INFORMAL MINISTER’s MEETING IN CÓRDOBA
The 23 ministers of Agriculture of European countries met from September 3 to 5 in the city of Cordoba (Spain) to discuss and strengthen the role of new agricultural technologies for a more efficient agriculture in the face of the constraints imposed by climate change. During the institutional visit, they explored opportunities for cooperation that promise to strengthen food security, foster agricultural innovation and ensure sustainable practices throughout Europe. Among the scheduled activities, the European representatives visited the experimental farm of the University of Córdoba as part of the agenda for the Informal Ministers’ Meeting. Here, the results obtained over the past years were presented, and Concepción Muñoz (Department of Agronomy-UCO, project coordinator) highlighted the importance of the GEN4OLIVE project.
7th CONSORTIUM MEETING IN ROME
The Seventh Consortium Meeting of GEN4OLIVE project will be held from 7 to 8 September 2023 in Rome (Italy). It will be hosted by the Sapienza University of Rome. During the meeting, project implementation aspects will be presented by Work Package Leaders in collaboration with Task Leaders. The meeting is an opportunity for the project attendees to obtain an overview of the implementation of the WPs during previous months, discuss difficulties and proposals to solve them and schedule priorities for the next months. Also, partners will be able to have an insight on communication and dissemination activities, and to discuss open data and ethics issues, as well as managerial, financial and technical reporting issues.
GEN4OLIVE AT THE SEB ANNUAL CONFERENCE
The Universidad de Granada was at the SEB Centenary Conference 2023 (4–7 July) in Edinburgh. UGR team introduced the project with the talk “Shaped by the light: physiological plasticity in response to radiation explains eco-evolutionary patterns across phylogeographic lineages of Olea europaea L.”, which was presented during the session “P8 PEPG: Plant physiological responses across scales”.
6th CONSORTIUM MEETING IN CRETE
The Sixth Consortium Meeting of GEN4OLIVE project will be held from 10th to 13th May 2023 in Chania, Crete (Greece). It will be hosted by the Hellenic Agricultural Organization ELGO-DIMITRA. During the first day, project implementation aspects will be presented by Work Package Leaders in collaboration with Task Leaders. The meeting is an opportunity for the project attendees to obtain an overview of the implementation of the WPs during last months, discuss difficulties and proposals to solve them and schedule priorities for the next months. On the second day, project partners will be able to have an insight on communication and dissemination activities, and to discuss open data and ethics issues, as well as managerial, financial and technical reporting issues. Other planned activities include a visit to ELGO DIMITRA Germplasm Bank, the Terra Creta Olive Mill and the Botanical Garden and Park, among others. We will also visit the olive groves of LIFE Olivares Vivos+, where we will have the opportunity to network with this EU project.
12 SMEs RECEIVE FUNDING THROUGH GEN4OLIVE’s 2nd CALL FOR PROPOSALS
The results of the 2nd Call have just been published! 12 SMEs will receive funding for the design of olive breeding plans and their validation activities.
27 proposals from 8 countries targeted by the Call were requested. After the evaluation process, 17 proposals were proposed for funding. These companies will receive up to €10,000 for the development of their projects over the next 12 months.
The country with the highest rate of approval has been Spain (11), followed by Albania (2), France (1), Italy (1), Georgia (1) and Turkey (1). These proposals will receive funding to develop individual projects with a total budget of €170,000.
All information on the funded projects will be published on the GEN4OLIVE website soon.
2nd CALL FOR PROPOSALS: POSITIVE RESULTS OF PARTICIPATION
The GEN4OLIVE 2nd Call for Proposals closed on January 25th, reaching successfully results in terms of participation, as 27 SMEs participated in the Call.
A total of 27 proposals led by SMEs were summitted from 8 different countries: Spain (12), Italy (4), Turkey (4), Albania (2), Greece (2), France (1), Georgia (1), and Morocco (1).
Now, submitted applications will be evaluated by external experts plus review by the GEN4OLIVE Evaluation Committee in order to select the best projects that will receive 10.000€ of voucher funding.
Selected companies will be contacted in April 2023 and will be able to start designing their olive breeding plans and related validation activities.
More information and updates will be regularly published on GEN4OLIVE website.
