Category: Network

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NordCAW symposium: antibiotic resistance, animal welfare and sustainability

Foods produced by animals with poor welfare pose a serious threat to human health. The purpose of the symposium is to increase awareness and knowledge of the One Health concept and to show that animal welfare is closely linked with the use of antibiotics and antimicrobial resistance and thus human health.

Text: Margareta Stéen

 

Animal welfare and animal health affect the use of antibiotics in food production and thus the development of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Animals that live in poor conditions become stressed and can suffer from and spread infectious diseases. The use of antibiotics increases and the risk of antibiotic resistance arises.

The Nordic and Baltic Animal Welfare Centers (NordCAW) want to be a strong voice for animal welfare and work to reduce the use of antibiotics in food production. We work in the “One Health perspective” with the aim of protecting the health and well-being of animals, people and the environment.

With the symposium, NordCAW wants to share and disseminate knowledge about the consequences for poor animal welfare for the development of AMR in the Nordic and Baltic countries as well as in the rest of the EU.

When: Mars 24 2020,  10.30-17.10

Where: Audhumbla, VHC, Ultuna, Uppsala, Sweden

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New networks funded by NKJ

The NKJ board had a tricky task to evaluate and rate the ten received proposals in the recent call for funding, but we are happy to present the new networks below! 

The focus areas of the call were:

  • Soil as a carbon sink
  • Alternative proteins
  • Arctic agriculture and climate
  • Extreme weather

All of these are areas have been of special focus for NKJ lately. However, networks focusing on other aspects of Nordic agriculture and food research were also encouraged to apply for funding. In total, ten proposals were received and evaluated by the NKJ board. We are happy to support the six networks in the list below, with activities in 2020 and 2021.

NKJ wants to promote Nordic collaboration among researchers from the agricultural sectors by networking activities such as conferences and seminars and also encourage Nordic researchers and institutions to apply for larger funds by joint efforts. Our funded networks are truly Nordic, since they have to gather at least three Nordic countries! They also need to be gender balanced and we encourage them to actively engage younger researchers and PhDs. 

These are the funded networks:

2020-1

Resilient Northern Crops Network (NordCrop)
Carl-Otto Ottosen
Århus University
coo@food.au.dk

2020-2

Nordic Crop Wild Relative network – conservation for a more resilient Nordic agriculture
Anna Palmé
NordGen
anna.palme@nordgen.org

2020-3

Cultured Meat – Nordic Take
Jette Feveile
Århus University
JetteF.Young@food.au.dk

2020-4

ArcticOats
Hrannar Smári Hilmarsson
Agricultural University of Iceland
hrannar@lbhi.is

2020-5

Exploring pathways to protect soil carbon stocks in agroecosystems
Ji Chen
Århus University
ji.chen@agro.au.dk

2020-6

Diversification of the Nordic protein sources
Anne Pihlanto
Natural Resources Institute Finland
anne.pihlanto@luke.fi

At the moment we have an open call for networks in plant health and alternative proteins. Read more about the open call and apply before April 15th

 

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Thank you for joining the digital future with us

Nordic Testbed Network got a real push forward when 40 participants met to set the course for the digital transformation in the Nordic bioeconomy. 

People talking in an auditorium. Photo.For NKJ, cooperation is the key. Therefore we want to gather Nordic testbeds to establish a network that can lead the way towards a sustainable society in a digital future. To facilitate the development of new and existing testbeds, the Nordic Testbed Network aims to unite and strengthen testbeds aimed at supporting the digital transformation of the bioeconomy.

November 12th our participants met to set the vision and structure of the network. Information about the workshop (PDF)

Inspiration talks

Presentation in an auditorium. Photo.Frida Magnusdotter Ivarsson kick-started the workshop with a very inspiring and energizing talk on the subject “Organizing for digital innovation”, followed by a very interesting talk by Monika Svanberg on “Mobilizing testbeds”. The different testbeds represented at the workshop were also presented with some inspiring talks about how they work to enhance bioeconomy.​

But this wasn’t a day for just listening. In workshops, the participants also worked hard to set the vision and structure of the Nordic Testbed Network. The economy of the network was also discussed; how do we use the resources at hand in the most efficient and effective way?

Next step

After the workshop, we now have an even better basis for the Nordic Testbed Network! We will now gather all good ideas harvested during the workshop and our coordinator, Maria Tunberg, will use it as a starting point for further development of the network.

