
relation  to  genes  (proteomics),  of  the  RNA 
that  helps  translate  genes  into  proteins 
(transcriptomics), and of the key chemicals 

involved  in  metabolism  (metabolomics). 
These are now the basis for a wide range of 
agricultural applications.

For  example,  in  the  field  of  animal  health, 
genomics,  proteomics  and  metabolomics 
provide  new  tools  for  the  identification 
and  understanding  of  diseases,  and  better 
models  to  track  disease  epidemics.  Omics 
can  also  help  develop  new  vaccines  and 
veterinary  medicines,  or  portable  test  kits 
to  diagnose  a  range  of  diseases  based  on 
one small sample — very useful for large 
animal  herds.  Genome  knowledge  also 
means  that  animals  can  be  bred  for  dis-
ease resistance or other desirable traits.

Among the basic techniques resulting from 
the  rise  of  genomics  are  tools  for  ‘high-
throughput  molecular  analysis’.  These  can 
identify  the  structure  of  chemicals  quickly 
and cheaply and then build large databases 
of molecules that can be analysed statis-
tically or compared to find similarities. They 
can  be  used  in  forests  and  grasslands, 
for instance, to identify species, varieties 
or  even  individual  trees  that  can  adapt 
well  to  expected  changes,  stresses  and 

disturbances  in  their  environment.  These 
techniques  can  also  contribute  to  the 
preservation  of  biodiversity  —  an  im-
portant factor in protecting plant populations 
against disease or other threats.

When  it  comes  to  crops,  new  technology 
has  enabled  much  faster  sequencing  of 
genomes, and led to the building of genom-
ics  databases  for  various  crop  plants.  The 
scientific  opportunity  now  is  to  use  these 
for  practical  crop  improvement.  Of  course, 
genetic  modification  (GM)  research  is  one 
way  of  doing  this,  but  traditional  breeding 
methods — informed by better knowledge 
of  a  particular  species’  genome  —  remain 
very important.

These  new  molecular  and  bioinformatic 
tools also help explore more fully a resource 
which  has  often  been  neglected  —  the 
biodiversity  available  in  the  wild  species 
related to our crop plants. This biodiversity 
holds a massive reserve of genetic variation 
for  traits  that  will  be  of  value  in  breeding 
crops  for  sustainable  production  systems. 
With  new  tools  for  high-throughput  geno-
typing, proteome and metabolome screens 

research*eu focus magazine — N° 14 — April 2014RESEARCH IN FP7 
 
 
 
and  high-throughput  phenotyping,  the 
search for useful traits can become much 
more efficient.

Genomics in action
According  to  a  2011  assessment  report 
to  the  European  Commission,  ‘Impacts  of 
EU  Framework  Programmes  (2000-2010) 
and  prospects  for  research  and  innovation 
in  agriculture,  animal  health  and  welfare, 
and forestry’, genomics have contributed to 
a wide range of EU-funded research through 
successive Framework Programmes.

For example, the ‘Metabolomic technology 
applications  for  plants,  health  and  out-
reach’  (META-PHOR)  project,  funded  under 
FP7,  brought  together  plant  metabolomics 
experts,  crop  biologists  and  nutritionists 
to  develop  a  metabolite-based  platform 
to  improve  plant  breeding  for  a  more  var-
ied  range  of  food  products  with  enhanced 
nutritional quality.

Another  example  was  the  FP6 
‘High-
quality  solanaceous  crops  for  consumers, 
processors  and  producers  by  exploration 
of  natural  biodiversity’  (EU-SOL)  project, 
which  looked  into  the  two  most  important 
vegetable products in the EU, tomatoes and 
potatoes  —  members  of  the  Solanaceae 
family.  The  project  focused  on  developing 
high-quality and healthy tomato and potato 
varieties,  looking  at  the  mapping,  isol-
ation  and  characterisation  of  the  genes 
for  health,  nutrition,  flavour,  fragrance, 
texture, colour and shelf-life traits. In add-
ition, it studied those aspects important to 
farmers,  such  as  the  ability  to  cope  with 
extremes  of  temperature  and  drought  — 
growing issues due to climate change and 
water shortages — as well as contributing 
to international genomics initiatives.

For some of our most important crop plants 
— wheat, barley and rye (called ‘triticeae’) 
—  the  role  of  new  genomic  and  bioinfor-
matics  technologies  is  vital.  These  plants 
have genomes of such size and complexity 
that  studying  their  genomics  requires  new 
high-throughput  analysis  technologies  and 
large  bioinformatics  databases.  The  FP7-
funded  project,  ‘Genomics  for  triticeae  im-
provement’ (TRITICEAEGENOME), set out to 
push forward the state of the art in triticeae 
genomics to help breed improved varieties 
for  European  agriculture.  The  project  team 
produced  new  genome-sequencing  tools 
and  bioinformatics  resources,  such  as  new 
databases  for  wheat  and  barley  genomic 
information,  and  software  to  visualise  and 
compare  genetic  maps.  These  tools  have 
already  helped  to  improve  breeding  pro-
grammes for traits such as better yields.

