NEWS

EPSO welcomes the Concept and proposed actions towards a new ERA published by Commissioner Gabriel on 30.9.2020 and offers to collaborate in further shaping and implementing these. EPSO is focusing regarding the ERA for instance on critical mass investments in research and innovation, balancing basic, applied research, demonstration and innovation action support; widening participation; creating synergies between education and research; science outreach engaging citizens; and setting and implementing strategic priorities for Horizon Europe.

The New ERA is centered on excellence, inclusiveness, talents, and driven by innovation. To this end, the Commission identifies four main objectives:
1) Prioritizing investments
2) Improving access to excellence
3) Translating R&I results into economic value
4) Deepening the ERA.

The Commission commits to 14 actions to reach these goals. It will push for further in-vestment to reach the long-sought goal of 3% of GDP, and support EU-13 Countries. It will also improve synergies through common EU industrial roadmaps and update the governance of research infrastructures. It will support the transition to Open Science, with particular emphasis on Open Access and Open Data (European Open Science Cloud – EOSC). Gender equality and citizens science will also play a central role. Finally, by 2024, a new toolbox in support of researchers career development will be developed with the following components: (i) a Researchers Competence Framework, (ii) a mobility scheme to support exchange between industry and academia, (iii) targeted training un-der Horizon Europe and (iv) a one-stop shop portal. The toolbox will lead to the creation of a pipeline for talent.

EPSO is collaborating with European learned societies and research organisations in the Initiative for Science in Europe (ISE) as a strong voice of the scientific community discussing with the European Commission and Member States recommendations for the ERA.

Click here to read: Full EPSO news 01.10.2020

Contacts:
Marco Masia, Executive Coordinator, Initiative for Science in Europe (ISE), https://initiative-se.eu
Karin Metzlaff, Executive Director, European Plant Science organisation (EPSO), https://epsoweb.org

Deforestation of tropical rainforests causes irrecoverable damage to biodiversity in terms of ecosystem and species loss and has long-term negative impact on global and regional climate through increased carbon release into the atmosphere. It is therefore crucial to stop deforestation.

In this context, EPSO welcomes the initiative, taken by the European Parliament, to explore the potential for European policy to reduce EU-driven global deforestation through the limitation of the import of commodities causing deforestation. EPSO supports the implementation of effective EU policies including due diligence and sustainability certification standards regarding deforestation risks.

We stress nevertheless that, as the Authors of the study themselves admit, they report upper-bound estimates of the impact of proposed policies. We also suggest that there is room for improvement in the definition of policies: (i) by differentiating the biodiversity and ecosystem services of much higher impact of clearing and disturbing pristine compared to already disturbed or secondary forests; (ii) by additionally aiming at preventing degradation of pristine forests, which also has a deep impact on biodiversity & ecosystem services; (iii) by promoting the usage and import of agroforestry-based commodities, which have the net advantage of actively maintaining forest cover.

EPSO offers to collaborate with the European Parliament, European Commission, Member States and authorities across the world to develop a forward-looking legislative framework, respective research and innovation strategies and help implement these.

Click here to read: Full EPSO news 16.09.202

Contacts: Chairs of the EPSO Tree biology and biotechnology Working Group: Ivan Scotti, INRAe / FR, Elspeth MacRae, Scion / NZ and Bethold Heinze, BFW / AT; EPSO.

 

Does a point mutation look different when it is made by one process or another? No! One cannot tell from the mutation itself whether it was spontaneous or triggered by genome editing, and additional information on the history of the genetic material is needed as a precondition to evaluate from which breeding process it originates. Spontaneous or edited, point mutations are the same for all intents and purposes.

 EPSO fully agrees that known gene edits including single nucleotide changes can be detected by PCR. EPSO declared this in its input to the present EC study on NGTs (New Genomic Techniques) and connected statements. The Greenpeace-funded work by the Chhalliyil et al (2020) publication merely confirms this well-established fact.

However, the published method has two main limitations: It does not present a means to establish that genome editing is the cause of the detected mutation, since it just displays a sequence modification without identification of the modification process. This has been seen from the beginning as the major challenge, since edited plants produced in countries with more open regulation are not declared as such. In addition, the method is not applicable to unknown gene modifications, since edited plants, contrary to classical GMOs (Genetically Modified Organisms), do not share common elements, and a method detecting a specific sequence variation cannot detect different variations in other plants and sequences. The detection of a single nucleotide change does not provide any proof by itself that this change was provoked by genome editing rather than natural mutation.

Click here to read: Full EPSO statement 09.09.202

Contacts:

• Alan Schulman, LUKE, FI & EPSO President
• Peter Rogowsky, INRAE, FR & EPSO AgT WG chair
• Karin Metzlaff, EPSO, BE

The CHIC project aims to develop sets of new chicory varieties to produce, on one hand, more and healthier inulin food fiber and, on the other hand, identify and produce medicinal terpenes in sufficient amounts. These varieties are developed via genome editing. Safety, socio-economic and environmental impact as well as stakeholders’ needs and concerns when implementing such new varieties are also investigated in this project.

As highlights, the first chicory plants with adaptations in the genome of both the inulin and terpene biosynthesis pathways were confirmed in several partners’ laboratories; and six commercialization scenarios were defined.

