Claus Bo Andreasen

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Claus Bo Andreasen Signe H. PoulsenDanish
Research Center of Organic Food and
Farmingwww.darcof.dk
Seminar European Organic Advisers, Horsens
August 28th to 30th, 2005

• Communicating European research
• - strategies and instruments

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Content

• New EU focus on communication
• Research Projects in Organic Food and Farming
• Research highlights (examples)
• Communication on a European level (challenges)
• Mediation in projects (examples)
• Discussion on improved utilization of European
  research

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European Action plan for communication

• Problems with communication in EU
• 20 July 2005 a new action plan for communication
  was presented
• Objective to ensure more effective communication
  about Europe
• The action plan is the first phase of the
  Commission's plans to "reconnect with citizens".
• Three principles underpin the action plan
• listening to the citizens
• communicating in an understandable way
• "going local" by adapting message and messenger
  to national and local concerns.

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Improving the Internet servicesEuropean action
plan for communication

• EUROPA
• Shift the emphasis more towards communication
• Facilitate navigation
• Ensure fully multilingual web pages
• State of the art technology - including powerful
  search engine
• An editor to ensure a well-structured website and
  avoidance of overlaps of texts
• In general
• New web sites focusing on priorities and current
  hot topics and key target audiences
• Information for the general public locally in
  local languages tailored to local needs and
  realities
• Thematic portals

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European resources for communicating research

• EUROPA - Gateway to the European Union
• CORDIS - the Community Research and Development
  Information Service

http//europa.eu.int/
http//www.cordis.lu/
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Research Projects in Organic Food and Farming

• Production aspects
• QLIF
• REPCO
• Intercrop
• Blight-Mop
• Organic Inputs Evaluation
• Organic HACCP
• ENVIRFOOD

• Policy aspects
• SAFO
• Organic Revision
• EU-CEE-OFP
• ORGAP
• EISfOM
• CHANNEL
• CORE Organic

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QualityLowInputFood (QLIF)

• Title Improving quality and safety and reduction
  of cost in the European organic and "low input"
  food supply chain
• Objective to improve quality, food safety and
  reduce costs in organic and "low input" food
  production systems
• 31 European partners within different research
  disciplines
• http//www.qlif.org/

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REPCO

• Title Replacement of Copper Fungicides in
  Organic Production of Grapevine and Apple in
  Europe
• Objective REPCO aims to contribute to the
  replacement of copper fungicides in organic
  agriculture by new measures for control of downy
  mildew (Plasmopara viticola) in grapevine and
  scab (Venturia inaequalis) in apple
• http//www.rep-co.nl/

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Intercrop

• Title Intercropping of cereals and grain legumes
  for increased production, weed control, improved
  product quality and prevention of N-losses in
  European organic farming systems
• Objective Intercrop aims at defining
  intercropping strategies for sustainable plant
  production management in Organic Farming systems
  under different regional conditions in Europe
• http//www.intercrop.dk/

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Blight-Mop

• Title Development of a systems approach for the
  management of late blight in EU organic potato
  production
• Objective to develop a systems approach to
  control potato late blight that maintains yield
  and quality and hence commercial viability of
  organic potato crops without the use of copper
  fungicides
• www.ncl.ac.uk/tcoa/producers/research/blightmop/

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Organic Inputs Evaluation

• Title Harmonised and standardised procedures for
  evaluation of plant protection products,
  fertilizers and soil conditioners for use in
  organic agriculture
• Objective Organic Inputs Evaluation is to come
  up with recommendations for harmonized and
  standardised procedures for evaluation of plant
  protection products, fertilizers and soil
  conditioners for use in organic agriculture
• www.organicinputs.org

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Organic HAACP

• Title Recommendations for improved procedures
  for securing consumer oriented food safety and
  quality of certified organic foods from plough to
  plate
• Objective The objective of Organic HACCP is to
  provide recommendations on the chain of
  production, distribution and consumption in
  regard to improving the safety and quality of
  certified organic food products
• www.organichaccp.org

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ENVIRFOOD

• Title Environmental friendly food production
  system requirements for plant breeding and seed
  production
• Objective The general objective of ENVIRFOOD is
  to bring together plant breeders, seed producers,
  and specialists of variety testing of Baltic
  countries

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SAFO

• Title Sustaining Animal Health and Food Safety
  in Organic Farming
• Objective to improve food safety and sustaining
  animal health in organic farming
• Among others this is done through establishment
  of a network for exchange and discussion of
  research
• www.safonetwork.org

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Organic Revision

• Title Research to support revision of the EU
  regulation on organic agriculture
• Objective to provide recommendations for
  development of the EU regulation for organic
  agriculture
• www.organic-revision.org

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EU-CEE-OFP

• Title Further development of Organic Farming
  Policy in Europe, with Particular Emphasis on EU
  Enlargement
• Objective The EU-CEE-OFP project is to identify
  how the complementary development of Organic
  Farming in both existing EU states, Switzerland,
  and in Central and Eastern European (CEE)
  Accession states can be fostered through policy
  design and innovation
• www.irs.aber.ac.uk/EUCEEOFP/