27

(MT GENOME G. SALARIS), used genomics to 
tackle this flatworm parasite in the Atlantic 
salmon, which is a serious problem in Euro-
pean countries with coasts on the Baltic Sea 
or North Atlantic. 

What needs to be done
As these examples show, the genomics revo-
lution opens up opportunities to address ani-
mal health and welfare through breeding. The 
use  of  genomics,  proteomic,  metabolomics 
and other new technologies in understanding 
diseases and host-pathogen interactions will 
lead  to  new  vaccines  which,  in  turn,  will 
improve  the  productive  efficiency  of  agri-
culture  and  reduce  greenhouse  gas  emis-
sions. This field of research could even lead 
to new ‘functional foods’ — with additional 
nutritional value — and crop varieties with 
higher  yields  or  greater  resistance  to  dis-
ease, drought and climate change.

It is clear, from the way genomics informs 
other  techniques,  that  it  will  play  an  im-
portant  role  in  the  sustainable  production 
of food and other biobased resources.

Animal health and well-being
The  increased  use  of  genomics  has  led  to 
more  and  more  animal  production  and 
breeding  projects  over  the  course  of  FP6 
and FP7. As with crop plants, animal breed-
ing  can  benefit  from  DNA  information,  as 
shown  by  the  FP6  project  ‘Cutting-edge 
genomics  for  sustainable  animal  breed-
ing’  (SABRE).  The  team  delivered  results 
in  genomics  and  bioinformatics,  numerical 
genomics and animal well-being, as well as 
product safety and quality, with papers pub-
lished in high-quality journals. In the longer 
term, the outcomes could result in improved 
animal health and welfare that, in turn, will 
lead to safer, higher-quality food. 

In  other  projects  —  such  as  ‘Pathogenic 
Escherichia coli  network’ (PEN) and ‘Studies 
on  the  epidemiology,  early  pathogenesis 
and  control  of  Porcine  Circovirus  Diseases’ 
(PCVD)  —  the  focus  on  genomics  and  the 
genetic basis of epidemiology and pathology 
has led to new knowledge which can inform 
new diagnostic tests, vaccines and controls. 

Another  FP6  project,  ‘The  mitochondrial 
genome  of  the  fish  parasite  Gyrodactylus 
salaris  —  characterisation  and  utility’ 

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28

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Farming, fisheries and forests: the ground the bioeconomy  
is built on

The bioeconomy is a key element for smart and green growth, contributing to the EU 2020 strategy and two of its flagship 
initiatives, ‘Innovation Union’ and ‘Resource-efficient Europe’. But the basis for all this is ‘primary production’ — in other words: 
farming, fishing and forestry.

‘An  economy  based  on  biological  re–
sources  —  farming,  fishing,  forestry 
—  is  the  oldest  economy  there  is,’  says 
Máire  Geoghegan-Quinn,  the  European 
Commissioner  for  Research.  For  thou-
sands  of  years,  farmers  and  foresters 
have turned plants, soil and sunlight into 
food,  products  and  services  —  and  this 
is now set to enter a new era. 

‘We  have  come  full  circle,  and  an  econ-
omy  based  on  biological  resources 
is 
also  the  newest  economy,’  continues  the 
Commissioner. 

But  globally,  those  biological  resources 
on  which  the  bioeconomy  is  based  are 
under pressure, while countries around the 
world  are  putting  bioeconomy  strategies 
in  place.  The  EU  needs  to  produce  ‘more 

with  less’  and  develop  smart,  sustainable 
farming, fisheries and aquaculture. 

This  requires  a  coherent  approach,  with 
coordinated  action  through  the  common 
agricultural  policy  (CAP),  the  common 
fisheries  policy  (CFP),  the  Horizon  2020 
research  programme,  European  envir-
onmental  initiatives  and  regional  funds, 
the  ‘Blue  Growth’  agenda  for  the  marine 
sector,  and  the 
innovation 
partnership  on  sustainable  agriculture’ 
(EIP-AGRI). 

‘European 

Reflecting this, the European Commission’s 
bioeconomy 
‘Innovating 
strategy  — 
for  Sustainable  Growth:  A  Bioeconomy 
co-signed  by 
for  Europe’  —  was 
five 
for 
Industry  and 
Research  and 

Commissioners, 

responsible 

Innovation, 

Entrepreneurship,  Agriculture  and  Rural 
Development,  Environment,  and  Maritime 
Affairs and Fisheries.

Sustainable primary production: 
getting more from less
One  of  the  most  important  action  points 
identified by the Commission in the strat-
egy  is  therefore  to  ‘Provide  the  know-
ledge-base  for  sustainable  intensification 
of primary production’. This means research 
related  to  food  and  non-food  biomass  — 
including  agricultural  and  forestry  waste 
into  account  added  value, 
—  taking 
sustainability,  soil  fertility  and  climate 
mitigation. 

