Events
FILTERS
Using a hypoxia workstation to select species that will produce more forage
Webinar
Date and time
28th September 2023, from 9.30am to 10.15 am (CET)
Language
English
Presentation available here
Executive summary English
Overview:
At the Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Chania (MAICh) in Crete, Greece, a hypoxia workstation is being used as part of the LIVINGAGRO project in an innovative way: the hypoxylab system allows us to determine how plants respond to low oxygen and then select species that might exhibit higher growth rates and eventually produce more forage. Based on the concept that plants adapted to a high altitude are likely to grow faster under normoxic oxygen concentrations, experiments were performed using the hypoxylab system. The objective is to identify species which produce more forage for grazing animals in Lebanon and Jordan through a combination of germplasm testing and selection.
AGENDA
Brief introduction to the LIVINGAGRO project
The workshop will focus on
- How the hypoxia workstation operates
- The science behind the effect of oxygen
- Results of experiments to date
- The potential significance of this service
Q&A, Open discussion between speaker and participants
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
After earning a PhD in Molecular and Cell Biology from the University of Maryland – College Park, USA and working at the US Department of Agriculture, Panagiotis Kalaitzis founded the Department of Horticultural Genetics and Biotechnology at the Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Chania (CIHEAM – MAICh). Continuing as the department’s Director of Research and Studies since then, Dr. Kalaitzis has participated in numerous European and nationally funded scientific projects, coordinating several of them and overseeing MAICh’s work with LIVINGAGRO. He is also the director of the Molecular Biology and Biotechnology Laboratory at MAICh, where his research includes DNA-based olive oil authentication to certify olive variety, and the characterization of olive genetic resources to determine the varieties that are most resilient in the face of climate change.
Contact and organization
Lisa Radinovsky radino68@gmail.com; Panagiotis Kalaitzis panagiot@maich.gr
Project Contacts
Fo.Re.S.T.A.S. (LIVINGAGRO Leading Partner). Viale Luigi Merello, 86 • 09123 Cagliari, Italy. Tel. +39 070 279 91 • livingagro.project@forestas.it
Project’s ICT platform: https://www.livingagrolab.eu / FB: www.facebook.com/Livingagro / LIn: www.linkedin.com/company/livingagro-eni-cbc-med-project
LIVINGAGRO project´s final conference
Conference
Location: Lebanese Agricultural Research Institute, Tal Amara, Bekaa, Lebanon| Map
Agenda: ENG | AR
Executive summary of the conference ENG | AR
Description
The Conference is aimed at presenting the main results of the LIVINGAGRO project over four years of implementation and at highlighting the benefits and impacts achieved in the cooperation area with particular reference to final beneficiaries of the Mediterranean agroforestry sector and, more specifically, involved with multifunctional olive systems and grazed woodlands.
Agenda (Beirut time)
| 10:00-10:30 | Opening session – Welcome Speeches
Welcome note by President Director General of LARI – Dr. Michel AFRAM Director General of the Ministry of Agriculture of Lebanon – Luis LAHOUD ENI CBC Med Programme Management Authority – TBC Regional Minister of Environment of Sardinia – Dr. Marco PORCU FORESTAS Director General – Dr. Antonio CASULA LIVINGAGRO Project Coordinator at FORESTAS – Dr. Maurizio MALLOCI Lebanese University of Beirut, Faculty of Agronomy – Dr. Lamis CHALAK |
| 10:30-12:30 | Technical Session: Project´s achievements and impacts
10.30 – 10.50 a.m.: LIVINGAGRO project and open innovation for Mediterranean agroforestry – Dr. Sara MALTONI, Regional Forest Agency for Land and Environment of Sardinia (Fo.Re.S.T.A.S.) 10.50 – 11.10 a.m.: Innovations for Multifunctional Olive Systems: identified solutions, their benefits and impacts – Dr. Milad EL RIACHY, Lebanese Agricultural Research Institute (LARI) 11.10 – 11.30 a.m.: Innovations for Grazed Woodlands: identified solutions, their benefits and impacts – Dr. Claudio PORQUEDDU, Italian National Research Council (CNR ISPAAM) 11.30 – 11.50 a.m.: LIVINGAGRO and stakeholder involvement: the experience of B2Bs, technology transfer workshops and business courses in Greece – Dr. Panagiotis KALAITZIS, Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Chania (MAICh) 11.50 a.m. – 12.10 p.m.: LIVINGAGRO experimentation: results of field trials performed in Jordan – Dr. Salam AYOUB, National Agricultural Research Centre Jordan (NARC) 12.10 – 12.20 p.m.: LIVINGAGRO impacts and benefits, focus on final beneficiaries: testimonials from the fields visits held in Lebanon – TBC 12.20 – 12.30 p.m.: LIVINGAGRO impacts and benefits, focus on final beneficiaries: testimonials from the B2B events held in Lebanon – TBC |
| 12:30-13:00 | Q&A session and Open discussion |
| 13:00 – 13:15 | Conclusions |
Local resources to address the global challenges of multifunctional olive systems (event in Italian)
Workshop
Date and time: 7th September 2023, from 10am to 12.30pm (CEST)
Event online: Attend
Objectives
The growing requests from operators in the olive sector for the enhancement of the quality of olive oil based on the territory of origin have led to the study of genetic resources and cultivation strategies aimed at increasing the capacity of the olive tree to face the scenarios envisaged by the ongoing climate changes and to reduce the impacts, with a view to enhancing local productions and using the multifunctionality of the crop.
