European Union
The CIHEAM has long maintained strong relations with European Union (EU) Institutions, notably the Commission and its Directorates (DG Research, DG Agriculture and DG DEVCO) and the European Parliament.To strengthen dialogue and cooperation with the European Commission and to benefit from opportunities provided by the mechanisms of delegated cooperation, the CIHEAM has presented a request for recognition. This will allow the European Commission to directly entrust the CIHEAM with budget implementation in the framework of the indirect management of its budget. The first stage of the recognition procedure related to the legal status of the CIHEAM was successfully completed in March 2015. The second stage of the process related to the “pillars assessment” is currently ongoing.
Some of the cooperation and research projects implemented in collaboration with the European Union:
RELACS PROJECT (tools and technologies for the environment)
In partnership with: CIHEAM Bari
Replacement of Contentious Inputs in Organic Farming Systems' (RELACS) will foster the development and facilitate the adoption of cost-efficient and environmentally safe tools and technologies, to phase out the dependency on and use of inputs considered contentious in organic farming systems.
SMARTAL PROJECT (management of rural areas and agriculture in Albania)
In partnership with: CIHEAM Montpellier
Designing a Master for 3 Albanian Universities in European innovations for a sustainable management of Albanian territories, rural areas and agriculture in the context of the decentralization process as well as the accession to the European Union process.
ENPARD PROJECT (agriculture and rural policies)
In partnership with: CIHEAM Montpellier
Launched in 2012 by the European Union, the European Neighbourhood Programme for Agriculture and Rural Development (ENPARD) is a policy initiative to strengthen the partnership between the European Union and EU Neighbourhood countries in the field of agriculture and rural policies, recognising the major contribution these areas can make to the development and stability of countries.
EDAMUS PROJECT (food quality issue and food health policies)
In partnership with: CIHEAM Montpellier
The "EDAMUS" ("May we eat" in Latin) MASTER in Sustainable Management of Food Quality is an Erasmus Mundus (Action 1) Master. It is intended to meet the increasing need to better understand and anticipate the complex problems of food quality management in European Union or at an international scale. The food quality issue and the food health policies must take account of various factors related to socioeconomic, social, technological and biological issues.
ECOWASTE4FOOD PROJECT (food waste)
In partnership with: CIHEAM Montpellier
Implemented in the framework of the Interreg European Programme (2017-2020), the ECOWASTE4FOOD project aims to address the crucial issue of food waste, not only to put an end to an unacceptable situation which leads to the loss of up to 30% of the agricultural production that is not consumed or is consumed in a wrong way in terms of health, but also to demonstrate that food waste could be at the source of a resource efficient and environmentally friendly economy for territories.
EULEBPOT PROJECT (quality improvement and phytosanitary safety in the potato sector)
In partnership with: CIHEAM Bari
This project (EU-Lebannon Potato project) aims to support and foster quality improvement and phytosanitary safety in the potato sector through the reinforcement of the Lebanese Network for Phytosanitary Control, a proper legal and procedures framework and the provision of technical assistance to potato producers and a diagnostic laboratory in condition to assess the Lebanese potato safety in accordance with international standards and the Lebanese-European Union Association Agreement.
HNV LINK PROJECT (“High Nature Value Farming: Learning, Innovation and Knowledge”)
In partnership with: CIHEAM-Montpellier
“High Nature Value Farming: Learning, Innovation and Knowledge” is dedicated to developing and sharing innovations that support HNV (High Nature Value) farming systems and communities by simultaneously improving their socio-economic viability and environmental efficiency.
ACLIMAS PROJECT (water and climate change)
In partnership with: CIHEAM-Bari
Funded within the Sustainable Water Integrated Management (SWIM) programme of the European Commission, ACLIMAS addresses water and climate change by promoting in 6 Mediterranean countries / areas the demonstration, implementation, dissemination of the research results of previous EC-funded initiatives.
The project is aimed at durable improvement of the agricultural water management and a broader socio-economic development of target areas in the context of adaptation to climate change, increasing water scarcity, and desertification risks.
MED-SPRING PROJECT (challenges like Energy, High Quality Affordable Food, Scarcity of resources)
In partnership with: CIHEAM-Bari
The Mediterranean Science, Policy, Research & Innovation Gateway (MED-SPRING) project - is a coordination and support action built on the previous experience of the INCO.NET MIRA, but adapted to the new reality of the Euro-Mediterranean policy and the general orientations defined in the Euro-Mediterranean Conference of Barcelona (2-3 April 2012). MED-SPRING is focused on three societal challenges (Energy, High Quality Affordable Food, and Scarcity of resources) and aims at tackling policy objectives by creating a dialogue and coordination platform of governmental institutions, research organisations, associations and civil society.
ERANET-MED PROJECT (innovation and competitive research in the Euro-Mediterranean)
In partnership with: CIHEAM-Bari
The main aim of the project ERANET-MED is to enhance Euro-Mediterranean co-ownership through innovation and competitive research in the societal challenges of the region. The project aims at reducing fragmentation of programming in the Mediterranean by increasing coordination among national research programmes of European Member States, associated countries and Mediterranean partner countries.
FORESTERRA PROJECT (scientific coordination and integration of Mediterranean forest)
In partnership with: CIHEAM-Zaragoza
Part of the ERA-NET initiative, Foresterra aims to reinforce the scientific coordination and integration of Mediterranean forest research programmes as well as scientific cooperation with Mediterranean countries (including EU and non-EU member states) and with other Mediterranean Climate Areas (MCA) like Australia, South Africa, Chile and California.
FORESTERRA has partners from twelve countries: Spain, France, Italy, Turkey, Portugal, Tunisia, Morocco, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Croatia, Greece and Algeria, as well as two international institutions, the European Forest Institute (EFI) and CIHEAM-Zaragoza.
LEGATO PROJECT (promote the culture of grain legumes in Europe)
In partnership with: CIHEAM-Zaragoza
The LEGumes for the Agriculture of TOmorrow (LEGATO) project has been conceived to promote the culture of grain legumes in Europe by identifying priority issues currently limiting grain legume cultivation and devising solutions in terms of novel varietal development, culture practices, and food uses. LEGATO will develop tools and resources to enable state of the art breeding methodology and to exploit fully the breadth of genetic resources available.
MEDISLANDPLANT PROJECT (threatened plant species)
In partnership with: CIHEAM-Chania
The project aims to ensure the survival of threatened plant species in the Mediterranean through ex-situ conservation measures. The initiative is led by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (UK) in collaboration with six conservation organisations on the main Mediterranean islands (Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, Corsica, Crete, and Mallorca). The key outcomes of the project will include the protection of 900 endangered plant taxa, the development of seed specialists in the region, increased collaboration between plant conservation agencies and public awareness on the value and vulnerability of local flora.
Other projects conducted in partnership with the EU:
- Research
- Cooperation
- Publications