There are already testbeds connected to the network and more will join. Spread the word and use the hashtag #nordictestbednetwork to reach out to interested actors in the digital transformation bioeconomy.​

More about Nordic Testbed Network

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Last chance to join the configuration of the Nordic Testbed Network

Nordic Testbed Network – supporting the digital bioeconomy
An initiative by Nordic Council of Ministers

WORKSHOP Malmö, Nov 12

Tree in silhouette with text. Illustration.Facilitating knowledge transfer, allocating seed money, running Nordic projects… What do you think the network should focus on? Join us in setting the vision and structure of the Nordic Testbed Network.

Information about the Nordic Testbed Network

 

AGENDA

  • Inspiration talks – what’s the latest in the digital bioeconomy?
    • Organizing for digital innovation in the bioeconomy. University of Gothenburg/Swedish Center for Digital Innovation
    • Mobilizing a testbed – how to reach out and facilitate Nordic innovation. The Bioeconomy region.
  • Testbed presentations – get to know testbeds engaged in the digital transformation in the Nordic bioeconomy.
  • Setting vision and structure for the network – together we discuss and decide on vision and structure for the network.
  • Allocating seed money – joint discussion on how to allocate existing funding for supporting the digital transformation in the Nordic bioeconomy.
  • Networking – meet Nordic stakeholders from public and private sector.

REGISTER 

There are a limited number of seats available!


CONTACT

Maria Tunberg, PhD
maria.tunberg@analysysmason.com
Senior consultant
+46 730 21 75 30

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OPEN CALL: NKJ and Swedish Research Council together against antibiotic resistance

NKJ will fund activities 2020-2021 related to antibiotic resistance. The focus is on how low or no utilization of antibiotics can give positive effects on animals, food and environment.

Hand extracting fluid with a needle from a small vial. Phtot.

The increased use of antimicrobial medicines in both human and animal healthcare has contributed to an increase in the number of disease-causing microbes that are resistant to antimicrobial medicines used to treat them, like antibiotics. This makes antibiotic resistance a growing threat that could lead to as many as 10 million deaths a year and over €85 million in losses to the global economy by 2050.

In the Nordic Region, we are experienced in keeping the use of antibiotics in agriculture at a low and responsible level because we know that their use can result in the development of resistant bacteria. Yet the problem of resistance is international, and this is why we would like to share our experiences so as to tackle the problem internationally.

For the use of less antibiotics

This call has a special interest in funding activities related to antibiotic resistance. The focus is on how low or no use of antibiotics can contribute to improved animal health, food security, sustainable management of biological resources, increased competitiveness, resilience and reduced climate impact from primary production and diversified rural economics.

With this call NKJ wants to increase North European regional synergy within agriculture and food research, strengthen and establish better contact between the agriculture and food research communities in the Nordic countries. We also wants to encourage Nordic researchers and institutions to apply for funding from larger funds.

Funding for two years

You can submit your application latest September 30th.

You can apply for maximum 400 000 SEK per network for two years. You need to have external funding of at minimum 50 %. We encourage young researchers and PhD’s to participate in the networks, and we strive for gender balance.

In the end of 2019 the applicants will have an answer from us.

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Matchmaking heaven in Reykjavik: networking for researchers

Develop your dream project and make your professional networking even more creative at our matchmaking day in Reykjavik! Register and join us September 19th 2019.

 

Close up on spider in a spiderweb. Photo.

We have prepared our Matchmaking Day for you to not just dream, but to realize your dreams. You will get to know more about our funding opportunities and how to write successful applications, and develop your best ideas in various workshops during the day. And all of it is back to back with the NordGen conference Future Forest Health – Early detection and mitigation of invasive pests and diseases in Nordic forests!

As our guest we have invited an expert on creativity: Dr Hannes Ottosson, project manager at Innovation Centre Iceland and Adjunct lecturer at the University of Iceland where he teaches innovation and business development (fields of interest; innovation, entrepreneurship,  social capital, social innovation, cluster development and innovation education). He will give us insights in how to make our research networks creative and help us enhance and improve our networking skills in a hands-on way.

We will cover the travel and accommodation costs for 10-12 PhD students!  More info below.

 

Field trip

In the afternoon we will go on a half-day tour to Geysir, a geyser that can hurl boiling water up to 70 metres in the air, and Gullfoss, the famous waterfall in the river Hvítá in southern Iceland where the waterfalls in two rounds: first 11 meters and then 21 meters down into a gorge that is 20 meters wide and 2.5 kilometers long. We will make various short forest stops (including some forest research sites) along the way.