In its report on the Commission’s strategy, 
the  EU’s  Committee  of  the  Regions  (CoR) 
emphasises  that  the  agricultural  sector 

research*eu focus magazine — N° 14 — April 2014RESEARCH IN FP7 
 
29

From raw produce to new products
There  should  also  be  a  focus  on  value 
chains — from the production of raw ma-
terials  to  market-ready  products  —  and 
products  with  high  added  value,  say  both 
the Commission and CoR.

Advanced  regions 
in  the  bioeconomy 
field  could  build  value  chains  with  less-
advanced regions. For example, biorefiner-
ies  replace  fossil  resources  by  renewable 
ones, creating new sources of income and 
jobs  in  agriculture,  forestry,  fisheries  and 
aquaculture.

‘I  see  the  regions  as  first  executers  of  the 
European  bioeconomy  strategy,’  continues 
Mr  van  der  Sande.  ‘They  are  the  linking 
pin between regional knowledge institutes, 
companies, governments and civil society — 
and are familiar with the available regional 
value chains and innovative potential.’

and 

agricultural 

He  picks  out  examples  such  as  the  way 
industrial 
resources 
work  together  with  bio-refineries  in  the 
Champagne-Ardenne Picardie Region, or the 
‘Biobased Delta’ initiative in the south-west 
of the Netherlands.

This is perhaps the most promising aspect 
of the bioeconomy. Linking high-tech of the 
future  with  the  long  years  of  experience 
held by farmers, fishermen and foresters — 
creating new opportunities for some of the 
poorer regions in Europe.

‘To  the  non-expert,  agriculture,  fisheries 
or forestry represent traditional, centuries-
old  parts  of  the  economy  —  so  they  may 
seem  low-tech,’  concludes  Commissioner 
Geoghegan-Quinn. ‘And that's what is really 
exciting  about  the  bioeconomy.  While  it 
is rooted in tradition, it also points the way 
to the future.’

could actually become more sustainable by 
supplying a variety of non-food biobased 
products  —  without  undermining  its  pri-
mary role in food supply and food security. 

‘The bioeconomy encompasses many dif-
ferent  policy  fields:  agricultural,  environ-
mental,  energy,  research,  regional  affairs, 
etc.,’ agrees Rogier van der Sande, Member 
of  the  Executive  Council  Province  of  Zuid-
Holland and one of the authors of the CoR 
report. ‘So it is not only the question of how 
the bioeconomy fits with other EU policies, 
but  how  a  truly  integrated  and  holistic 
approach  for  the  bioeconomy  can  be  put 
in  place:  for  example,  through  the  CAP  we 
can  reach  out  to  the  farmers  and  secure 
feedstock (plants and waste) — a primary 
source of production.’

Europe therefore needs a secure and suffi-
cient supply of sustainable and high-quality 
biobased  products  sourced  from  resource-
efficient  primary  production  —  optimising 
the  supply  and  demand  of  biomass,  pro-
moting sustainable land use and increasing 
farming  production  capacity.  For  instance, 
research  to  develop  second-  and  third-
generation biomass can minimise the nega-
tive effects of first-generation biomass and 
thus address the ‘food versus fuel’ debate.

The  EIP-AGRI  also  aims  to  foster  a  com-
petitive and sustainable agriculture and for-
estry sector that ‘achieves more from less’ 
—  while  supporting  innovation  that  is  not 
just  technological,  but  also  organisational 
or social. To achieve this goal, the EIP-AGRI 
builds  bridges  and  partnerships  between 
the worlds of research and those who use 
it — such as farmers and businesses. The 
CoR  has  recommended  that  it  should  be 
supported by funds from both the CAP and 
Horizon 2020.

Turning farming into the 
bioeconomy: a role for regions
Regions will also play a vital role: the bio-
economy could be partly supported through 
'Smart  Specialisation  Strategies'  under 
future EU Cohesion Policy. The Commission 
has  proposed  that  part  of  the  European 
Regional  Development  Fund  should  be 
reserved for ‘low-carbon economy’ projects, 
whether in less-developed or richer regions. 

‘The  bioeconomy’s  employment  potential 
can  certainly  kick-start  economies  and 
reinvigorate  communities  in  some  of  our 
most peripheral and deprived areas — far-
flung islands and coastal areas, agricultural 
and  woodland  regions,’  says  the  Research 
Commissioner.

into  such 

Turning  science 
real-world 
improvements means enhancing knowledge 
ex change, simplifying European patent law, 
and  improving  access  to  public  research 
results,  as  well  as  creating  Public-Private 
Partnerships (PPPs).

The  CoR  notes  that  agricultural  regions 
should not only be considered as suppliers 
of  biomass,  but  that  close  relations  with 
urban  regions  are  important  for  establish-
ing  technology  transfer  and  knowledge 
valorisation.

‘The  PPP  on  “Biobased  Industries  Initiatives 
(PPP-BBI)”,  for  example,  brings  together 
almost  50  European  large  and  small  com-
panies,  clusters  and  organisations,’  says  Mr 
van der Sande, ‘all committed to invest in col-
laborative research, development and demon-
stration of biobased technologies.’ 

