The agri-food sector can deliver sustainable solutions to current and future global challenges such as assuring a safe and sustainable provision of quality food, fostering resource efficiency, developing the circular economy, and combating climate change. In this context, digital transformation plays a crucial role.

Digital technologies hold substantial promise for the economy, environment, and society at large. Many agri-food actors have high expectations about the contribution that digital technology can bring to sustainable development. High tech has an enormous impact on efficiency, e.g., the production efficiency and volumes can increase with the replacement of manual labour by robots, and process automatisation.

The questions we will discuss in this session are:

• How measurable was the economic impact in different projects, such as IoF2020 and SAH?
• How economically feasible are digital technologies at a macro level (e.g., for the farmers)?
• What is the business model behind digital technologies, and what is the value proposition?
• Eventually, how does the macroeconomy benefit from digital innovations?

Moderator:

• Dr Irina Verweij-Novikova (Wageningen University and Research)

Speakers:

• Dr Sjaak Wolfert (Wageningen University and Research):  IoF2020  
• MSc Mireille van Hilten (Wageningen University and Research): agROBOfood

Workshop Organiser:

SmartAgriHubs - Dr Gohar Isakhanyan (Wageningen University and Research)

In this session, experts from different EU-financed agricultural and rural projects will join forces to identify knowledge gaps related to digitalisation and contextual application in those sectors that need to be urgently addressed to ensure that the potential of digitalization is fully exploited.

The Session will be only the final step of an ongoing process activated in advance and will be strictly related to the other Sessions organised later on Tuesday.

Workshop Organiser:

SmartAgriHubs - Marianna Faraldi

As it appears from different strategic documents published and several calls for projects (especially the Coordinate and Support Actions projects), European Commission (and in particular, the DG for Agriculture and Rural Development) needs support from ongoing projects for the informed development of policies as well as for orienting the Strategic Research Agenda of the future joint research program on the topics of Digitalisation and Agriculture.

SAHs Final Event will represent a unique context where more than 15 EU projects will meet and share thoughts and experiences in the agriculture and rural sector. Building on the knowledge gaps identified in the previous Session and proposing recommendations able to find new solutions, participants will have the chance to contribute actively to shaping the future R&I calls for the decade to come.

The added value will be represented by the number of people contributing (guaranteeing the needed critical mass), their multi-disciplinary background and the experience matured directly in the field.

The Session will be only the final step of an ongoing process activated in advance, and which will end with a Paper (SAHs Synergy-Days Conference Declaration) signed by all the projects coordinators involved, in a sort of “inter-projects joint effort”.

Workshop Organiser:

SmartAgriHubs - Action Lines

Combining agriculture and innovation, learning and digital tools, results in increased agricultural knowledge for all. In this workshop, NEFERTITI will present how to : 

• Find out how a good video can showcase leading agricultural practice examples and what ingredients this video should be made of.
• Learn about how agricultural platforms enable exchange and learning among innovation makers in the Agri sector across Europe.
• And finally, give your contribution to the next chapter of agricultural tools for networking and learning which will take place in the future

Workshop Organiser:

NEFERTITI

Several examples from PLOUTOS, CPS4Agri, etc. will be presented during the workshop followed by a talk about QuantiFarm and their assessment process.

Workshop Organiser:

PLOUTOS

Digital innovations and sustainability goals. The urging question of today is: can technology save the planet when we fail?

Raising production volumes to feed the growing world population will increase pollution, leaching, waste and other adverse impacts related to agri-food activities. However, resources are limited.

Therefore, the UN has formulated 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015. For the agri-food sector, the strategic sustainability plans use key performance indicators to measure and report the performance of individual companies and stimulate companies to invest in further sustainable development in the value chain.

Digital technologies hold substantial promise for the economy, environment and society at large. A majority of agri-food actors have high expectations of the contribution that digital technology can bring to sustainable development. High-tech has an enormous impact on efficiency and saving the environment, e.g., water saving, waste reduction, fertiliser/pesticide use reduction. 