The workshop represents a showcase of some of the approaches used and the most interesting outputs on the international scene.
Target audience
Olive growers, olive oil millers, oil industries, nurseries, control agencies, technicians and operators, researchers in plant genetics, agroecology and oil technology, students and communities interested in the safeguard and exploitation of local resources and the adoption of eco-sustainable cultivation and extraction technologies, community associations.
Please note that this event will be in Italian
Agenda (CET)
| 10:00 CET | Brief presentation of the LIVINGAGRO project. Sara Maltoni (Forestas Agency) |
| 10:10 | Characterization of Sardinian olive germplasm in comparison with national important varieties. Pierfrancesco Deiana, Mario Santona (University of Sassari) |
| 10:30 | Strategies to increase carbon sequestration in olive groves. Luca Regni, Primo Proietti (University of Perugia) |
| 10:50 | Impact of climate change and adaptation strategies in olive growing. Primo Proietti (University of Perugia) |
| 11:10 | Prospection, characterization and evaluation of the most productive and eco-sustainable local varieties. Maria Cristina Valeri (CNR – Institute of Biosciences and Bioresources) Biodiversity and quality of extra virgin olive oils in new and old genotypes. Maurizio Servili (University of Perugia) |
| 11:30 | New molecular tools for safeguarding local productions. Luciana Baldoni (CNR – Institute of Biosciences and Bioresources) |
| 11:50 | Questions and Answer session and final debate |
| 12:15 | Conclusions and closing |
Contact and organization
Luciana Baldoni – CNR, luciana.baldoni@ibbr.cnr.it
Project Contacts
Fo.Re.S.T.A.S. (LIVINGAGRO Leading Partner). Viale Luigi Merello, 86 • 09123 Cagliari, Italy. Tel. +39 070 279 91 • livingagro.project@forestas.it
Project’s ICT platform: https://www.livingagrolab.eu / FB: www.facebook.com/Livingagro / LIn: www.linkedin.com/company/livingagro-eni-cbc-med-project
Outcomes of NARC’s experiments on legume cover crops and ancient olive trees for LL1
Technology Transfer Workshop
Registration | Link to the event
| AGENDA | |
| 12:00 – 12:10 | Welcome
Dr. Murad Maaitah, Director of Olive Department, Ministry of Agriculture, Jordan |
| 12:10 – 12:30 | Intercropping of legume cover crops with olive trees
Dr. Salam Ayoub, NARC, Jordan |
| 12:30 – 12:40 | Discussion |
| 12:40 – 13:00 | Complete genome sequence of historical olive cultivar Mehras in Jordan
Prof. Monther Sadder, University of Jordan |
| 13:00 – 13:10 | Discussion |
| 13:10 – 13:30 | Morphological characterization of olive cultivar Mehras in Jordan
Dr. Salam Ayoub, NARC, Jordan |
| 13:30 – 13:50 | Open discussion |
| 13:50 – 14:00 | Closing remarks |
Africa Climate Week 2023
Conference
The first global stocktake will conclude at COP28 in UAE in December of this year. The stocktake offers a unique opportunity to call for decisive change. It is an opportunity to urgently respond to the need to accelerate progress by collectively embarking on a swift and profound transformation of our economic and social systems.
ACW 2023 and all the Regional Climate Weeks provide a platform for policymakers, practitioners, businesses and civil society to exchange on climate solutions, barriers to overcome and opportunities realized in different regions.
The Weeks consider four major systems-based tracks with a view to providing region-focused contributions to inform the global stocktake:
Energy systems and industry
Cities, urban and rural settlements, infrastructure and transport
Land, ocean, food and water
Societies, health, livelihoods, and economies
Closed cycles and the Circular Society 2023: The power of ecological engineering
Conference
We are very pleased to invite you to join us at the International Conference “Closed cycles and the Circular Society 2023: The power of ecological engineering” of the International Ecological Engineering Society (IEES). The conference will be held between October 1st – 5th, 2023 in Platanias – Chania on the island of Crete, Greece with physical presence and is organised by the Laboratory of Environmental Engineering and Management of the Technical University of Crete.
This conference marks the 30th anniversary since the foundation of the IEES in 1993! In this frame, our aim is to deliver and spread the message of redefining the ecological engineering discipline and communicate the IEES’s vision of an ecology-inspired circular engineering, as declared in our Manifesto of Ecological Engineering. An extended spectrum of conference topics has been formed indicating this modern holistic approach of Ecological Engineering.