SUCCESSFUL INFODAY ORGANISED IN MOROCCO
The Moroccan Infoday & Co-creation Panel was successfully organised at the Regional Center of Agronomic Research of Marrakech (INRA) at the end of November 2022. A total of 56 participants, divided between farmers, breeders, industrials, nurserymen and public administrations attended the infoday.
During the discussion, local partners asked several questions related to the project and possible ideas for activities that could be submitted in the GEN4OLIVE Second Call for Proposals. INRA team solved all these queries and highlighted the importance of developing and submitting proposals to this Call, as it is a plus for the project, thus allowing to combine the efforts of all the actors in the field of the olive tree for the diversification of the genetic material and the selection of genotypes resistant to the extreme climatic conditions of cold and drought.
MOROCCAN INFODAY & CO-CREATION PANEL
On November 25, 2022, the Regional Center of Agronomic Research of Marrakech (INRA) is organising the Moroccan Infoday & Co-creation Panel. Local representatives of the sector are invited to know more about the 2nd Open Call for SMEs.
For reservations and more information, please go to this link.
GREEK INFODAY & CO-CREATION PANEL
On November 24, 2022, the Hellenic Union of Nurseries (EFE) is organising the Greek Infoday & Co-creation Panel at the Sikyon Coast hotel and Resort (Sikelianou, Sikia). Local representatives of the sector are invited to know more about the 2nd Open Call for SMEs.
To ensure the safety of attendees, this event follows a reserved seating policy. For reservations and more information, please go to this link.
TURKISH INFODAY & CO-CREATION PANEL (NEW DATE!)
The Olive Research Institute (ORI) is hosting the Turkish Infoday & Co-creation Panel regarding the launching of the 2nd Open Call for SMEs. The event will take place on 29 November 2022 and can be attended onsite at the Izmir Olive Research Institute Conference Room. Attendees will have the opportunity to get an insight into the Second Call for Proposals during this event.
For more information, please contact mehmet.hakan@tarimorman.gov.tr
INTERNATIONAL INFODAY
The International Infoday of GEN4OLIVE 2nd Call for Proposals will take place next November 8th, 2022 from 10:00 to 14:00 (CEST). With a budget of €250.000, this call will fund the design of olive breeding plans and its validation activities. The deadline to submit proposals is on January 25th, 2023. The registration is open here.
Stay tuned for upcoming information events to be organised in Italy, Turkey, Greece, and Morocco.
SPANISH NATIONAL INFODAY
The GEN4OLIVE Spanish National Infoday took place on October 26th, 2022. The event was organised in a hybrid online and face-to-face format at the Rural Innovation Hub El Valenciano, in Carmona, Seville. During this event organised by BALAM Agriculture, attendees had the opportunity to know more about the project, specifications, requirements and eligibility criteria of the 2nd Call for Proposals. Useful information on the Call, the recorded session and the presentations can be found here.
We encourage you to work on your proposals and wish you good luck during this process!
2nd OPEN CALL FOR PROPOSALS LAUNCHED!
GEN4OLIVE project has just launched the 2nd Open Call for Proposals with €250.000 of funding available for SMEs, who will be able to apply for funding of up to €10.000 for individual projects. This call will fund the design of olive breeding plans and its validation activities. The deadline to submit proposals is on January 25th, 2023.
For further information about this call, we also invite you to the International Infoday that will be organised next November 8th from 10:00 to 14:00 (CEST). Registration is open here.
For more information, call guidelines and much more, please visit 👉 https://gen4olive.eu/second-call-gen4olive/
5th CONSORTIUM MEETING IN ITALY
The Fifth Consortium Meeting of GEN4OLIVE project will be held from 21st to 23rd September 2022 in Rende (Italy). It will be hosted by CREA-OFA at Azienda “Li Rocchi”, where we will have the opportunity to visit their collection of olive Germplasm Bank during the last day of the meeting. On the first day, project implementation aspects will be presented by Work Package Leaders in collaboration with Task Leaders. The meeting is an opportunity for the project attendees to obtain an overview of the implementation of the WPs during last months, discuss difficulties and proposals to solve them and schedule priorities for the next months. On the second day, project partners will be able to have an insight on communication and dissemination activities, and to discuss open data and ethics issues, as well as managerial, financial and technical reporting issues.