The questions we will discuss in this session are: 

• How measurable were the environmental benefits in the projects, e.g., SAH and IoF2020
• Could we measure the entire footprint without forgetting other impacts, e.g., do we achieve a positive environmental balance, e.g., less fertiliser uses vs more battery uses?

Moderator:

• Dr Irina Verweij-Novikova (Wageningen University and Research)

Speakers:

• Spyros Fountas (Agricultural University of Athens): OPTIMA Smart Sprayer Control
• Dr Gohar Isakhanyan (Wageningen University and Research):  IoF2020

Workshop Organiser:

SmartAgriHubs - Gohar Isakhanyan (Wageningen University and Research)

In this workshop presented by SmartAgriHubs, we would like to strategically explore with several parties the role of the DIHs in reaching farmers all over Europe and the role of a DIH network.

Are the DIHs able to contribute to that? What do they need, and what are the conditions? This will help us forward in defining the pains, gains and needed services all over Europe.

Workshop Organiser:

Wageningen University & Research - Sustainability Team

While agroecology intends to create more sustainable agriculture by developing new practices and more generally a new approach to food systems, this workshop aims at questioning the role digital tools can play to accelerate the agroecological transition. 
 
In this session, we will shed light on the viticulture and livestock sectors thanks to the online and on-site interventions of professionals from agriculture and the AgTech sector.

Moderator:

Anne-Claire Branellec, EU Projects & Cross-Sectoral Projects Director, Conseil Régional des Pays de la Loire

Speakers:

• Julieta CONTRERAS – Head of the experimental farms' network DIGIFERMES® (DIH, France)
• Luis MIRA DA SILVA – Associate Professor, ULisboa – Institute of Agronomy (Portugal)

Recorded testimonials:

• Philippe BARDET – Winegrower & owner of Château Du Val d’Or Saint-Emilion Grand Cru, Château Pontet-Fumet, Château Franc le Maine (France)
• Clément ALLAIN – Project Manager of precision livestock farming (France)
  

Workshop Organiser:

SmartAgriHubs - Regional Cluster France

The EU and several national governments support digital innovations in the agri-food sector, especially to meet the challenges this sector has to face (sanitary crisis, climate change, food safety, traceability…).

While innovations are expanding and offer specific solutions to this sector, the producers' adoption rate remains low, and in some occurrences, it even challenges their positioning in supply chains. Acquiring a better understanding of the "how" and "why" digital innovations are first adopted and learning about their use by the adopters are crucial steps for digital innovation. It could bring valuable information about the current state of digital tools or solutions’ adoptions and their use in the agri-food sector.

Workshop Organiser:

INRAE (National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and the Environment - France)

We urgently need to change the way we produce and consume food. Indeed, our current food system, which relies heavily on external inputs (like fertilisers, pesticides, and fossil fuels), is responsible for high levels of greenhouse gas emissions and is a driver of biodiversity loss as well as soil degradation. In May 2020, the European Commission published the Farm to Fork Strategy, aiming for a sustainable transformation of our food system. Agroecology, and digitalisation, have both been acknowledged as indispensable by the EU Commission in meeting the objectives of the Farm to Fork Strategy.

But how can digitalisation support the agroecological transition? What principles should digitalisation for agroecology adopt?

In this session, we want to shed light on this debate. Which digital tools are beneficial to farmers, and what are their implications and impacts? Moreover, we will identify the role of digitalisation in agroecology. And finally, we will present the opportunities and challenges of digitalisation in agroecology.

Speakers: 

• Sylvain Quiédeville, FiBL Switzerland, Department of Socioeconomic Sciences
  

Workshop Organiser:

IFOAM Organics Europe - Lisa Sinnhuber

The number 1 societal grand challenge is sustainability. How can we meet our own needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs?

Sustainability is a major challenge, especially in agri-food systems. Feeding the increasing world population demands a production upsurge and food safety, and higher quality demands increase.

Digital technologies hold substantial promise for the economy, environment, and society at large. Multiple agri-food actors have high expectations of the contribution digital technology can bring to sustainable development. High-tech has an enormous impact on society, e.g., tackling labour shortages, taking over repetitive and dull tasks, and empowering humans. 