‘I  strongly  believe  that  all  regions  can 
benefit from the transition towards the bio-
economy if they create a unique profile and 
act according to it,’ says Mr van der Sande, 
so they focus on ‘the production of special-
ised  or  high-quality  biomass,  for  example, 
or the smart use of waste materials.’

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30

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"Horizon  2020  will  support  the  drive  for  sustainable  agriculture,  as 
well as research and innovation in food security and the bioeconomy."  
Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, European Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science

Agriculture and the bioeconomy in Horizon 2020

The European Union’s Europe 2020 agenda has the aim of ‘smart, sustainable and inclusive growth’ for the rest of the decade. 
As part of this strategy, the EU has launched Horizon 2020 — its new research programme for 2014-2020 — which has 
a new structure based around the goals of ‘excellent science’, ‘innovative industry’ and ‘social challenges’.

With  more  than  EUR  70  billion  committed 
over seven years — a 25 % increase in real 
terms compared to the Seventh Framework 
Programme  (FP7)  now  ending  —  it  is  the 
biggest  EU  research  programme  yet,  and 
one of the largest worldwide. It is the only 
major programme in the EU’s new budget 
with an increase in resources — including 
double  the  previous  EU  funding  available 
for agriculture and food research, at more 
than  EUR  4  billion.  But  a  bigger  budget 
is not the only difference.

‘Horizon  2020  is  a  totally  new  type 
of  research  programme  for  the  EU,’ 
says  Máire  Geoghegan-Quinn,  European 

Commissioner  for  Research,  Innovation 
and Science, ‘and it is designed to deliver 
results that make a difference in people’s 
lives.’

Horizon  2020  will  champion  excellent 
science,  with  increased  funding  for  the 
European  Research  Council  (ERC)  and 
the  Marie  Skłodowska-Curie  actions 
on  researcher  training  and  mobility.  But 
it  will  also  ensure  that  scientific  break-
throughs  are  translated  into  socio-eco-
nomic  benefits.  For 
instance,  funding 
under the ‘innovative industry’ heading will 
provide support to maintain Europe’s lead 
in biotechnology.

Two  new  watchwords  for  the  programme 
aim  to  make  it  easier  to  participate  and 
its  results  more  effective:  ‘simplification’ 
means  that  the  same  rules  apply  in  all 
parts  of  the  programme,  while  ‘coher-
ence’  means  that  all  EU-level  funding  for 
research  and  innovation  will  be  brought 
together under one roof, from fundamental 
research all the way to innovative products, 
services and processes.

‘We  will  be  less  prescriptive  about  what 
projects  need  to  do,’  says  the  research 
‘but  we  will  be  more 
Commissioner, 
demanding about the impacts that projects 
must have.’

research*eu focus magazine — N° 14 — April 2014LOOKING FORWARD  
 
 
 
3131

Research for sustainable agriculture 
and the bioeconomy
‘Horizon 2020 will take a challenge-based 
approach,’ says Commissioner Geoghegan-
Quinn.  ‘This  is  because  the  challenges 
facing Europe — whether food and energy 
security,  clean  transport,  public  health  or 
security  —  cannot  be  solved  by  a  single 
field  of  science  or  technology,  let  alone 
a single sector or organisation.’

Therefore,  Horizon  2020  funding  under 
‘Societal  Challenge  2:  food  security,  sus-
tainable  agriculture,  marine  and  maritime 
research  and  the  bioeconomy’  will  help 
secure  sufficient  supplies  of  safe,  healthy 
and  high-quality  food  and  other  biobased 
products.  It  will  develop  productive,  sus-
tainable  and  resource-efficient  primary 
production  systems,  and  foster  related 
ecosystem  services  and  the  recovery  of 
biological  diversity,  while  building  com-
petitive and low-carbon supply chains. And 
socio-economic  sciences  and  humanities 
will  not  be  left  out,  as  we  need  to  under-
stand  food  markets,  rural  economies  and 
social aspects of diet, farming and fishing.

Under  Societal  Challenge  2,  support  for 
research is structured into four funding lines:

1.  Sustainable  agriculture  and 

for-
estry  —  aiming  for  more  productive, 

resource-efficient  and  resilient  agricul-
ture  and  forestry  systems  in  order  to 
supply  sufficient  food  and  biomaterials 
without compromising natural resources. 
This  will  include  support  for,  and  guid-
ance  from,  the  ‘European  Innovation 
Partnership  for  Agricultural  Productivity 
and Sustainability’. 

2.  Sustainable and competitive agri-food 
sector for a safe and healthy diet — 
aiming  to  meet  citizens’  demands  for 
safe,  healthy  and  affordable  food,  and 
to  make  the  food  and  feed  industry 
more sustainable and more competitive.