The general conference topics are the
i) Use of ecological elements and ecosystems to reduce pollution
ii) Use of ecosystems in a circular society
iii) Circular design and integrated planning approaches for increased resiliency
iv) Resource recovery and reuse
v) Climate change, green and just transition, and carbon neutrality: the role of ecological engineers
vi) Regenerative agriculture
vii) Ecological Engineering and the mining industry
viii) Ecological Engineering Education
The official working language for the conference is English.
There will be oral and flash oral presentations and poster sessions.
We are looking forward to seeing you in Chania!
EFI (European Forest Institute) 2023 Annual Conference
Conference
https://efi.int/events/2023-annual-conference-2023-09-20: stock.adobe.com – Nikolai Sorokin
EFI 2023 Annual Conference will take place on 20-22 September in Novi Sad, Serbia. Conference will be organised together with our member organisation Institute of Lowland Forestry and Environment.
Scientific seminar on ‘European forests and forest science: transition to the future’ will celebrate EFI’s 30th Anniversary.
4th Mediterranean Plant Conservation Week
Conference
In 2023, two of these entities, the Centre for Forestry Research and Experimentation (CIEF, Generalitat Valenciana) and the Botanical Garden of the University of Valencia (BGUV) are the main responsibles for the organization of this fourth edition, to be held in Valencia (Spain) from 23rd to 27th October 2023, with the close cooperation of several units of the IUCN and the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund.
This congress will be a meeting point where the opinions and experiences of researchers and plant managers or practitioners will converge. This can be done by connecting experts in the fields of plant conservation and ecological restoration, being conscious that the last goal of plant rescue is not possible without the full recovery of the ecological functions on site.
Additionally, the 4th MPCW also pretends to be a forum where experiences from the different sides of the Mediterranean region can meet and establish links for future cooperation projects. Specialists from Southern Europe, the North of Africa, and the Middle East can find here a forum for the conservation of a common natural heritage, including plants, their habitats, and the knowledge on how to manage and use them in a sustainable way.
The 4th MPCW is a window to show research results and experiences in form of oral presentations and posters, not only from the plant or ecological sciences but also about the relationships between the public and the plant conservation world (citizen science, ethnobotany, local involvement, bottom-up initiatives, landraces, etc.), opening a new paradigm for the next decades around the Mediterranean: The plants are for the people, but with the people.
Please take a closer look at the 4th MPCW webpage and think about the possibilities of contributing to the huge effort of the conservation and recovery of plant richness and its sustainable use in the Mediterranean.
5th International Congress on Planted Forests
Congress
With a world population projected to reach 9.8 billion in 2050 – an increase of nearly 30 percent from today’s 7.6 billion [1] – needs for food, fuel, fiber and other bio-based products and services will rise sharply. Demand for forest-based biomass will increase, driven by construction and packaging, and wood fuel will remain the main energy source for many households in emerging economies.
At the same time, climate change, ecosystem degradation and their impacts call for deep changes in our global production and consumption patterns. Societies are engaging in the decarbonization of their economies and the restoration of their environment – with a prominent role for nature-based solutions. Forests and trees are an essential nature-based solution to accelerate the transition towards a carbon-neutral economy by providing opportunities for substituting fossil carbon based and greenhouse gas-intensive products with renewable forest-based products [2].
However, this demand for wood products will have to be met in a context of decreasing forest area, with 420 million hectares of forest lost to deforestation over the past 30 years, mainly in tropical countries (1990 to 2020) [3]. Meeting the rising demand for wood products in a sustainable manner will require a series of complementary actions along the value wood chain. However, these changes will not be sufficient if wood production itself does not increase. Planted forests, defined as forests that at maturity are predominantly composed of trees established through planting and/or deliberate seeding [4] only represent 7 percent of the global forest area [5].
Plantations [6], which make up less than half of the total planted forest area [7], produced in 2012 about 35 percent of the world’s total roundwood [8]. Planted forests hold untapped potential to fulfill future needs in wood products, while mitigating climate change and restoring degraded forest ecosystems. They should become a more important component of sustainably managed and well-developed forest sectors for socio-economic development and environmental protection
This fifth International Congress on Planted Forests will be the opportunity to review and discuss challenges and opportunities in harnessing the potential of planted forests to meet growing human needs, restore forest ecosystems, and mitigate climate change.
2024 Short Rotation Woody Crops International Conference
Conference
It is our pleasure to announce the 2024 Short Rotation Woody Crops International Conference, to be held May 13 – 16, 2024 in Columbia, Missouri, USA and hosted by the University of Missouri Center for Agroforestry.
Information on abstract submission, registration, and lodging is being compiled and will be made available on a conference website. Stay tuned for more information from the conference organizers!