ERA-Net Cofund: sustainable food production and consumption (SUSFOOD2)

In the ERA-Net Cofund SUSFOOD2 29 partners, including ILVO, have committed to define, develop and implement a Strategic Research Agenda (SRA) concerning a sustainable food production and consumption. Using open transnational research calls and networking activities, collective research questions and knowledge gaps are addressed.

ILVO co-coordinated this network and the communication with stakeholders about the issues, objectives and results of the research projects. Important responsibilities are the compostion of the communication strategy, determination of the communication channels and materials, the social media management, and the organisation of international conferences. ILVO contributed to the impact assesment of the network and the research results on the realisation of a more sustainable food production and consumption; and collaborated intensively to build up this network on the national and international scale.

In 10 years of SUSFOOD (FP7 and H2020 ERA-Net network projects), five research calls were organised for transnational research in sustainable food production and consumption, one of which was jointly organised with the ERA-Net Core-Organic and one with the ERA-Net FOSC. 44 projects (of which 4 with ILVO as partner) involving 275 researchers from 24 countries were financed for €46 million, eight of which developed marketable products or services. Eleven newsletters and a policy brief with recommendations from the results of the co-funded call were published. Many activities were organised for networking, knowledge transfer, capacity building, and dissemination and exploitation. SUSFOOD is involved in HE follow-up initiatives as a partner in the GREEN ERA-Hub network project and in the CSA FOOD Paths in preparation for the Food Systems Partnership.