Joint PRO-GRACE/EMPHASIS Policy Symposium on Plant Genetic Resources
Policy Symposium on Plant Genetic Resources
27 June 2024, Brussels
The European project PRO-GRACE in collaboration with the EMPHASIS European Plant Phenotyping Infrastructure held a policy symposium to address the challenges and opportunities regarding the conservation, characterization, access and use of (non-) commercial plant genetic resources (PGR) present in genebanks and in their natural habitat in Europe.
This policy symposium aimed to engage European and national policymakers, as well as interested stakeholders, to discuss the potential of a future research infrastructure named ‘GRACE-RI’ dedicated to PGR to address biodiversity loss.
The symposium started with background information to understand better the challenges and needs related to PGR: we are losing plant biodiversity in Europe, and international policy frameworks are impacting conservation, access and use of PGR.
Subsequently, the Commission presented how the EU is funding and supporting research and innovation for the conservation and use of PGR, and we learnt in addition more about (1) national initiatives, (2) a decentralized approach through citizen science and (3) the European coordination programme ECPGR.
Finally, the Commission explained the ESFRI roadmap and how to submit a proposal for a new research infrastructure and, with different stakeholders, we explored how a European research infrastructure ‘GRACE-RI’ could enable the potential of PGR.
Presentations
Click on the links to view the presentations in pdf format
Recording
Session 1
Plant genetic resources in Europe: challenges and opportunities in conservation, characterization, access and use
Chair: Nick Vangheluwe (Euroseeds)
- 00:00 Welcome by Antonio Granell, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas (CSIC), Spain and by Nick Vangheluwe, Euroseeds, Belgium
- 04:44 Why a European Research Infrastructure dedicated to plant genetic resources, Giovanni Giuliano, ENEA, Italy
- 18:49 International policy frameworks impacting the conservation, access and use of plant genetic resources, Leire Escajedo San-Epifanio, University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), Spain
- 35:25 Examples of national initiatives for the conservation of plant genetic resources - The Netherlands, Theo Van Hintum, Centre for Genetic Resources (CGN), The Netherlands
- 44:47 Examples of national initiatives for the conservation of plant genetic resources - Spain, Antonio Granell, CSIC, Spain
- 49:23 INCREASE project and the decentralized conservation of plant genetic resources, Roberto Papa, UNIVPM, Italy
- 00:00 Together we are stronger: A European Programme for Plant Genetic Resource, Jens Weibull, Sweden
- 16:17 Seed sector perspective on the potential of plant genetic resources, Szonja Csörgő, ISF, Switzerland
- 32:31 EMPHASIS: The road towards a plant phenotyping community, Roland Pieruschka, EMPHASIS and Forschungszentrum Jülich, Germany
- 46:11 Q&A
Session 2
ESFRI landscape analysis and ideas for a European research infrastructure on plant genetic resources
Chair: Giovanni Giuliano (ENEA) and Sandra Goritschnig (ECPGR)
- 00:00 ESFRI 2024 Landscape Analysis in Health & Food domain, ESFRI Roadmap and future project evaluation, Martyn Chamberlain, DG Research and Innovation, European Commission
- 19:39 A European research infrastructure to enable the potential of plant genetic resources: 'GRACE-RI', Sandra Goritschnig, ECPGR, Italy
- 47:16 Stakeholder interactive session about the proposed European research infrastructure ‘GRACE-RI’
- 01:32:50 Wrap-up & conclusions
Click below for the recordings and presentations of the Joint PRO-GRACE/EMPHASIS Workshop on Plant Genetic Resources, held on 28 June 2024 in Brussels
