Agriculture – The Nordic Joint Committee for Agricultural and Food Research

November 22, 2023November 24, 2023

Matchmaking day: living labs and lighthouses in agriculture and food

NKJ has an open call for networks in agriculture and food. We want as many nordic researchers as possible to exchange knowledge, therefore we arrange a matchmaking day for you to find new colleagues, to elaborate your scientific project further and to get inspired.

When: December 14th 2023, 13.30–16.00 CET
Where: Online via Zoom, link will be sent out in advance of the meeting
Registration: Register to the event by sending an email (name, research area and institution) to nkj@slu.se

The main goal of the Mission ‘A Soil Deal for Europe’ is to establish 100 living labs and lighthouses to lead the transition towards healthy soils by 2030.

On the matchmaking day we take a deep dive into how you as a researcher can utilize living labs and lighthouses. We also offer an opportunity to connect with other researchers who are looking for collaboration opportunities on research connected to living labs and/or light houses. Matchmaking with other researchers will be carried out in smaller groups to maximaze the chance for the participants to gain new contacts in their own area of interest.

The groups will mainly focus on food and agricultural research in living labs/light houses connected to:

Climate resilience
Soil health
Plant health

You will be inspired by speakers from light houses and living labs in the Nordic region. NKJ will also inform you about the current open call that can fund your future networking activities.

AGENDA
13.30 Welcome
13.35 Inspiration talk: PLEN Living Labs
13.55 Inspiration talk: cooperation on light houses, Mære landbruksskole
14.15 How to apply for funds from NKJ: tips and trix
14.30 Networking workshop
16.00 Finish

January 19, 2022January 19, 2022

OPEN CALL: research networks in agriculture and food system

Researchers in agriculture and the food industry can now apply for funding for networking activities aimed at increasing the sectors’ sustainability, resilience and competitiveness.

Deadline for application submission is April 21^th, 2022.

Text på svenska längre ner
With this funding opportunity, NKJ wants to interlink researchers in the Nordic region to find solutions on how to sustainably transform the food system.

That transformation is a powerful tool to reach the 17 SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals). We need to change the way we produce, consume and think about food; a new food narrative that acknowledges systems issues in agriculture – from broken nutrient cycles to biodiversity loss, erosion, fossil fuel dependence and CO2 emissions – interlinked issues that could in part be solved at the regional level.

NKJ encourages networks that relate to aspects of transformation and transition in agriculture and the food system at large to apply for funding. The focus could be either on farms or focusing anywhere from the downstream refinement of agricultural products to upstream innovations and production flows needed to increase primary agricultural production in the Nordic region. The goal is to encourage activities directed to novel tools and improve current production to increase resilience, sustainability and competitiveness of agriculture in the Nordic region.

Call conditions
Networks should include applicants from research institutions from at least three different countries in the Nordic region.

Each gender must be represented by a minimum of 40% of the participants in the network.

PhD students and young researchers should be included in the network.

Network grants are for two years of activities from August 2022 to July 2024.

Stakeholders are encouraged to participate but cannot be main applicants.

Economic framework
The amount applied for from NKJ can be maximum 300.000 SEK. The funding should primarily be spent on costs for arranging scientific meetings, workshops and conferences including accommodation, travel and conference fees but could also cover costs for designing policy recommendations based on research findings, write large-scale research funding applications, creating or maintaining databases or websites (excluding hardware) and communication activities.

Networks are expected to co-finance at least 50% of the total budget.

Cultured meat can be part of our everyday life

A successful workshop by Culture Meat Network was arranged 12-13 April 2021 online.

Who should take part in the production of cultured meat and what is the input required for success? How can we enlighten and inform the Nordic industry so they can see and define their role? How can we make this type of technology an opportunity for the Nordic countries, and not a threat? How do we interact with consumers and society regarding cultured meat?

These were questions discussed and possibly answered by the participants in the second network meeting and workshop arranged by the NKJ funded network Cultured Meat.

The background to asking these questions is that the global food production must increase, and cultured meat R&D is expected to increase to meet this demand.

One of the main issues of cultured meat is the lack of dissemination. That is why the network did organized a 2-day workshop to gain more understanding of and dissemination of the concept among different stakeholders aligned with the network’s aims, e.g. ingredient and equipment suppliers, producers, consumers and politicians, amongst others. The 2-day workshop covered subjects such as technology, regulation, LCA, consumers and the political perspective.

Each day there were around 100 persons participating, the majority from the Nordic region but also from other countries.

Agenda for the workshop

More about the Cultured Meat Network

June 29, 2018November 3, 2020