A unique event, Collaborating for Impact: Ireland and Europe working together on agri-food research, was jointly hosted by Teagasc and the European Commission Representation in Ireland.
The event took place at the European Commission Representation to Ireland offices in Dublin and focused on Ireland’s significant contributions to European agri-food research and innovation.
Mairead McGuinness, EU Commissioner for Financial Services, Financial Stability and Capital Markets Union, explained: “Researchers from Ireland are driving essential parts of these European projects, including several agricultural initiatives led by Teagasc.
“The initiatives launched, Climate Farm Demo, SafeHabitus and RefreSCAR, are excellent examples of what we can achieve with Horizon Europe funding.
“These initiatives will tackle emission reductions, improve farm sustainability and address the significant data gaps on farm accidents and fatalities, helping to make real progress on vital topics.”
New projects to advance agri-food research
Updates on three Horizon Europe-funded initiatives to advance agri-food research were presented at the event. They are:
- Who Gets Counted? Improving EU Farm Safety Data – from the Safe Habitus project
- Annual Campaign of Farm Demonstration Visits – from the Climate Farm Demo project
- SCAR Engage: enhancing member state involvement in research & innovation cooperation – from the REFRESCAR project
Safe Habitus project
19 partner organisations from across the EU developed the SafeHabitus project, which seeks to improve understanding and awareness of how farmer health and safety challenges impact their working conditions and quality of life.
Despite Eurostat data indicating that there are an average of 315 occupational deaths on farms each year, the reality is that the true figure is at least 545 deaths.
This finding helps improve our understanding of the scale of the challenges faced by farmers, farm workers, farm families, and rural communities.
It also highlights the need for continued support for investment in farm facilities and equipment that improve safety and the development or adoption of safer farming practices.
Climate Farm Demonstration
Climate Farm Demo is an EU network of pilot demo farmers covering 28 countries. It aims to accelerate farmers’ adoption of climate-smart farming practices.
The project connects the 1,500 Pilot Demo Farmers and their Climate Farm Advisors at the European and National levels to increase knowledge exchange and the implementation of climate adaptation and mitigation measures.
Thanks to interactive and peer-to-peer learning, the Climate-Smart Farming practices will be demonstrated to the wider farming community across six annual demo campaigns (4,500 demo events).
SCAR-Engage Programme
The SCAR-Engage Programme is an initiative designed to boost European countries’ engagement in research and innovation coordination activities. It supports involvement in a European committee called the Standing Committee on Agricultural Research (SCAR).
This committee brings together European countries and the European Commission to share information on research priorities across Europe and coordinate investments at the national and EU levels.
SCAR covers the areas of agriculture, food systems, fisheries, forestry, and the wider bioeconomy.
