#	Pagina
attuale pagina	/open-h2020/projects/196939/results.html

Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - SMARTAgriFor (Collaboration to develop a business plan for the Centre of Agriculture and Forestry)

Teaser

Summary

In the past decade, Portugal made significant investments to improve the countryâ€™s research performance. Between 2000 and 2008, the R&D intensity more than doubled, achieving 1.5% in 2008. However, from 2009 onwards, the trend is negative and in 2011, Portuguese R&D intensity had fallen back to 1.5% (representing 75% of the EU average). Reasons for this are the difficult national business environment and the contraction of domestic demand, placing enterprises in the position of having to find external markets while facing challenges in terms of efficiency (productivity and competitiveness) and financing.
In the agro-food sector, the R&D effort has shown a negative annual growth of -1.2% between 2003 and 2009. Furthermore, the evolution of the Gross Added Value of Portuguese agricultural products showed a decrease of 1,000 Mâ‚¬ between 2000 and 2011 (Figure 2), which reveals a need of specific interventions in the production and supply chains for increased productivity and efficiency in the use of intermediate factors in particular water and energy.
In the forest sector, despite Portugal being ranked first in Europe in Gross Value Added per forest ha in 2011, interventions in the production and supply chains are also needed to solve constraints such as fighting the climate changes, specific interventions to optimize the production chains including the use of biomass and multiple use of forestry products, the occurrence of fires (2.5 million ha burned between 1990 and 2010), fight devastating emerging pests and diseases, and the need of efficient use of resources and valorisation of forestry ecosystems services.

Creating the critical mass required for supporting innovative growth is addressed by SMARTAgriFor and the CoE in a number of ways including:
â€¢ Bringing together existing R&D&I capacities in Portugal;
â€¢ Strategically defining the scientific focus;
â€¢ Attracting human resources from abroad;
â€¢ Stimulating effective interaction between researchers and industrial stakeholders;
â€¢ Creating a long-term and sustainable scientific involvement from a high scientifically recognised partner.

Bringing together existing R&D&I capacities in Portugal
A core goal of SMARTAgriFor is to unite Portugalâ€™s top performing research organizations in order to create critical mass and integrate this across disciplinary dimensions. This will support translational approaches and will help, for example, integrate laboratory-based studies of biosystems functions with corresponding ecophysiological field studies, and with the problem-driven perspective of the biotechnological industry. This coordinated approach will promote synergies and stimulate the transfer of knowledge between the four defined value chains. Furthermore, it is worth noting that most of the research activity in Portugal is developed by universities, where research staff is overloaded with classes. Contrary to this, the CoE will count with full time committed researchers.

Strategically defining the scientific focus
The scientific focus for the proposed CoE has been strategically defined for creating highly qualified and experienced critical mass around nuclear competencies and infrastructures. These are critical to address needs and challenges of economic impact that are relevant at the national and international level. It takes into consideration existing capacities and competencies in Portugal and abroad. It also builds on synergies between smart agriculture and forestry.

Attracting human resources from abroad
Critical mass will also be created by attracting top performing human resources, from Portugal and abroad. In order to achieve this, SMARTAgriFor will support the training of staff for their career progression and offer them opportunities to expand their network of contacts. This approach will be supported by WUR, who will be engaged in in joint training and mobility actions and active involvement in relevant international activities that promote R&D

Work performed

SMARTAgriFor has produced 33 deliverables. The development of these deliverables supported the development of a Business Plan for the creation of a new Centre of Excellence. This BP reflects all of the work carried out during the project and the results achieved. These results, presented through the completed deliverables, can be summarized through the BP content and its respective content:

Section 1 â€“ SMARTAgriFor Centre of Excellence â€“ provides a brief contextualisation of the project and identifies four long-term objectives for the Centre, which are assessed according to short and medium-term achievements. Section 1 also presents the defined Vision and Mission for the Centre, driving it to become a leading and international Centre in smart agriculture and forestry (D1.1, D1.2 and D1.3). This is followed by the Centreâ€™s strategic orientation, related to ensuring the resilience of selected value chains in agriculture and forestry. Details are then provided on the Centreâ€™s growth potential, closely supported by the envisioned scientific excellence (through a comprehensive research programme) (D3.2), the generation of value, a defined ambition, and strength through strategic partnerships and critical mass, supported by a strong partnership with the scientifically excellent WUR. Section 1 closes with a SWOT analysis, first focused on the agriculture, forestry and R&D&I domains, and then on the Centre itself.