3.  Unlocking the potential of aquatic liv-
ing resources  — has the goal of opti-
mising  the  contribution  to  secure  food 
supplies by developing sustainable and 
environmentally  friendly  fisheries  and 
competitive  European  aquaculture  in 
the context of the global economy, and 
boosting marine innovation through bio-
technology to fuel smart ‘blue growth’. 
This  research  funding  will  also  be  co-
ordinated with the EU Atlantic Strategy.

4.  Sustainable  and  competitive  biobased 
industries  —  aiming  to  promote  low-
carbon, 
sustainable 
and 
competitive  European  biobased 
industries.  This  will  include  support  for 

resource-efficient, 

the  Public-Private  Partnership  ‘Biobased 
Industries Initiative’ (PPP-BBI).

Agriculture  and  fishing,  of  course,  are 
often the major industries in poorer regions, 
so new Structural and Investment Funds — 
under  the  remit  of  EU  Cohesion  Policy  — 
will work hand in hand with Horizon 2020 to 
build  excellence,  based  on  new  concepts 
such  as  ‘Twinning’  and  ‘Teaming’.  These 
could  upgrade  research  infrastructure  or 
support transnational cooperation between 
research-intensive regional clusters. 

‘In  the  future,  we  will  be  looking  for  even 
greater  synergies  with  the  new  round  of 
Structural  Funds  post-2014,  based  on 
regional  “smart  specialisation  strategies”,’ 
says  the  Commissioner.  ‘Naturally,  clus-
ters will play a major role in creating these 
synergies.’

All in all, the stage is set for Horizon 2020 
to  make  a  huge  contribution  to  science 
and  technological  innovation  in  the  fields 
of agriculture, fisheries and forestry — and, 
furthermore,  to  fuel  Europe’s  transition 
towards a sustainable biobased economy.

Whether  looking  out  across  a  landscape 
shaped by farming, or a seascape that is the 
dangerous  workplace  of  fishing  fleets,  it  is 
clear that big changes are on the horizon.

Horizon 2020: a change of approach  

New features in the Horizon 2020 research programme 
include:

The European Innovation Partnership for Agricultural 
Productivity  and  Sustainability  (EIP-AGRI)  brings 
farmers, researchers and businesses closer together — 
organised as ‘operational groups’ focusing on individual 
innovative  projects  —  with  a  bottom-up  approach,  to 
work on new ideas where they are really needed.

Multi-actor projects aim to meet the needs of end-users 
through  demand-led  projects  with  clearly  defined  roles 
— from planning to demonstration — for the different 
participants in a project.

Using  valuable  experience  from  FP7,  Horizon  2020 
will also be building ever-more effective Public-Private 
Partnerships  (PPPs),  such  as  the  Biobased  Industries 
Initiative  PPP  which  is  backed  by  EUR  1  billion  from 
Horizon  2020  and  EUR  2.8  billion  from  the  Biobased 
Industries Consortium.

The new ‘SME Instrument’ will provide funding support 
for  small  farming  enterprises  —  including  coaching 
and mentoring throughout project stages from viability 
study to accessing business-development finance.

Synergies with other funding programmes

The new Regional Funds under the EU budget for 2014-
2020 include more than EUR 80 billion for smart growth 
through research and innovation. This should help rural 
enterprises access EU innovation projects and networks.

The  EU’s  common  agricultural  policy  (CAP)  will  see 
a new and strengthened innovation section within rural 

development  policy  to  provide  support  for  EIP-AGRI 
innovative solutions. The CAP also includes support for 
young  people  taking  up  farming,  transfer  of  research 
results  to  agriculture,  and  exchange  of  information 
within the farming community.

research*eu focus magazine — N° 14 — April 2014LOOKING FORWARD 32

ROUND-TABLE DISCUSSION

Lessons for the future and Horizon 2020

Better, safer and healthier diets consisting of less but higher-quality food are the future, according to a panel of four industry 
experts who met to set out their expectations for the Horizon 2020 funding programme in the field of agriculture, biotechnology, 
fisheries and  food research. Along with future food production challenges of – resources –stress, scarcity and climate change 
– commodity markets will become more volatile and food prices will rise. 

Moderated  by  economist  and  journalist 
Sylvia  Schreiber,  the  roundtable  discus-
sion  brought  together  Beate  Kettlitz  of 
FoodDrinkEurope; Pekka Pesonen of COPA-
COGECA; Courtney Hough of the Federation 
of  European  Aquaculture  Producers;  and 
Carel  du  Marchie  Sarvaas  of  EuropaBio. 
The topic  was 'Lessons for the Future' and 
the participants shared their views on how 
far  earlier  framework  programmes  have 
helped  advance  the  bioeconomy,  where  it 
can be done better, and what the industries 

in  the  bioeconomy  need  and  expect  from 
research, development and innovation over 
the coming years.

What are the research priorities?
‘Diet not food' is the trend according to Beate 
Kettlitz  who  wants  R&D  outcomes  to  add 
years  to  life.  'The  food  industry  is  reformu-
lating all the time, more fibre, less saturated 
fat,  for  example.  At  the  same  time  we  are 
continually seeking new ingredients that can 
contribute to healthier diets,' she adds. These 

are the research drivers — the determinants 
of  healthier  diets  –  such  as  diet-related 
diseases,  new  diet-friendly  crops  and  diet-
related processing for nutrient preservation. 