The question we will discuss in this session are: 
How measurable were the societal impacts in the projects, e.g., SAH and IoF2020? How do digital technologies empower humans – evidence from the users? How can society benefit from digital technology and IoT use?

Moderator:

• Dr Irina Verweij-Novikova (Wageningen University and Research)
  

Speakers:

• Dr Maria Alonso Roldan (University of Cordoba): DESIRA
  
• Kristina Sermuksnyte-Alesiuniene: AgriFood Lithuania

Workshop Organiser:

SmartAgriHubs - Dr Gohar Isakhanyan (Wageningen University and Research)

SMEs invest in the digitalisation of their products and processes, offering data services to farmers. Farmers are looking for efficient digital solutions and ways to utilise data to develop farming practices and businesses. Data spaces should enhance data flows and utilisation between solutions and systems. How do these three aspects add up to the digitalisation of farms?

Workshop Organiser:

SmartAgriHubs - Regional Cluster Scandinavia

The FARM DEMO Training Kit contains a lot of tools, guidelines, best practices and video tutorials to increase the demonstration skills of anybody who would like to prepare, carry out and evaluate an on-farm or virtual demonstration.

In this workshop by NEFERTITI, we will present this set of tools that increase peer-to-peer learning and innovation uptake in a resolutely interactive and participatory way.

By the end of the workshop, you will be aware of all basics and resource documents and tools to organise an impactful on-farm or virtual demonstration!

Workshop Organiser:

NEFERTITI

Working since 2018 in the blockchain field and leading technological part of the SmartAgriHubs DFTB project, Vinko Kojundzic will go through an overview of blockchain technologies; share lessons learned from the SmartAgriHubs DFTB project; present the DFTB project result: food quality and traceability agri-food system together with free to use service in a testing environment consisting of decentralised web app and API interface based on blockchain smart contract; share a vision for future decentralised use-cases in agri-food on the blockchain.

Speaker: 

• Vinko Kojundzic, Cuspis Group, Founder 

Workshop Organiser:

Green Digital Innovation HUB - Iulian Stoleriu

Interested in this workshop? More information will come soon!

Workshop Organiser:

ATLAS

Using the Tools for co-creation - Network analysis, the participants will focus on relationships and the energy of their Digital Innovation Hub (DIH) network. The main objective is to make a network energy assessment and build stronger links between the actors involved.

Programme:

• 16h00 Presentation of the HIBA - HUB IBERIA AGROTECH project
• 16h10 Presentation of Network analysis tool for DIH
• 16h20 Network analysis co-creation for DIH
• 16h50 Discussion and conclusions

Speakers:

• Rui Almeida (CONSULAI)
• Francisca Viveiros (CONSULAI)
• Carolina Ramos (CONSULAI)

Workshop Organiser:

HIBA

This demonstration will take place at the School of Agriculture of the University of Lisbon, only 10 minutes walking distance from the conference venue, where you will see how a demonstration is done with the use of innovative technology in water management and pesticide reduction, followed by wine tasting and knowledge exchange according to NEFERTITI methodology.

Location: School of Agriculture, University of Lisbon (vineyard at 15 min walking from the Centre of Congress)

Participants: given the practical context of the workshop, a limit of 30 participants is imposed and registration must be done in advance.

Agenda

14.00 | Meeting in the Vineyard of the School of Agriculture

14.15 | Start of Demonstration in the Vineyard: 

• Water management: irrigation management using probe and weather station + thermography robot (Gonçalo Vitorino)
  
• Pesticide reduction: automatic traps (Aquagri) + Drone with pesticide application (Ricardo Braga)

15.15 | Wine Break salão nobre

15.30h | room discussion: moderators: Gonçalo Rodrigues and Leonor Santos

• potential use of the technology in a real-life context
• scalability of what was demonstrated

16.30 | End of Demonstration and walk back to the congress for the final plenary session

Demonstrators:

• Gonçalo Vitorino: PhD Student in Precision Viticulture and Image Analysis with the project 'Vinbot'. 
• Aquagri: a company specialized in services and equipment for Irrigation Water Management, integrating internet-based remote monitoring technologies and data analysis software for irrigation management.
• Ricardo Braga: Professor of Precision agriculture, specialised in spatial optimization of agricultural inputs.
  