Section 2 â€“ Research and Services â€“ details the Centreâ€™s Research Programme (D3.2), which is aligned with the defined strategic orientation (D1.3), and also describes the list of services offered by the Centre. The section includes a description of the Centreâ€™s scientific and innovation potential and how it will bring value to national and international R&D and innovation. This is followed by a detailed presentation of the Centreâ€™s Research Programme, including justifications of its coherence, its focus on smart resilience of agriculture and forestry, the integration of science and research innovation and the methods used in the development of the programme. Based on these justifications, the overall Research Programme is then presented, focusing on four thematic programmes: SMART plant genomics and phenotyping, SMART cropping systems, SMART bio-based products and processes, SMART socio-economic incentives and solutions. For each thematic programme, a range of research themes and future projects are presented. Lastly, the section includes the listing of services, which includes, for example, provision of seminars and conferences, training and workshops, and contract research and consultancy.

Section 3 â€“ Operational structure â€“ describes the different structures essential to the Centreâ€™s day-to-day operations. This includes a description of the SMARTAgriFor Centre Association, and how it will lead the Centre to its success (D4.2). This is followed by a description of the Centreâ€™s governance model, which includes a Director, Vice Directors, a Scientific Advisory Board, an Industry Advisory Board and a General Assembly (D4.2). The independent decision-making structures are also presented, focusing on research, services, the Centreâ€™s sustainability, human resources and infrastructure/equipment. The involvement of stakeholders is essential to the success and sustainability of the Centre and is thus also presented (D2.1, D2.3, D5.3). Lastly, the section details information related to its Human Resources, including the different structures and profiles, human resources procedures and management, and specific human resource numbers (D4.3).

Section 4 â€“ Physical structure â€“ details the necessary physical structures which are essential to running the Centre. This includes a description of the Centreâ€™s location and the respective impact on the Centreâ€™s operationalisation. It also includes reference to the different infrastructure and equipment that will be at the Centreâ€™s disposal for the imple

Final results

The SMARTAgriFor CoE will focus on achieving scientific excellence and generating impact at stakeholder and societal levels, based on the selected strategic lines which are believed to have the greatest potential. The Centre will also emphasize excellent management to ensure that the research and results obtained are exchanged with relevant stakeholders.

SMARTAgriFor will be a unique actor in Portugal by focusing systematically on the development of resilient SMART agricultural and forestry systems and value chain analyses to increase competiveness and the quality of products. Simultaneously, the Centre will focus on questions of technological feasibility, economic efficiency and social acceptability within an environment geared to innovation. This strategy will have local/national implications for the Portuguese economy and of Southern Europe in general.

Building upon scientific excellence, SMARTAgriFor will aim to translate knowledge to enable market actors and other stakeholders to derive value from innovative solutions of economic and societal benefit. Managing the correct balance between excellent research and structural stakeholder engagement and innovation will be a key challenge. The Centre will tackle this challenge both at the technical (by implementing the Centreâ€™s research programme) and organisational levels. Having an integrated approach where excellent science in one part feeds into a more translational activity in another provides a suitable mechanism to combine fundamental research excellence with valorisation potential. Some translational projects are already envisaged but many others shall arise through the generation of novel results in combination with on-going discussions with industrial end-users. This shall again support the growth of the centre through establishing spin-out translational projects for specific crops. A multi-actor approach across all projects and with extensive cross-talk opportunities will drastically improve relationships between Portuguese research centres and industry. The experience of WUR in this regard will be absorbed by the Centre to generate added scientific and economic value, in addition to foster the development of a new research culture in the country. Through the focused approach taken, the Centre will be able to facilitate the links between smart agriculture and forestry research, which will consequently help maximise the exchange of knowledge between the scientific areas and value chains and generate new opportunities for future collaboration.