The 2023 EU AgriResearch Conference

Building on the success of the 2016 and 2018 editions, participants found out how research and innovation activities are enabling farmers, foresters, and people living in rural areas to meet the environmental, social, economic, and sustainability goals of the EU and its links through the common agricultural policy. The conference was also a great occasion to network with over 500 peers, with many more participants following live online. A detailed report of the two-day conference (PDF) has been produced to assemble the contributions and insights shared by participants in the context of the 2023 AgriResearch Conference.

The European Commissioner for Agriculture Janusz Wojciechowski opened the event. High-level speakers discussed the global research and innovation agenda relating to farming, forestry, and rural communities, and the role of research and innovation has to address the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and in making the European Green Deal a reality for Europe and beyond. This was done in connection with the synergies offered by the common agricultural policy to enable that knowledge and innovation reaches farmers, foresters and rural actors. Participants attending thematic breakout sessions (presentations below) actively co-created priorities for the Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development’s long-term EU research and innovation agenda for agriculture, forestry, and rural areas. This contributes to the set the priorities for the last years of Horizon Europe and beyond.

The European Commission Director-General for Research and Innovation Marc Lemaître and for Agriculture and Rural Development Wolfgang Burtscher signed together live the Mission Soil Manifesto for more and better action on soils. The conference concluded with an inspirational message by Sadhguru from the Save Soil movement.