RELACS
RELACS
This year’s Organic Innovation Days, TP Organics’ annual event, will take place online on 30 November-1 December. Titled ‘Better inputs for organic farming’, the Organic Innovation Days are a unique opportunity to meet members of TP Organics, network with EU stakeholders and decision-makers, as well as discuss and exchange with the partners of the European research projects RELACS and Organic-PLUS. These two Horizon 2020-funded projects aim at reducing the use of contentious inputs in organic farming systems.
What can I expect at this year’s Organic Innovation Days?
Day 1: Alternatives to contentious inputs in organic farming
On the first day, participants will be taking a closer look at plant protection products such as copper and mineral oil as well as soil and nutrients, peat and plastic, antibiotics, vitamins, and novel bedding materials in livestock husbandry. The projects’ experts will present each topic and a discussion will follow.
Day 2: Socio-economic aspects, the way forward & policy debate
On the second day, Organic-PLUS and RELACS experts will present the socio-economic results of the projects in three sessions:
- Consumer perspectives and citizen juries;
- Socio-economic and environmental impacts of alternative tools and technologies;
- Acceptance level of different alternative inputs, towards a European roadmap for replacing contentious inputs.
These exchanges will be followed by a high-level policy debate on how to tackle contentious inputs in organic farming. The European Commission’s Directorate General on Agriculture and Rural Development (DG AGRI) will introduce the topic by discussing the contribution of the Organic Action Plan to this goal. The RELACS and Organic-PLUS project coordinators will conclude the event and point out next steps.
Background information
TP Organics is the European Technology Platform for organic food and farming and agroecology officially recognised by the European Commission for giving input in research and innovation policy and programmes. IFOAM Organics Europe hosts its secretariat.
Coordinated by Coventry University’s Centre for Agroecology, Water and Resilience, ‘sister’ project Organic-PLUS (O+) involves 10 universities and 15 multi-actors (other research institutions and NGOs) in 8 EU and 4 non-EU countries. The overall aim is to provide high-quality, trans-disciplinary, scientifically informed decision support to help all actors in the organic sector, including national and regional policy makers, to reach the next level of the organic success story in Europe. Both projects started in May 2018 and officially run until end of April 2022 (not considering possible Covid-19 extensions).
Pathways to phase-out contentious inputs from organic agriculture in Europe (Organic-PLUS) has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 774340.
These sessions are financed by the projects RELACS and Organic-PLUS, which have received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreements No 773431 and No 774340, respectively.
This event is co-financed by the LIFE programme of the European Union, under the Executive Agency for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (EASME). The sole responsibility for this event lies with IFOAM Organics Europe. EASME is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information provided.