For  agriculture,  Pekka  Pesonen  echoes  this 
view  but  adds  that  competitiveness  and 
communication must be at the core. 'In agri-
food research, the current bottleneck is very 
much  in  the  field  of  communication  —  for 
example in nutrition, how can we communi-
cate  research  agendas  in  an  impartial  way 

Round-table panellists

Beate  Kettlitz  is  the  director  for 
food  safety,  science  and  R&D  at 
FoodDrinkEurope, an industrial asso-
ciation  representing  the  European 
food  and  drink  industries.  She  has 
a  background  in  food  chemistry  and 
is  an  expert  on  technical  regula-
tory  matters  in  the  food  chain.  She  is  a  member  of  the 
Bioeconomy Panel of the European Commission.

Pekka  Pesonen  is  secretary  general 
of  COPA-COGECA,  an  agricultural 
association  representing  70  national 
farm organisations in Europe. He is an 
agricultural economist and was previ-
ously  state  secretary  for  the  Finnish 
Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry.

Courtney  Hough  is  general  secre-
tary  of  the  Federation  of  European 
Aquaculture Producers (FEAP). He has 
worked in R&D in the food industry, in 
the international development of fish 
farming  and  with  international  or-
ganisations such as the Organisation 

for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and 
Food and Agriculture Organization  of the United Nations 
(FAO).  He  is  a  member  of  the  Bioeconomy  Panel  of  the 
European Commission.

Sylvia Schreiber, journalist and econ-
omist  by  training,  is  working  in  EU 
research  and  innovation  policy  and 
its  communications  since  ten  years. 
Before  becoming  the  director  of 
a  research  and  innovation  regional 
EU  office  in  Brussels,  she  has  been 
the EU correspondent of the newsmagazine Der Spiegel. 
Currently she is contributing as Brussels correspondent to 
the monthly magazine “ParisBerlin – Living in Europe”.     

Carel du Marchie Sarvaas is director for agricultural bio-
technology  at  EuropaBio  —  the  European  Association  of 
Biotechnology  Industries.  He  has  many  years  of  experi-
ence as a senior government affairs and communications 
specialist in Brussels, The Hague, and Washington DC. He 
is an expert in agricultural biotechnology and its interfaces 
with regulatory, policy, trade and communications issues.

research*eu focus magazine — N° 14 — April 2014LOOKING FORWARD 33

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to citizens so that they can make informed 
decisions? It's a real challenge involving con-
troversy  and  perceptions  which  can  lead  to 
unfair competition, for example with genet-
ically modified organisms (GMOs).' 

How to get more competitive ? 
A  more  competitive  sector  is  also  vital, 
says  Pesonen,  and  resource  efficiency  and 
co-production  methods  should  be  R&D 
priorities,  but  increasingly  Europe  fails  to 
implement  research  outcomes  which  are 
sometimes  better  exploited  elsewhere. 
'Traditional  production  methods  are  fine, 
yet  some  of  our  most  important  R&D-
led  businesses  are  packing  up  and  leav-
ing Europe because of the difficulties their 
research-relevant  agendas  are  facing  — 
this is unacceptable.'

Carel  du  Marchie  Sarvaas  points  to  the 
potential benefits of GMO crops: increas-
ing  productivity,  protecting  biodiversity, 
less  pesticide  and  fertiliser,  food  with 
fewer  toxins.  'As  population  and  demand 
rise,  the  question  is  how  agriculture 
can  operate  better  and  more  efficiently 
— this is the "sustainable intensification" 
concept  that  biotech  or  "GM"  crops  can 
help bring about.' 

What about more feed for thought?  
For  Courtney  Hough,  aquaculture's  priori-
ties depend on who you are talking to — but 
overall the future availability of suitable feed 
materials is a common challenge, as are con-
sumer expectations of more processed food 
products.  Since  30  to  40  years  ever  more 
protein  comes  from  the  seas,  with  a  rising 
share of aquaculture sources. Domestic aqua-
culture fish and seafood and imported aqua-
culture  products  together  already  contribute 
to  50 %  of  the  fish  and  seafood  consump-
tion in Europe.  Disease is another challenge: 
'Vaccines are needed to prevent disease and 
that's  one  vaccine  for  each  fish  species,  as 
they are all different. We face growing chal-
lenges  from  new  diseases,  particularly  with 
the growth in sea-borne trade.'

Governance and awareness of 
regulatory frameworks should  
be of concern to science
However,  for  the  aquaculture  industry,  gov-
ernance is the hot issue and should be incorp-
orated in R&D efforts. 'There's a lot of biology 
and engineering but little on the economic or 
social  benefits  of  innovation  choices.  What's 
missing is uptake by scientists of the implica-
tions of, for example, fisheries policy reforms 
in their R&D efforts,' says Hough.  

