- Smart and Digital Agriculture (SDA) presents its innovation and digitalisation project in the agricultural sector to the European Commission.
- The consortium also visits the Committee of the Regions and the Economic and Social Committee.
- The working agenda has been organised by Finnovaregio, partner of the project.
Brussels, 16/04/2024. The Erasmus + Smart and Digital Agriculture (SDA) project consortium met on Monday 15 April in Brussels with representatives of the Committee of the Regions (CoR), the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) and the European Commission (EC). Finnovaregio, partner of the project, has been in charge of organising this agenda of visits with the aim of making known the strengths of SDA. The project seeks to innovate in agriculture by taking advantage of the added value of aromatic and medicinal plants to reduce youth unemployment and discourage the rural exodus to the cities. Ultimately, SDA aims to make agriculture more attractive and adapted to young people, allowing for generational change in the agricultural sector.
The first stop was at the European Committee of the Regions, where project representatives met with Klaus Boele, policy maker. After introducing them to the structure and functioning of the CoR, they discussed strategies for engaging young people in digital agriculture. At this point, the importance of encouraging the participation of young people in policies and of having their presence in bodies such as the Committee itself, presenting the options for hosting young people in training in the institution, was highlighted.
The consortium then travelled to the EESC’s headquarters, where it was received by Arturo Íñiguez Yuste, Administrator of the EESC’s Section on Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems, Environment and Sustainable Rural and Urban Development. At this meeting, the support that the EESC can offer to the various interest groups related to the agricultural sector was discussed: “This is the only way for European interest groups to have a formal say on EU legislative projects in an institutional environment”. In addition, Yuste presented the consortium partners with ways to collaborate and inform their countries’ representatives within the EESC, with a view to carrying out activities related to the SDA or to achieve greater impact.
At the European Commission, project members presented their results to Diego Canga, Director of the Department of Dissemination, Research and Geographical Indications in the EC Directorate-General for Agriculture and Evangelia Mourmoura, Team Leader of Digitalisation in the Directorate for Strategy and Policy Analysis of the Directorate-General for Agriculture. The consortium established points of support with the institution for possible future synergies and received recommendations to maximize the impact of the project, putting on the table tools and funding opportunities that contribute to the scalability of the project.
This meeting of SDA partners (third meeting of the project) has served to present the project to different European institutions. The project is in its final phase and has developed material, such as the virtual laboratory that simulates the collection and production of lavender oil, the virtual platform that serves as a tool for online learning, the “Smart Greenhouse” application that allows you to know the state of the plantations and a help guide to support the production of raw materials for medicinal and aromatic plants. These results will be presented in June at an event in Eskisehir, Turkey.
This material will support the creation of job opportunities for young people in agriculture, while facilitating the exchange of knowledge and good practices, an aspect of the project very much in line with the European Year of Skills. Finnovaregio, a partner in the project, is aligned with this type of initiative that follows the Next Agritech Food Generation line of work, the foundation’s platform where the latest developments in the sector and the EU in terms of funding, legislation and events are published.
About Smart and Digital Agriculture
The European Smart and Digital Agriculture project actively promotes the promotion of digitalisation in the agricultural sector to address current and future challenges. Through innovative solutions, SDA seeks to improve efficiency, sustainability and food production. Under the leadership of Eskişehir Provincial Directorate of National Education (Turkey) and with the collaboration of Prof dr asen zlatarov University (Bulgaria), Institute of Agricultural Economics (Bulgaria), Finnovaregio (Belgium), Benaguasil City Council (Spain), Rural coalition kumanovo (Republic of North Macedonia), Anadolu University (Turkey), Saricakaya municipality (Turkey), Saricakaya District Directorate of Agriculture (Turkey), Association of cosmetic manufacturers and researchers (Turquía), the project has a total budget of €198,830, funded by the Erasmus+ programme, and has a duration of 2 years.