GEN4OLIVE ATTENDED A WORKSHOP ORGANISED BY THE IOC
GEN4OLIVE project was present through his Project Manager, Hristofor Miho (University of Córdoba) at the workshop convened by the International Olive Council (IOC) where representatives of 23 olive germplasm banks were present.
The theme of the workshop was: “Harmonisation of protocols to analyse the agronomic behaviour of the different varieties included in the World Olive Catalogue”, organised in Izmir (Turkey), on 27 June-1 July 2022.
The GEN4OLIVE project, thanks to its progress and results, presented the protocols used by the consortium as an example to follow and harmonise for the rest of the banks. Also, during this trip, the coordinator visited the pilot plant built by the partner University of Ankara in Izmir (Turkey). This plant is working and the first experimental results are bearing fruit in relation to the early entry into production of olive varieties.
FUNDED PROJECTS KICK-OFF MEETING
The Kick-off Meeting of the 1st Call for Proposals’ funded projects was organised on April 27th, 2022. The new beneficiaries had the opportunity to know more about the timeline and specifications of projects’ execution, monitoring and reporting procedures and communication issues through the explanations provided by the FCTA, BALAM and supported by other GEN4OLIVE partners. Also, all funded projects were presented by the SMEs beneficiaries. The projects, which will run during 2 years, are aimed at pre-breeding and enabling-technologies development in order to accelerate and make the breeding process more effective.
More information about funded projects can be consulted through this link.
INFORMATION ABOUT FUNDED PROJECTS
The European project GEN4OLIVE has recently published the results of its 1st call, in which a total of 14 SMEs are receiving funding to develop 2 individual and 6 collaborative projects, with a budget of €700,000. Spain is the country with more companies receiving funds (7), followed by Italy (3), Greece (2) and Albania (2). The second GEN4OLIVE call will finally open in October 2022. Detailed information on each funded project can be consulted through this link.
4th CONSORTIUM MEETING
The 4th Consortium Meeting of GEN4OLIVE will be organised on 23rd – 24th March, 2022 and hosted by the project leader, the University of Córdoba and the project partner Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique Morocco (INRA). The meeting will consist of a two-day online session where the attendees will have the opportunity to share main project’s progresses made since the previous meeting and the actions that are planned for the upcoming months. The agenda of the second day (24th March) will be of special relevance since both the official technical and financial reports will be submitted to the European Commission for the first time. Next Consortium Meeting is expected to be held in Italy in September 2022.
PRESENTATION OF GEN4OLIVE TO THE HEAD OF THE PREFECTURE OF CRETE
The Head of the Prefecture of Crete hosted a meeting with representatives of ELGO-DIMITRA in the headquarters in Heraklion on Monday, March 14th 2022. The GEN4OLIVE project among other activities were presented and collaboration opportunities at large scale were discussed.
LAUNCHING MEETING OF ClimOliveMed PROJECT AND PRESENTATION OF GEN4OLIVE
The GEN4OLIVE project was presented by the project partner INRA (Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique) as Moroccan coordinator at the ClimOliveMed project launching meetings held from March 7 to 12, 2022 in Marrakech.
These meetings gathered all the partners of the project from France and Morocco: researchers, national olive growers’ associations, managers of genetic resources collections, international olive growing council, FAO and funders.
GEN4OLIVE CALL FOR PROPOSALS GRANTS 700,000€ TO 8 PROJECTS AIMED AT IMPROVING OLIVE BREEDING PROCESS
The European Project GEN4OLIVE has recently published the results of the 1st Call for Proposals aimed at SMEs, whose main goal was funding activities for olive pre-breeding and the development of new technologies that accelerate and make the breeding process more effective. A total of 35 proposals were received, with representation from each of the 7 countries to which the call was addressed. Eligible proposals were each evaluated by 3 different experts with different nationalities from the applicant. As a result, a total of 8 proposals (2 individual and 6 collaborative) were finally proposed for funding and 14 SMEs (7 from Spain, 3 from Italy, 2 from Greece and 2 from Albania) will soon receive funding to develop these projects with an overall budget of 700,000€.
More information and updates on the second call for proposals to be launched in September 2022 will be regularly published on GEN4OLIVE website.
