Members of the 14 partner institutions gathered in Athens (Greece) to discuss the status of the project, look back on what has been done over the last year, and chart the course for the coming period.
STRATUS is a 60-month EU-funded project that aims to connect advisors across Europe to accelerate the creation and exchange of knowledge on Integrated Fertilisation Management, helping farmers to put this knowledge into practice to achieve the ambitions of the Farm to Fork and Biodiversity Strategies, thereby reducing nutrient losses to the environment while maintaining soil fertility.
The Agricultural University of Athens (AUA) hosted the meeting on its iconic Athenian campus. The two-day event combined presentations from the various working groups with workshops and sessions to advance the project’s objectives while developing the capabilities of the STRATUS team. Innovative Initiatives leads the project’s communication, dissemination and exploitation activities, as well as providing support to the lead organisation, the Navarre Institute of Agrifood Technologies and Infrastructures (INTIA), in administrative and financial management tasks.
The meeting began at 9 a.m. on 14 January with a welcome to the university by the partner organisations. During the first day, the group was updated on the progress of the project, deviations and the work plan for the following year. In addition to these information sessions, two workshops were held.
The first focused on a quick analysis of some of the 52 good practices (GP) and research innovations (RI) already identified. This exercise allowed the partner organisations to better understand the systemic feasibility analysis developed by the Institute for Agricultural, Fisheries and Food Research in Flanders, Belgium (ILVO), a STRATUS partner organisation, whose objective is to analyse the economic effects of GP and IR on farms, as well as other aspects such as applicability on farms, legal aspects and effects on the value chain. The second workshop of the day focused on the organisation and monitoring of the training of advisors. Members of the Association of Farmers and Horticulturalists of Zeeland, North Brabant and South Gelderland, Netherlands (ZLTO), who organised the training, wanted to hear the groups’ opinions and ideas on how to maximise the effectiveness of the training to ensure optimal impact on fertilisation advice.
The second day of the meeting was no less busy than the first. The first session, organised by the lead organisation, aimed to identify the challenges in setting up the Communities of Practice and Innovation Networks on Fertilisation. The partner organisations also discussed possible activities to overcome these challenges. During the second working session of the day, AUA members asked the partner organisations for their opinion on the functionality of the platform’s inventory component. For the rest of the morning, the group heard from those responsible for communication, dissemination and exploitation of results, as well as project management and coordination. Once all the information and working sessions for the day were concluded, the members of the STRATUS General Assembly held their annual meeting.
That afternoon and the following day, some team members stayed in Athens to participate in the first training session organised by ZLTO and ILVO, which focused on developing interpersonal skills and reviewing some ideas to help advisors interact more effectively with farmers.
Thanks to these meetings, workshops and working sessions, STRATUS team members reflected on the status of the project and continued to advance its objectives through collaborative work, while developing a strong working relationship that will be essential in tackling the tasks planned for the coming year.