This  emphasis  on  the  need  to  link  R&D 
to  developments  in  the  evolving  socio-
economic  framework,  such  as  consumer 
communications  and  the  regulatory  en-
vironment,  proved  a  common  thread  in 
the  discussion.  As  Beate  Kettlitz  notes:  'To 
remove bottlenecks to innovation, scientists 
must start talking to the regulators.'

Smaller, more efficient, less wasteful?
‘Reliable  incomes  need  scale,'  insists  Pekka 
Pesonen,  so  small-scale  farming  is  not  a 
solution for feeding everybody. 'For example, 
meeting animal welfare targets needs a crit-
ical mass. Without larger farms and incomes, 
how  can  we  encourage  more  young  farm-
ers?  ‘Prizes  of  future  agricultural  products 
will be determined by bulks. There can`t be 
too much prize-spread for higher quality, the 
bulks will be the reference, states Pesonen. 

Courtney  Hough  agrees:  'As  far  as  R&D  is 
concerned,  again  we  come  back  to  socio-
economic issues of sustainable development 
and  people's  perceptions  which  must  be 
solved  to  boost  farming  and  farmers.  How 
can  they  be  competitive?  This  is  the  basic 
issue,  without  profits  that  allow  reinvest-
ment you cannot survive.' On the socio-
economic  side  we  also  see  limitations 

>

research*eu focus magazine — N° 14 — April 2014LOOKING FORWARD  
 
 
34

to  install  more  fish  farms  on  coastal  sites 
- they could, on one side,  conflict with tour-
ism, and, on the other side, they could be too 
remote  to  be  attractive  for  young  farmer 
families. Rural development issues including 
infrastructures also matter in future sea fish 
farming, says Hough .   

“An increase of 30 % in crop yields”
Carel  Du  Marchie  Sarvaas  highlights  the 
potential efficiencies of biotech crops and 
estimates  yields  could  be  increased  by 
6 % to 30 % on the same land area using 
these technologies. As far it concerns bio-
fuel  production  from  crops  in  big  dimen-
sions he sees rising conflicts with land-use 
for  food  production.  But  to  his  mind,  the 
path  of  bio-based  products,  such  as  bio-
plastics  or  bio-based  chemicals,  which  do 
not consume huge amounts of land, should 
be  followed  intensely  to  contribute  to  the 
competitiveness  of  the  European  bioec-
onomy sector. 

Are GM crops the miracle solution?
'Innovation in plant breeding is essential to 
feed  a  growing  world  population  and  help 
to  reduce  poverty,'  explains  Du  Marchie 
Sarvaas.  'We  need  to  double  food  produc-
tion in the developing world. Farmers need 
access  to  every  possible  tool  —  including 
biotech  crops  —  that  can  increase  their 
land productivity.' 

However, he takes issue with the accepted 
wisdom  that  consumers  reject  GM-based 
foods,  saying  that  many  polls  and  ques-
tionnaires are misleading. 'As new products 
with  direct  health  and  consumer  benefits 
are developed […] we may see a shift from 
a debate fuelled by fears to a more rational 
discussion on what brings value to people,' 
he says.

“This is killing us”
For  Pekka  Pesonen,  the  agricultural  sector 
finds it difficult to accept that the EU is cut-
ting  GMO  applications  at  the  same  time  as 
the use of plant protection chemicals for non-
GMO alternatives. This leads straight to unfair 
competition  where  EU  farmers  are  losing 
ground to the US and Brazil, among others. 

'This is killing us: the EU has high product-
ivity  but  this  lead  is  being  eroded  and  we 
have no response,' he explains. 'Even worse, 

it  is  producing  a  drain  of  agricultural  R&D 
businesses  out  of  the  EU,  including  young 
research talent.' 

We need to decide
‘If we want food security then compromises 
have  to  be  made,'  says  Courtney  Hough. 
'At  present,  we  suffer  from  "paralysis  by 
analysis", we spend too long thinking about 
things  and  not  doing  things.  This  is  one 
of  the  reasons  technology  platforms  cre-
ated their research agendas — to push for 
decisions.' 

But  such  compromises  have  to  be  better 
explained to citizens, insists Pekka  Pesonen. 
'If we were to start explaining GM crops to the 
general public today, we would do it in a very 
different  way,'  he  says.  'After  all,  Europeans 
are adaptable, they relate happily to advances 
in health and medicines, but for some reason 
not  in  foodstuffs.  This  is  a  major  challenge 
for  food-chain  research,  we  must  learn  to 
address people's perceptions of what comes 
out of research.' 

Beate Kettlitz supports this view and believes 
better consumer education is desirable as is 
presenting clear choices. 

From lab to lobby? 
Courtney  Hough  finds  the  lack  of  political 
awareness among scientists of EU policies 
and  their  implications  to  be  deeply  trou-
bling. 'How to build the bridge between R&D 
and the surrounding political and regulatory 
frameworks  is  a  challenge,  one  that  the 
technology platforms are trying to face,' he 
notes.  A  further  issue  he  highlights  is  the 
strong  'project  dependence'  of  research 
today as it follows the funding — leading to 
career  disruption  and  a  lack  of  specialisa-
tion among R&D scientists.