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ORGAP

• Title European Action Plan of Organic Food and
  Farming
• Objective to develop criteria and procedures for
  the evaluation of the EU Action Plan for Organic
  Agriculture
• www.orgap.org

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EISfOM

• Title European Information System in Organic
  Markets
• Objective EISfOM is an integrated project with
  the aim to build up a framework for reporting
  valid and reliable data for relevant production
  and market data about the European organic sector
• www.eisfom.org

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CHANNEL

• Title Opening channels of communication between
  Associated Candidate Countries and the EU in
  Ecological Farming
• Objective to assess and analyse which
  development stages the associated candidate
  countries have achieved in organic agriculture
  and to open communication channels on different
  levels necessary for starting the harmonization
  and equalization process in organic agriculture
• www.channel.uni-corvinus.hu

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CORE Organic

• Title Coordination of European Transnational
  Research in Organic Food and Farming
• Objective to gather a critical mass and through
  coordination and collaboration to enhance
  quality, relevance and utilization of resources
  in European research in organic food and farming
• The project began October 2004 and the initiative
  comprises 11 European countries supported by the
  EU-commission
• www.coreorganic.org

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Research highlights

• Articles in leading scientific journals
• Key presentations at scientific congresses
• Project communication media
• Organic congresses

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Examples on research highlights

• Chicory root improves the taste and odour of
  organic pork
• Few days of feeding with chicory root reduces the
  boar taint in slaughter pigs and improves the
  eating quality
• At the same time feeding with chicory root
  changes the intestinal environment and leads to a
  decreased incidence of swine dysentery and
  intestinal parasitesDARCOFenews

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Examples on research highlights

• Increased phytoestrogen content in organic milk
• Preliminary study at 17 Danish dairy farms shows
  that organic milk can have a higher content of
  plant estrogens than conventional milk in Denmark
  (DARCOFenews)

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Examples on research highlights

• Organic diet enhanced the health of rats
• The immune response was enhanced when rats were
  fed on organically grown or minimally fertilised
  plant diets
• The study also indicated the rats fed on
  organically grown diets accumulated less adipose
  tissue and rested better during daytime
  DARCOFenews

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Examples on research highlights

• Feeding with lupines reduces the amount of
  skatole in organic pigs
• Female and castrate organic pigs fed with 25 pct.
  lupines had significantly lower skatole
  concentrations in back fat compared with the
  control treatments without lupines.
• It is expected the skatole concentration could be
  decreased by ca. 50 pct. also in entire male pigs
  fed with lupine, thereby reducing the number of
  entire male pigs with boar taint DARCOFenews

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Examples on research highlights

• Higher antioxidant content in organic milk than
  in conventional milk due to feeding strategy
• New study shows that the content of antioxidants
  is significantly higher in organic milk
  (DARCOFenews)
• The most important reason for the observed
  differences is presumably the large amounts of
  maize silage used in the conventional production,
  whereas a considerable amount of grass and
  leguminous plants are used in the organic
  production

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Communication on a European levelWhat are the
challenges?

• Challenges for the project
• Different research disciplines
• Different traditions for mediation and
  communication
• Variations in the approach to organic farming

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Communication on a European levelWhat are the
challenges?

• Challenges for the communication
• Who is the (end)user
• How is the national and local organization of
  knowledge mediation
• Differences in farm size, production level,
  climate, soil, etc

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Mediation in projects

• Scientific articles
• Project reports and other publications
• Press releases media contact
• Articles in farm magazines etc
• Congresses
• Seminars workshops
• Exhibitions open days

• Websites portals
• Databases information systems
• Newsletters
• Web logs
• Discussion forum
• EcoWiki
• Organic Eprints

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Examples on mediation in projects Scientific
articles project reports

• Advancement of research and science
• Fulfillment of project targets
• Distribution and availability

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Examples on mediation in projects Media contact
popular articles

• Press releases
• Here we are (project start, conferences etc)
• Single issues
• Popular articles
• Difficult with even distribution in all countries
• Difficult to achieve the same relevance in all
  countries

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Examples on mediation in projects Websites
internet resources

• Project websites (QLIF)
• Thematic research websites (FØJO)
• Portals (Organic Europe, CORE Organic)
• Databases and information systems (Plant info)
• Open access (Organic Eprints)

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Examples on mediation in projects On-line
newsletters

• Online project magazine (QLIF news)
• Online portal magazines (CORE news)
• E-mail notifications (SAFO)

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Examples on mediation in projects Communicative
internet ressources

• Web logs (okologgen)
• Discussion forum (OrganicForum)
• EcoWiki (EcoWiki)

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Examples on mediation in projects Organic Eprints
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Discussion Improved utilization of European
research

• Who are the target groups for the EU research?
• Possibilities for cooperation between EU research
  and national/regional/local information systems?
• What medias should be used?
• Suggestions for common/joint resources?