Conference: Boosting agrifood research and innovation cooperation for impact at scale

Be ready to participate in the conference ‘Boosting agrifood research and innovation cooperation for impact at scale’, which will be held in Brussels, Belgium, on March 11, 12, and 13, 2025.

The aims of the conference are (i) to share results and lessons on the contribution of R&I projects to agrifood systems transitions, (ii) to identify key enablers and hurdles to achieve impact at scale through innovation, (iii) explore future contributions of R&I for agrifood systems transitions, innovation systems and innovation policies, and (iv) informed policy and decision makers on supporting R&I at scale in partner countries. It will bring together stakeholders from policy, research, private sector and NGOs with similar objectives or experiences in advancing research and innovation in agrifood systems through international cooperation.

Please note that there are no more seats are available for in-person participation. However, you can participate online using the links below (for plenary sessions AND parallel sessions). After registration, you will receive a meeting invite with a Zoom link.

The plenary sessions will be translated into French and English, and the parallel sessions will be either in French or English.

• Day 1 (11 March). Registration link
• Day 2 (12 March) Registration link
• Day 3 (13 March) Registration link

Brief programme overview

• Day 1 morning will feature the different EU R&I programmes and focus on results and lessons from EU interventions (DeSIRA Initiative, Horizon Europe) that aim to support innovation.
• The afternoon of Day 1 will present key lessons from the regional DeSIRA workshops and discuss specific topics (including parallel sessions): how to do research in partnerships for innovation and how R&I can support food systems transition based on agroecology and other innovative approaches.
• The morning of Day 2 will broaden the reflection and discussion by focusing on how to support innovation at scale using R&I outcomes (policies for enabling the environment, public and private funding, and capacities, including education) and parallel sessions.
• The afternoon of Day 2 will be dedicated to high-level discussions on ongoing and future EU policies for R&I cooperation with partner countries. A short session with partner countries will be devoted to future EU R&I programmes.
• Day 3 will be dedicated to sessions/events proposed by organisations participating in the conference: the AU-EU FNSSA roadmap, the AU-EU FNSSA International Research Consortium, SCAR-ARCH and EU R&I co-funded partnerships, GFAiR for innovation, Regional Multi-actors Research Networks on agroecology in Africa, Global Monitoring, and Evaluation of the DeSIRA initiative.

You can find the latest information on the program here: www.desiralift.org/conference

We hope you will join us online!

DeSIRA-LIFT (June 2021 – May 2025) is the result of close collaboration between Agrinatura (European Alliance on Agricultural Knowledge for Development), the European Forum on Agricultural Research for Development (EFARD) and the European Commission’s Directorate-General for International Partnerships (DG INTPA).