Tailored solutions
For Beate Kettlitz, Horizon 2020 can over-
come  this  by  channelling  academic  know-
ledge to industrial needs: 'The emphasis on 
innovation is new and obliges scientists to 
take account of regulatory constraints.' 

Courtney Hough notes that industry has pre-
ferred the more applied SME programmes, 
based on experiences with FP7. 'I don't know 
how this can change under Horizon 2020 as 
"old habits die hard",' he explains. 

Pekka  Pesonen  says  that,  so  far,  R&D  has 
unfortunately  offered  little  real  assistance 
to  farmers:  'We  need  R&D  and  innovation 
that supports implementation and competi-
tiveness  —  agriculture  is  no  longer  a  raw 
material supplier, it now needs tailor-made 
solutions that take growth and employment 
into account.' 

Courtney  Hough  agrees  and  says,  'The  bio-
economy  concept  gives  us  the  framework 
conditions  for  this  new  viewpoint  —  this  is 
something we did not have previously, it can 
help spot synergies.' 

How to feed the world? 
'In 2050, with a projected world population 
of  9  billion,  what  contribution  can  Europe 
make  to  feeding  them  all?'  asks  Sylvia 
Schreiber. For aquaculture, Courtney Hough 
explains  it  is  already  highly  efficient,  the 
problems  are  elsewhere:  the  future  avail-
ability of feed, above all, but also the effects 
of climate change on feed, land use and the 
appearance of new pathogens.

In biotechnology, Carel Du Marchie Sarvaas 
believes  no  other  industry  is  better  placed 
to enhance the quality of life, but he insists 
Europe  must  ask  itself  whether  it  wants 
to  be  part  of  this  'biotech  journey'.  There 
is  enough  land,  says  Pekka  Pesonen  from 
the EU farmers association, but better effi-
ciency is needed and the EU urgently needs 
to act to keep its leading technological posi-
tion. For the food and drink industry, Beate 
Kettlitz finds that the trends are global, so 
we need global regulations, such as Codex 
Alimentarius, and we need to consider alter-
native  protein  sources,  and  better  ingredi-
ents to produce better foodstuffs with more 
added value. She also considers it is essen-
tial  that  safe  and  good  food  is  affordable 
for  less-favoured  consumers.  Regulations 
and  industry  have  to  respond  to  this  basic 
requirement despite the mega-trend towards 
high-quality products with higher prices.    

research*eu focus magazine — N° 14 — April 2014LOOKING FORWARD 35

MORE INFO

Useful links and references:

Horizon 2020 and other funding opportunities available under the Participant Portal:  
http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/portal/

DG Research website for the bioeconomy sector:  
http://ec.europa.eu/research/bioeconomy/

Standing Committee on Agricultural Research:  
http://ec.europa.eu/research/agriculture/scar/

FACCE Joint Programming Initiative:  
https://www.faccejpi.com/

HDHL Joint Programming Initiative:  
http://www.healthydietforhealthylife.eu/ 

European Innovation Partnership on Agricultural Productivity and Sustainability:  
http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/eip/

Public-Private Partnership on Biobased Industries:  
http://biconsortium.eu/

Smart Specialisation Platform:  
http://s3platform.jrc.ec.europa.eu/home

Relevant publications:

Information about FP7 projects in the field of agriculture, forestry and fisheries research: 

Interim catalogue of FP7 projects funded under the KBBE programme (2007-2012): 
http://www.healthydietforhealthylife.eu/

Catalogue of FP7 projects funded under the Ocean of Tomorrow programme (2010-2013): 
http://ec.europa.eu/research/bioeconomy/pdf/ocean-of-tomorrow-2014_en.pdf

Marine-related proposals 2007- 2010: 
http://ec.europa.eu/research/bioeconomy/pdf/ki3111104encmmm_en.pdf

Bioeconomy ERA-NET actions under FP6 and FP7: 
http://ec.europa.eu/research/bioeconomy/pdf/bioeconomy-era-net-actions_en.pdf

Catalogue of EU animal production research projects: 
http://ec.europa.eu/research/bioeconomy/pdf/decade_of_eu-funded_animal_production_research_en.pdf 

Catalogue of EU animal health research projects: 
http://ec.europa.eu/research/bioeconomy/pdf/186225_2011_2696_animal_health_research_en.pdf 

Catalogue of EU low-input and organic agricultural research projects: 
http://ec.europa.eu/research/bioeconomy/pdf/a_decade_of_eu_funded_low-input_organic_agriculture_research_2000-2012_en.pdf 

Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation Systems Towards 2020:
http://ec.europa.eu/research/bioeconomy/pdf/agricultural-knowledge-innovation-systems-towards-2020_en.pdf

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CORDIS is the Community Research and Development Information 
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It is the European Commission's primary public repository and por-
tal to disseminate information on all EU-funded research projects 
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is something for you here, including the latest on:
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