 

DETAILS Matchmaking Day Iceland
Date: September 19th, 2019
Cost: € 0 (PhD students can apply for travel reimbursement)
Venue: Grand Hotel Reykjavik
Adress: Sigtún 38, 105 Reykjavík, Iceland
See Googlemap for the Matchmaking day

 

Program:

08:00 Welcome
08.25 Creativity Workshop: My Dream Project
08.50 Information from Nordic Forest Research (SNS), Nordic Agri Research (NKJ), The Forest Bioeconomy Network and NordGen Forest: How to apply for our funding, tips and trix
09.15 Coffee, tea and mingle
09.35 How to be more innovative and entrepreneurial as a researcher, Hannes Ottósson from Innovation Centre Iceland and University of Iceland will help us explore creativity
10.20 Mingle
10.30 Group exercise: “Networking treasures”
11.20 Mingle
11.30 Speed Dating: How to advance My Dream Project
12.10 Wrap up
12.30 Lunch, field trip and continued networking

 

Registration

Register before September 2nd. Our Matchmaking Day is free of charge and PhD students can apply for travel reimbursement for up to € 550 per person! Note that you need to submit your application for travel reimbursement at June 24th, at the latest.

You can change or delete your registration until September 2nd. Please note that those who are not granted travel reimbursement need to arrange accommodation in Reykjavik.

Download the registration form for Matchmaking day (docx)

 

Travel reimbursement

Our Matchmaking Day is especially (but not only!) designed for PhD students to get in contact with experienced colleagues and to expand their research networks in an inspiring environment. Therefore we will support 10-12 PhD students with travel reimbursement for the Matchmaking Day.

Apply latest June 24th if you want to apply for the travel grant! The granted PhD students will be reimbursed with up to € 550 for travel costs to Reykjavik (return ticket). The accommodation for two days will be paid by SNS in advance. There is a limited number of grants that will be distributed evenly between the Nordic countries.

Successful travel grant applicants will be contacted June 25 and asked to sign a contract, that should be returned July 22 at the latest.

If you are not among the granted for travel reimbursement, you are most welcome to register here again (without travel reimbursement this time) before September 2.

 

 

About the organisers:

Nordic Forest Research (SNS) is a co-operating body under the Nordic Council of Ministers that strives to enhance benefits for the Nordic region and to contribute to a sustainable society. We provide funding to interlink researchers and to facilitate exchange of brilliant ideas within sustainable forest research in the Nordic countries.

Forest Bioeconomy Network (former EFINORD) Forest Bioeconomy Network (ForBioeconomy) will primary focus on the forest-based bioeconomy in the context of northern Europe, addressing both regional diversity as well as emerging challenges and opportunities. Within that, specific scientific focus of the Research Network lays in: (i) sustainable and efficient production and use of biomass, (ii) securing sustainable provision of forest ecosystem services and (iii) promotion of supply and demand for bio-based products.

The primary objective of the Nordic Joint Committee for Agricultural and Food Research (NKJ) is to contribute to promote and coordinate a knowledge-based agriculture and food sector in the Nordic countries. To meet this end, NKJ encourages and provides support to joint Nordic cooperation within agriculture and food research, including forestry and fishery.

NordGen Forest is a Nordic body dedicated to forest regeneration, plants, seed and genetic resources. NordGen Forest addresses conservation and sustainable use of forest genetic resources, by being a forum for researchers, practitioners and managers working on forest genetics, seeds, planting stock and regeneration, and by facilitating the flow of scientific information and knowhow between these groups.

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Fruitful networking about Neonectria cankers

Now there is an overview of the status of Neonectria cankers in the Nordics. One of our SNS-NKJ networks produced it!

 

Conference room with people sitting at a table. Photo.
Meeting in Denmark at the arboretum with fruitful discussions.

The members of the NKJ-SNS network project “Neonectria cankers on trees” has gathered for a second meeting. The meeting took place in two participating countries, Sweden (hosted by SLU in Alnarp) and Denmark (hosted by KU at the arboretum in Hornsholm, Denmark).

A brief update on the status of the ongoing research projects in the participating countries as well as on the significantly improved epidemiological situation in apple orchards in Åland was accompanied by a fruitful discussion and knowledge exchange in the network “Neonectria cankers on trees – meeting of changed climatic conditions and increased problems in Scandinavian horticulture and forest production by interdisciplinary networking”.

People standing outside with a woman in the centre. Photo.
Network participant visiting apple orchard in Sweden, Larisa Gustavsson explain details about the orchard and fruit tree canker on different cultivars.

Since the network is dedicated to the three Neonectriaspp; N. ditissimaon broad leaf trees (especially fruit trees) and N. neomacrosporaand N. fuckelianaon fir (Abies spp.) and spruce (Picea spp.), respectively, the meeting included on-siteexperience of infections on both, horticultural and forest crops.