Want to know more?  Read the fourth newsletter of CHIC project and explore the explanatory videos available at https://bit.ly/2DJa2Uf

EPSO is partner in the CHIC project focusing on stakeholder engagement and supporting communication.

CHIC is a research and innovation project supported through the EU Horizon 2020 funding programme with a budget of €7.3 million

Contacts: Macarena Sanz, ID Consortium, ES – Dirk Bosch, Wageningen University, NL (Coordinator)

On 20 May 2020, the Farm to Fork and Biodiversity strategies were released by the EC. Both are at the heart of the EU Green Deal for which an EU Green deal call for proposals will be opened by Mid-September 2020.

Areas of interest for plant scientists in the EU Green Deal call for proposals

The call for proposals is organised around 11 areas which are divided in 8 thematic areas and 3 horizontal ones. EPSO identified the following areas of interest for plant scientists where the first four ones seem of utmost interest.

• Call area 1: Increasing climate ambition: cross-sectoral challenges
• Call area 6: Farm to Fork
• Call area 7: Restoring biodiversity and ecosystem services
• Call area 8: Zero-pollution, toxic-free environment

 

• Call area 9: Strengthening our knowledge in support of the European Green Deal
• Call area 10: Empowering citizens for transition towards a climate neutral, sustainable Europe

Project proposals should be submitted by the end of January 2021.

By then, plant scientists will have opportunities to find potential project partners at the EU R&I Days organised online by the European Commission from 22 to 24 September 2020. They will also be able to get more familiar with the EU Green Deal call for proposals during two online free events on 7 and 13 October 2020.

 

13 October 2020 event: Insights and networking opportunity

The event is organised by the Enterprise Europe Network (EEN) in partnership with Enterprise Ireland, Invest NI and Northern Ireland National Contract Points (NCPs) and will present insights and expectations from the European Commission. It will also offer a networking opportunity with its one-to-one meetings, allowing participants to meet with future project partners from across industry and research.

Registration for this event is open until 9 October 2020.

 

7 October 2020 event focusing on Social Sciences and Humanities in the Green Deal Call

This event is organised by the Network of National Contact Points for H2020 Societal Challenge 6, Net4Society, registration for this event has not started yet.

Area 1: Increasing Climate Ambition: Cross sectoral challenges

• LC-GD-1-2-2020: Towards Climate-Neutral and Socially Innovative Cities
• LC-GD-1-3-2020: Climate-resilient Innovation Packages for EU regions

Area 4: Energy and resource efficient buildings

• LC-GD-4-1-2020: Building and renovating in an energy and resource efficient way
• Area 9: Strengthening our knowledge in support of the EGD
• LC-GD-9-1-2020: European Research Infrastructures capacities and services to address European Green Deal challenges
• LC-GD-9-3-2020: Transparent & Accessible Seas and Oceans: Towards a Digital Twin of the Ocean

Area 10: Empowering citizens for the transition towards a climate neutral, sustainable Europe

• LC-GD-10-1-2020: European capacities for citizen deliberation and participation for the Green Deal
• LC-GD-10-2-2020: Behavioural, social and cultural change for the Green Deal
• LC-GD-10-3-2020: Enabling citizens to act on climate change, for sustainable development and environmental protection through education, citizen science, observation initiatives, and civic engagement

More information is available here

Sources: EC – KoWi, 28.08.2020 – Respective websites of events

Promoting diverse crops and livestock with a variety of farming systems for diverse diets, human health and resilient production, is a joint responsibility of policy makers and actors in many areas: agriculture, health, education, environmental and R&I services.

Experts from three Technology Platforms developed the following R&I recommendations to address climate change, biodiversity loss, consumer competence and malnutrition:

• An environmental performance toolbox to adapt to climate change and to maintain, or even to improve, crop yield and quality: Catalogue and improve crop and livestock performance by testing the effects of diverse combinations of livestock and crops with diverse and mixed cropping systems…
• Smartly reducing pesticides: Investigate pest and disease resistance in plant genetic resources; Improve and broaden farm management practices; Develop and optimise new digital monitoring technologies; Identify and develop environmentally friendly pesticides.
• Improving consumer knowledge and choice regarding healthy and sustainable diets: Understand consumer choice associated to healthy, diverse and sustainable diets; Install communication with citizens and consumers across Member States; Advance traceability and transparency regrading sustainability and health impact of food products throughout the value chain.
• Diversified farming systems for diverse diets: Exploring and improving alternative protein sources; Improving livestock breeding and management; Developing new varieties of existing crops, reintroducing and domesticating niche and heirloom crops, and developing and introducing new and underutilised crops; Developing and scaling up new crop rotations and new intercropping techniques.

Among the 19 experts participating in the joint workshop of the Plants for the Future ETP, Food for Life ETP and Organics Technology Platform to discuss the challenges and develop these recommendations, were Karin Metzlaff (EPSO) and Roy Neilson (Hutton / UK).

Click here to read: Full Policy Brief by ‘Plants for the Future’ ETP, ‘Food for Life’ ETP and TP ‘Organics’, 02.07.2020

Contacts:

• Karin Metzlaff, EPSO, BE
• Amrit Nanda, Plant ETP, BE