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Welcome note December 2021 newsletter

Dear readers, 2021 has been another turbulent year, again with great successes and challenges. Just like last year, I would…
14/12/2021
GMOs

Commission event: Can New Genetic Engineering Techniques (NGETs) be sustainable?

The European Commission invited stakeholders, public officials, and politicians for a high-level event to discuss their plans to launch new…
14/12/2021
Food policy

Organic in sustainable food public procurement: numerous benefits for a low-hanging fruit

Recent European initiatives related to food policies, among which the Farm to Fork Strategy, Organic Action Plan, and new legislative…

Read our new leaflet on plant health care in organic farming

Have you ever heard of all the preventive plant protection measures implemented by organic farmers to produce food without using…

IFOAM Organics Europe Meets Business: Bridging business and EU policies, 7 December, online

On 7 December 2021, players from the whole (organic) supply chain – including processors, traders, retailers, and certifiers – joined the…

Alternatives for contentious inputs: Research well on track, 30 November 2021-1 December 2021

On 30 November and 1 December, the Organic Innovation Days 2021 entitled “Better inputs for organic agriculture” took place online. In 2021,TP Organics’ annual public event,…

6th European Conference on copper in Plant Protection, 17-18 November 2021, online

2021 was an extremely rainy year, posing challenges for copper minimization on farms with permanent and specialty crops. As it…

Organic’s approach to plant health: Webinar with MEP Eric Andrieu - 16 November 2021, online

On November 16, IFOAM Organics Europe and French Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Eric Andrieu (S&D) co-hosted a webinar…

Using blockchain technology in organic

Ever wondered how blockchain technology can be used by the organic sector? Check out the highlights of the innovation experiment…

Mainstreaming organic plant breeding – celebrating 20 years of organic plant breeders

‘How to make organic plant breeding mainstream’ – was the guiding question of the 20th anniversary event of the organic…

Welcome note October 2021 newsletter

Dear readers, Autumn has reached Europe, and unlike nature at this time of year, our work is not slowing down.…

Political hotspot October 2021 newsletter

26 October marked the final day for final contributions to the Commission’s inception impact assessment (roadmap) on the Sustainable Food…

Review of events

On 22 September, the European Environmental Bureau (EEB) organised a workshop to discuss the potential role of public policies in…

Preview of events

On 16 November, from 10:30-12:00, MEP Eric Andrieu (S&D) will co-host our website on the organic approach to plant health…

Intercropping for boosting organic farming in EU – ReMIX policy brief

The European Green Deal addresses the challenges of a fair sustainable food system. To realise the EU Green Deal, the…

Take part in EIP-AGRI workshop on farm data!

Are you a farmer, an adviser, an Operational Group member, or a tech company using farm data solutions? Applications are…

The role of Demo Farms in Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation Systems: a workshop for policy makers

The family of FarmDemo projects – NEFERTITI, PLAID and AGRIDEMO – organised a workshop to raise awareness among local and…

Copenhagen Food System Centre’s work supporting organic development - Interview with Line Rise Nielsen

Our colleagues, Joanna Wierzbicka, Strategic Initiatives Manager, and Bérénice Cau, Project and Fundraising Assistant, met with Line Rise Nielsen, Food…

Enlarge your organic farm knowledge through videos

A versatile collection of video content from the Organic Farm Knowledge Platform is now available on its own YouTube channel,…

LIVESEED and OK-Net EcoFeed highlighted to be EU-funded research projects demonstrating potential of more sustainable alternatives

The EU Green Deal and its related Farm to Fork and Biodiversity strategies identified agroecology and organic farming as one…

Watch RELACS’ new video about copper replacement in oil rose plantation

A new RELACS video explores the work and research currently pursued in the Rose Valley in Bulgaria. Organic farmers are…
12/10/2021
GMOs

Participate in Commission Public Consultation to keep (new) GMOs regulated and to protect organic

As covered in the last edition of the newsletter, the Commission is considering a new legal proposal for so-called “New…

Over 1 million signatures demanding a restoration of biodiversity & support for farmers

Across Europe, more than 1 million citizens are calling for a reduction of 80% in the use of synthetic pesticides…

LIVESEED project comes to an end after 52 months

The LIVESEED project came to an end on 30 September 2021, after 52 months of activities. Started in June 2017,…

Digital Excellence in Agriculture Contest: Organic Farm Knowledge platform awarded first prize in Category 2!

