2015 has been a very fruitful year for Euphresco. The choice of Euphresco members to continue to cooperate after the end of the official EU-funded ERA-NET project has been a bold one; very few ERA-NET consortia have proven to be able to continue as long-term sustainable networks. The work undertaken during EUPHRESCO I (2006-2010) and EUPHRESCO II (2011-2014) has built and consolidated the foundations of an ambitious plan whose goal is to favour the collaboration of organisations operating in the phytosanitary area.
The Euphresco network counts now 32 members as three new organisations have joined the network in the last twelve months: the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, the Plant Protection Institute of the Croatian Centre for Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service of the United States Department of Agriculture. This is recognition of the interest and utility of the work undertaken so far and it shows the interest in research co-ordination internationally and the important role which Euphresco can play.
The sharing of information on national research programmes and projects supports adoption of best practices and optimises the use of limited resources in the phytosanitary area. 113 programme owners and programme managers in the EPPO region were solicited and an inventory of more than 300 research projects for the period 2013-2016 has been made that will be shared among all the respondents.
The collaboration of Euphresco funders materialises through the identification of trans-national phytosanitary research priorities and the initiation of 13 research projects. More than 3 M€ have been committed and collaboration secured with researchers in countries where Euphresco is not represented: Czech Republic, Israel, Norway and Peru.
Consultations are currently in progress in each Euphresco member country to collect phytosanitary national suggestions, as a first step for the identification of the research projects to fund in 2016. Suggestions are welcome and could be sent to one of the Euphresco national contact points.
Also in 2016 Euphresco members will work on a strategic research agenda, a supra-national document providing recommendations in terms of research objectives, gaps and priorities for the medium term (5-10 years). The agenda will take into account the new plant health regulation proposed by the European Commission in 2013. We foresee a very busy 2016…..
A competent forum
Since 2007 the EU Council Working Party of Chief Plant Health Officers (COPHS) closely collaborated with the EUPHRESCO ERA-NET in the identification of phytosanitary research priorities and the European Commission consulted the network as a competent forum to identify research priorities in the 6th and 7th Framework Research Programme. Such collaboration mechanism related to the identification of phytosanitary research priorities and topics has been renewed and updated.
Euphresco members are also consolidating the links with other organisations: the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), various regional plant protection organisations (NEPPO-Near East Plant Protection Organization- and NAPPO-North American Plant Protection Organization-), other international initiatives, in particular C-IPM and SUMFOREST ERA-NETs and the international research centres ‘Centro Internacional de la Papa’ (CIP) and ‘Centre International de Hautes Etudes Agronomiques Méditerranéennes’ (CIHEAM).
Research collaboration
The main goal of Euphresco is to support and enhance cooperation and coordination on phytosanitary research. A number of research consortia funded in 2015 through Euphresco are looking for additional partners to join before the projects start in the spring 2016.
Collaboration is sought for the following projects: A-167: Tree Borers: risk assessment, risk management and preparedness for emerald ash borer and bronze birch borer. The project will provide research outputs to underpin contingency planning, policy development and policy communication through assessment of the entry, establishment and spread, impact and risk management of two pests: Agrilus planipennis and Agrilus anxius.
F-175: Multi-lure and multi-trap surveillance for invasive tree pests. The consortium (currently composed of Austria, Canada, Netherlands, Portugal and the United Kingdom) will assess the efficacy of multi-species lures to trap a number of invasive tree pests. Traps and automatic systems for collecting images via cameras will also be designed and employed at ports of entry and high-risk sites.
F-176: Building capability for frontline national inspectorates. This project represents a new approach for bridging the important gap between research outputs and practical application in the field.
Collaboration is possible for organisations proposing activities that fit within the Euphresco research framework (see the topic descriptions for details) and that will fund their own participation to the projects. In-kind contributions and alignment of existing research activities allows to join the Euphresco consortia without committing monetary funds. Any request for participation in the above-mentioned projects should be sent directly to the Euphresco coordinator by the 29th of February 2016.
Focus on the International Plant Sentinel Network project
The International Plant Sentinel Network (IPSN) is a research project funded through Euphresco (from March 2013 until March 2016) whose main objective is to build an early warning system for future pest threats. IPSN is coordinated by the Botanic Garden Conservation International (GB) and benefits from the participation of research partners from Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. So far the project has supported the exchange of information among countries willing to cooperate, developed platforms for providing diagnostic advice or support and produced protocols and training material.
The ambition of the network is to capitalize on past activities, become self-sustainable and collaborate with botanic gardens and arboreta worldwide. Any request of participation in the IPSN follow-up projects should be sent directly to the Euphresco coordinator by the 30th of June 2016.
Knowing more about Euphresco
Euphresco members fully support open access and open data policy. The scientific reports of the research projects funded through Euphresco can be downloaded from the Euphresco website. More focussed success stories that explain how Euphresco consortia contribute to solve a specific problem and targeting non-experts stakeholders are published every month.
Anybody interested in receiving information on the Euphresco activities can subscribe to the newsletter by completing the form on the Euphresco website. Those interested in participating in Euphresco projects can contact the Euphresco coordinator.