GREAT SUCCESS OF THE GEN4OLIVE CALL FOR PROPOSALS
The GEN4OLIVE Call for Proposals closed on December 1st, reaching successfully results in terms of participation, as 63 SMEs participated in the Call. A total of 35 proposals led by SMEs were summitted from all the eligible countries: Italy (11), Spain (10), Greece, (5), France (3), Morocco (3), Turkey (3) and Germany (1). Now, the GEN4OLIVE consortium will evaluate all these applications to select the best projects that will be funded with grants of 50.000€ for individual projects and 100.000€ for collaborative projects. The selected companies will be contacted in March 2022 and will be able to start implementing their projects. The GEN4OLIVE Call for Proposals will fund olive pre-breeding activities and the development of new technologies that accelerate and make the breeding process more effective.
More information and updates will be regularly published on GEN4OLIVE website.
GEN4OLIVE 3rd CONSORTIUM MEETING
The 3rd Consortium Meeting of GEN4OLIVE was recently organised and hosted by the project leader, the University of Córdoba, during November 10, 11 and 12. It has been the first face-to-face meeting since the beginning of the project! Both attendees in person and online could have an insight on main project’s progresses made and actions to take in the upcoming months. Also, during last day of the meeting, the Germplasm Bank, greenhouses and laboratories of the University of Cordoba were visited. All in all, the consortium has addressed the challenges related to the exploitation of genetic resources of the olive tree to accelerate pre-breeding activities, and laid the groundwork for a robust and easy-to-use interface that uses Machine Learning technology for the first time in the olive industry. Next Consortium Meeting is expected to be organised in March 2022.
MOROCCAN CO-CREATION PANEL & DYNAMIZATION EVENT
Take a look at some of the pictures from INRA´s Gen4Olive 1st Open Call Information Meeting and Co-Creation Panel held in Marrakech November 3rd!
The session was opened by M. Lhassane SIKAOUI (head of INRA Marrakech and coordinator of GEN4OLIVE Project ‘Moroccan component’), followed by the heads of development services of the Agricultural Ministry of Essaouira, Marrakech and Ouarzazate. Also, Dr. Sara OULBI, Dr. Abdelaziz BOUIZGAREN, Dr. Hayat Zaher and Dr. Yamna Ouguas made informative presentations about the 1st Call for Proposals.
In total 45 participants benefited from this infoday. Participants mainly belonged to development services of the Agricultural Ministry of Essaouira, Marrakech and Ouarzazate, scientists from the University of Marrakech, and several SMEs presidents (cooperatives, nurseries, food industries, young promotors, etc.).
TURKISH CO-CREATION PANEL & DYNAMIZATION EVENT
The Olive Research Institute (ORI) is hosting a local Co-creation Panel & Dynamization Event in conjunction with the opening of the 1st Call for Proposals. The event will take place on 14th October at 14:00 pm and can be attended onsite at Olive Research Institute Meeting Room, in Bornova (Izmir, Turkey). Attendees will have the opportunity to learn about the project’s progress, offer feedback and get an insight into the first open call for SMEs during this event.
For more information, please contact songulacar76@hotmail.com
GREEK CO-CREATION PANEL & DYNAMIZATION EVENT
The Hellenic Union of Nurseries (EFE) is organising its local Co-creation Panel & Dynamization Event regarding the launching of the 1st Call for Proposals for SMEs contributing to olive breeding activities. The event will take place on 8th October and can be attended onsite. It will start at 10:30 am at Muse Urban Venue, in Monastiraki (Athens, Greece). During this event, attendees will have the opportunity to get information about the progress of the project, contribute to it with their opinion and get useful information about the 1st Open Call for SMEs.
To ensure the safety of the attendees, this event follows a seat reservation policy. For booking and more information, please contact unionofnurseries@gmail.com.
SPANISH CO-CREATION PANEL & INFODAY OF THE GEN4OLIVE CALL. NEW DATE!
GEN4OLIVE project has just launched its 1st Open Call for Proposals with € 750.000 of funding available for SMEs that contribute to the olive breeding activities. If you are a farmer, breeder, an innovative SME or you are related to the olive sector, you can participate on this GEN4OLIVE Co-creation panel and Infoday that will be organised in Spain.
The event will take place on 13th October and can be attended onsite or online. If you want to attend in person, you will be expected at 10:30 am at the Rural Innovation Hub El Valenciano, in Carmona (Seville, Spain). On the other hand, at 11:45 am, the online event will begin.