The online platform Organic Farm Knowledge was awarded the first prize of the ‘Digital Excellence in Agriculture in Europe and…
28/09/2021
GMOs

Public consultation for new legal proposal upcoming

On 29 April 2021, the European Commission published a study on the status of New Genomic Techniques under Union law…
22/09/2021
Biodiversity

Sign ‘save bees and farmers’ before 30 September!

In case you have not signed the European Citizens’ Initiative to ‘Save bees and farmers’ yet, you can still do…
16/09/2021
Food policy

Read the leading initiatives for more sustainable foods in FAO's handbook

Sustainable food systems are critical to ensure that future generations have access to food and consume healthy meals. Many food…

Vote on European Parliament’s Farm to Fork Strategy report: mostly positive on organic

The Farm to Fork (F2F) strategy, published in May 2020 with a view of holistically transitioning towards more sustainable food…

Emerging eco-friendly solutions to plant & animal protection inputs - RELACS scientific publications

The RELACS project recently released two new scientific papers on promising plant and animal protection methods and strategies for reducing…
08/09/2021
GMOs

The debate about new GMOs in Europe: Our Policy Coordinator in conversation with Slow Food Europe

In their podcast series on European food and farming policies, Slow Food Europe brings together experts to discuss hot matters…

How are cities engaging with food system transformation? FoodSHIFT webinar, 13 September, 15:00-16:00

City councils – either led by the city government itself or by citizens – are key to involve citizens and…
16/08/2021
Events Seeds

LIVESEED – Organic seed breeding at the Organic World Congress

The LIVESEED project, which IFOAM Organics Europe co-cordinates, is contributing to the Organic World Congress (OWC) with a colourful program.…
06/08/2021
Biodiversity

Only few days left to sign the European Citizens’ Initiative to save bees and farmers!

To those in our network who have not signed the European Citizens’ Initiative to ‘Save bees and farmers’ yet, you…

Organic production of milk and meat - Join RELACS & Organic-PLUS at meeting of European Federation of Animal Science

The Horizon 2020 projects RELACS and Organic-PLUS will organize a session (#51) on “Organic production of milk and meat” on…

Have your say! IFOAM Organics Europe provided feedback to the Commission’s EU School Scheme roadmap

As announced in the Farm to Fork (F2F) strategy, the Commission will “review the EU school scheme to enhance its…

Boosting organic seed & breeding - Policy and stakeholder recommendations

As the LIVESEED project is coming to its end, it has released a synthesis of all its results and recommendations.…

How can EU policies consider organic farming’s benefits for biodiversity?

IFOAM Organics Europe recently published a new report highlighting the contribution of organic farming to protecting Europe’s biodiversity. By setting…

Organic Farm Knowledge platform finalist in Digital Excellence in Agriculture Contest

The online platform Organic Farm Knowledge was nominated as one of the finalist ‘Digital Excellence in Agriculture in Europe and…

Demand better food & farming – Good Food Good Farming European Action Days - 1-31 October 2021

This year, Good Food Good Farming is again organising its European Action Days 1-31 October 2021. Raise your voice, add…

Info Days on Horizon Europe Cluster 6 - 7-8 July 2021, online

Under the Pillar 2 of Horizon Europe, Cluster 6 – Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture & Environment is central to…
24/06/2021
Seeds

Commission opens public consultation on the review of the seed legislation

The Commission’s Directorate General for Health and Food Safety (DG SANTE) is reviewing the Union’s options to update the existing…

Comics showing why industrial agriculture is broken

In May 2020, the EU released its Biodiversity and Farm to Fork strategies as part of the European Green Deal.…

Beekeepers and civil society concerned about pesticide risk assessment methodology

At the Agriculture and Fisheries (AGRIFISH) Council on 28-29 June, Member State representatives will vote on a crucial step for…

EUREKA summer consortium meeting - 15-17 June 2021, online

On 15-17 June, all EUREKA’s partners virtually met at the project’s annual meeting to update and exchange about the project’s…

End of OK-Net EcoFeed project

Over the past three years, 19 organisations from 12 European countries have taken part in the Horizon 2020 OK-Net EcoFeed project to help farmers achieve 100% use of organic…

SmartAgriHubs’ Open call (RESTART & EXPAND)

In July 2020, SmartAgriHubs opened the RESTART and EXPAND open calls, assigning up to €5,000,000 funding for Digital Innovation Hubs…

Curious about alternatives to contentious fertilisers? Read RELACS’ new practice abstracts

The RELACS project just released two new practice abstracts on promising alternatives to fertilisers suitable for organic farming. Struvite as…
 
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