European Agricultural Research Foresight exercise

18 February 2015. Brussels. DG Research. Around 60 experts participated in the 3rd SCAR Foresight Workshop. (SCAR = Standing Committee on Agricultural Research).

 The 4th SCAR Foresight exercise, launched in spring 2014, explores the interactions between the primary sector and the bioeconomy. With an emphasis on the future, the exercise explores not only what will happen, but also what might happen by developing the paradigm of the bioeconomy, with the fundamental constraint of sustainability. Internal contradictions within sectors, and possible conflicts among sectors, are a major point of interest.

The Foresight exercise aims to proceed in a participative way. For this purpose three interactive Brussels-based workshops were organised with experts, members of the SCAR and its working groups, the European Commission and various stakeholders of the bioeconomy. This third workshop analysed the implications of the various scenarios developed by the foresight expert group:

1. Scenario A: BIO-MODESTY. The Bio-Modesty future is characterized by a low growth in the demand for biomass for materials and energy.
2. Scenario B: BIO-SCARCITY. The Bio-Scarcity future is characterized by a high growth demand for biomass for materials and energy, but supply cannot follow demand.
3. Scenario C: BIO-BOOM. The Bio-Boom future entails high growth both of demand and supply. The same forces as in scenario B may lead to an increase in demand for biomass, but what differentiates this future is that supply follows demand.

Related:

19 February 2015. Brussels. DG Research. Joint EIARD-SCAR Strategic Working Group.

• Contribution to Expert Group of High Level policy Dialogue EU-AU
• AR – ARD in the CGIAR Strategy and Results Framework In their draft revised framework, CGIAR addresses (a.o.) research for global issues and successful partnerships. This corresponds to ARCH topics in the intersect of AR and ARD. Principles and practices (what and how) of connecting AR and ARD: common agendas, shared measuring activities, mutually reinforcing activities

The Double Pyramid is the model created by BCFN 

to describe the close relationship existing between 

diet and environment: verify the accuracy of your 

dietary habits and calculate their environmental 

impact with the interactive test.

Related:

28 January 2015. Brussels. The Barilla Center for Food & Nutrition Foundation (BCFN) presented its new policy paper on Sustainable Diets before the European Parliament. The BCFN paper is the latest in a series of stakeholder efforts calling on the EU institutions to build a more sustainable food system across Europe and globally.

MEP Giovanni La Via, Chair of the Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI), and MEP Paolo De Castro, S&D Coordinator in the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development (AGRI) co-hosted the event “Good for You, Good for the Environment”.

Barbara Buchner, Director of the Climate Policy Initiative and Member of the BCFN Advisory Board, said, 

“We hope that our research can encourage policymakers to include environmental considerations when developing dietary guidelines. Our model shows that foods that should be consumed more frequently for health also have a lower environmental impact.”