The participants visited a commercial apple orchard where they could observe damages caused by N. ditissima in a range of apple cultivars differing in their levels of resistance. The observations and discussions were dedicated to the diversity of the symptoms as well as to the diversity of the defence reactions among cultivars. The attention was also drawn to the differences in the severity of damages related to differences in growing conditions within the same orchard as well as to the differences in the age of the trees. The participants stressed on the importance of good orchard hygiene for the improvement of the epidemiological situation in the apple orchards.

In the Arboretum in Hørsholm the focus was on symptoms of N. neomacrospora on different fir species. Abies lasiocarpa and A. concolor show severe infection, whereas traditional forest tree species such as A. alba and A. grandis are less affected. Symptoms of N. fuckeliana on spruce and N. ditissima on broadleaves have not been observed in the Arboretum, and only a few cases have been reported from Danish forests, however no systematic surveys have been carried out. An important discussion was to which degree aphids on needles, shoots and bark facilitate the entry of these pathogens in the hosts.

During the excursion in the Arboretum we looked at a spore sampler experiment and discussed whether this method could be used for other Neonectria species than N. ditissima, since several participants had experienced difficulties with obtaining spores.

An important task of the network is to bring all the collected information on biology, epidemiology and control of the three pathogens, including better utilization of the intrinsic host resistance by combining of breeding resistant genotypes with improved practices to the scientific community though a review paper. The participants agreed on the content and structure of the paper. The important knowledge exchange between the horticulture and forestry as well as a positive and open atmosphere within the group indicate good prospects for further collaborations and join projects.

Two men standing in a forest looking at some equipment. Photo.
Visit of the forest trees in the arboretum and two of the participants have a closer look on traps for Neonectria spores.
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Networking – crucial for bioeconomy? Conference in march!

Transforming the current economy into a “new” bioeconomy needs changed institutional frameworks at regional and national level, sensitive to and inclusive of place­based knowledge. The SNS-NKJ network BioWiseTrans arranges a conference seeks to better understand the role of people and networks in this transition. Welcome to Karlstad 27-28 of March 2019!

 

Landscape view and yellow section with text. Illustration.The name of the conference is “People and networks matter – enabling sustainable bioeconomy transition” and takes place in Karlstad in Sweden 27-28 March 2019.

New innovative products and services continue to emerge, which will further increase the demand for biomass. This transition leads to both an increased demand for land­based biomass and its multiple use. Important questions emerge: How to use the land? How can different interests be combined?

At this conference, industry, academia and public organisations will discuss challenges and opportunities and the role of people and networks in the new bioeconomy era. Overall, we need a better and nuanced understanding of the societal impacts of this transition in different contexts and for different stakeholders.

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Matchmaking Day: A step forward for the career

Networking can be an act of art – at least in Ås at the Matchmaking Day arranged by SNS, NKJ, EFINORD and NordGen Forest.

Text and photo: Sara Hildebrand

Photos from Matchmaking day (PDF)

Man looking at white board holding a pen in his hand. Photo.

Researchers from several Nordic and Baltic countries met in Ås at the Matchmaking Day. The day started with tea and mingle, first contacts and interests were shared between the participants.

Theme of the day

People sitting at tables viewing a presentation. Photo.Introduced to Lukasz Andrzej Derdowski, who’s also conducting research in the field of work-related creativity, the participants were invited to draw themselves and note their key interests. Pinned to the wall and done relations to the people they already knew participating at the Matchmaking day, this activity resulted in a low-tech social network, which got expanded throughout the whole day.

In presentations of SNS, NKJ, NordGen Forest and EFINORD the participants received a short insight into the organisations, the opportunities to receive funding from them and how to be successful in writing applications. Outlined from the EFINORD to be creative in this process and also use social medias, an inspiring speech from Lukasz Andrzej Derdowski continued on the red thread of creativity and the ingredients of a climate in working groups stimulating creativity.

New contacts and input

Gray background with text and food supplies at the bottom. Illustration.The intense networking day ended with a last coffee and mingle while completing the low-tech network to a real piece of art with many new, interesting and helpful contacts for the participants.

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Join the SNS-NKJ network symposium about biocontrol

The NKJ-SNS network Dialogue Biocontrol wants to bring together researchers, commercial actors and end users with interest in biocontrol solutions for North European conditions and to strengthen the dialogue between these groups. Therefore they invite you to a one-day symposium with the titel “Biocontrol in Agriculture and Forestry – research, innovations and markets”.

The venue is Alnarp, Sweden, and the date November 13th. Ramesh Vetukuri, Johanna Witzell, Jarkko Hantula, Lars Moelbak and Birgit Jensen will talk and there will be a lot of discussions to find a way forwards.

Register by e-mail to network coordinator: ramesh.vetukuri@slu.se. Deadline for registration: November 5th.

Symposium program for Dialogue Biocontrol Network (PDF)