Workshop Organisers:

NEFERTITI - Gonçalo Rodrigues (Associated Professor of Irrigation and Water Management) & Leonor Santos (NEFERTITI WP2 co-leader responsible for Cross-Visits and Knowledge Exchange methodology).

The development of projects and stimulation of entrepreneurship are core capabilities of DIHs. Digital and sustainable transitions in our agricultural sector force us to make changes together. Different value chain partners need to make bigger and smaller business model innovations in alignment.

In this workshop, you will learn to work with the “collaborative business modelling” approach. For DIHs, the service of business modelling is indispensable, as it helps to better shape projects and guide innovations to exploitation. For other agricultural actors, understanding and shaping a valuable network to which they belong helps to create and seize opportunities.

Workshop Organiser:

SmartAgriHubs - TNO (Work Package 4 Leader)

ICAERUS's vision is to explore opportunities and provide a complete and interconnected account of the potential and impact of drones as multi-purpose vehicles in EU agriculture, forestry, and rural areas. ICAERUS will illustrate and support, through the application, the effective, efficient, and safe deployment of drones as well as identify the risks and added values associated with their use.

Speakers:

• Spyros Fountas (AUA)
• Grigoris Chatzikostas (FSH)

Workshop Organiser:

ICAERUS

The session will be in a form of a panel discussion where we will discuss with the sector experts about the latest advancements, challenges and future demands in Europe across fruit, vegetables and arable sectors.

The session will serve as a platform to change sector-specific experiences and obstacles. It will also look at the future trends and demands of technological and non-technological nature. The session will result in a set of recommendations aiming to improve sector-specific collaborations and developments.

Workshop Organisers:

BioSense Institute & ILVO (Flanders Research Institute for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food)

The session will be in a form of a panel discussion where we will discuss with the sector experts about the latest advancements, challenges and future demands in Europe across animal production and dairy sectors.

The session will serve as a platform to exchange sector-specific experiences and obstacles. It will also look at the future trends and demands of technological and non-technological nature. The session will result in a set of recommendations aiming to improve sector-specific collaborations and developments.

Workshop Organiser:

BioSense Institute & ILVO (Flanders Research Institute for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food)

The overall goal of the EU-FarmBook project is to strengthen the EU AKIS by further developing, expanding, exploiting, and maintaining an EU-wide digital platform for agriculture and forestry practice that is user-friendly and particularly oriented to farmers, foresters, advisors, educators, and trainers. Exploitation will include providing overall support related to concrete practice-oriented knowledge co-creation, (digital) organization and sharing among and across the Member States.

Specific objectives of EU-FarmBook (Among others):

• Collect all the relevant agriculture and forestry practice-oriented materials of all multi-actor Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe projects and all EIP Operational Groups.
• Engage and develop alliances (Strategic FarmBook Alliance) with a multitude of actors through interacting with CAP networks and interacting with other networks at the local, regional and national levels to ensure that content from similar databases at all levels will be collected and guarantee efficient dissemination of the outputs of the EU-FarmBook to the key target audiences throughout the EU.

Workshop Organiser:

EU-FarmBook

16:00-16:10 | Setting the Scene
     Branwen Miles, Senior Policy Advisor, COPA-COGECA

16:10-16:40 | Panel Debate

• Diana Lenzi, President, European Council of Young Farmers-CEJA
• Hanna Chodkowska, Vice-Chair, COPA-COGECA Women’s Committee
• Karolina Menclova, Managing Director, Czech-Moravian Association of Agricultural Entrepreneurs-ČMSZP

16:40-16:55 | Questions & Answers

16:55-17:00 | End of the Workshop

Workshop Organiser:

COPA-COGECA - Branwen Miles (Senior Policy Advisor)