During this event, attendees will have the opportunity to contribute to project results, find potential partners and learn how to get European funding for olive breeding projects, as we will also provide information about the 1st Open Call for SMEs.
The event is organized by Balam Agriculture in collaboration with CTA (Andalusian Technological Corporation), both partners of GEN4OLIVE.
If you want to attend this event, please register here.
CALL FOR INDEPENDENT EXPERTS
GEN4OLIVE has recently launched a call for independent experts with experience in planning, exploitation and commercialization strategies of international R&D projects, to evaluate the proposals received in the 1st Call for Proposals. The experts must be experienced evaluators with 5 years of expertise in one of the following fields:
The guidelines to know the requirements are available here and applications can be submitted through this platform. The call will be open until 15th November 2021
International Infoday & Matchmaking event
The GEN4OLIVE Infoday & Matchmaking Event took place on September 15th. During this event organised by CTA, attendees had the opportunity to know more about the project, specifications, requirements and eligibility criteria of the 1st Call for Proposals, and they could also connect with potential partners at international level. Among others, the Call for Experts, recently launched on September 15th was also presented and the details about the independent experts we are looking for to evaluate the proposals submitted under the first call were communicated. Useful information on the Call, the recorded session and the presentations can be found here (SAVE THE DATE section). We encourage you to work on your proposals and wish you good luck during this process!
1st OPEN CALL FOR PROPOSALS LAUNCHED!
GEN4OLIVE project has just launched the 1st Open Call for Proposals with € 750.000 of funding available for SMEs. This call will fund olive pre-breeding activities and new technologies that accelerate and make the breeding process more effective.
For further information about this call, we also invite you to the International Infoday & Matchmaking Event that will be organised next September, 15th from 10:00 to 17:00 (CET). Registration is open here 👉 https://gen4olive-infoday-matchmaking-event.b2match.io/
For more information, call guidelines and much more, please visit 👉 https://gen4olive.eu/1st-gen4olive-call-proposals/!!
NEW VIDEO OF INRA’S ACTIVITIES IN MARRAKECH
The National Institute of Agronomic Research (INRA), a GEN4OLIVE partner, plays an important role in the definition of common protocols to characterize the best agronomic features of olive varieties. Among its activities developed, the institute has observed phenological features of olives in Marrakech, one of the world olive tree collection fields subject of study. Also, they have evaluated olive peacock leaf spots and the olive fruit fly. Moreover, they participate in other activities such as olive oil tasting.
PRESENTATION OF GEN4OLIVE TO THE MINISTER OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT AND FOOD
The Minister of Rural Development and Food of Greece accompanied by the Head of the Prefecture of Crete and congressmen and stakeholders of Crete visited ELGO-DIMITRA in Chania on Tuesday, July 6th. Gen4Olive project among other activities were presented. A short visit to the certified plant nursery, the genotype-environment interaction trial and other field experiments was realized resulting in a very fruitful discussion.
GEN4OLIVE INFODAY & MATCHMAKING EVENT
GEN4OLIVE project will launch its 1st Open Call for Proposals on September 1st, 2021 with €750.000 to fund olive pre-breeding activities and new technologies to address this issue and make the breeding process more effective.
For further information about this call, we invite you to the International Infoday & Matchmaking Event that will be organised next September, 15th from 10:00 to 17:00 (CET). Registration is open here.
For more information, please visit 👉 https://gen4olive.eu/1st-gen4olive-call-proposals/!!
CHECK OUT THE NEW EXPERIMENTAL PROTOTYPES BUILT BY ANKU
The long juvenile period (period of time from seed germination to first flowering) of trees is a severe impediment to study reproductive biology and genetic inheritance, and is a serious constraint for traditional breeding programs.
In this context, main objective of Task 4.4 is to overcome this limitation, and one of our partners, the Ankara University (ANKU), plays a key role, as they are implementing an integrated and innovative growth evaluation system to define the best protocols for shortening the juvenile phase and understand the effects of different environmental parameters on the olive growing process.
Within this task, the university has designed, produced and installed three different “Hybrid Fully Automated Climate Controlled Cabinet” (Hybrid-FAC) pilot prototypes (at ORI’s facilities) by using uninterruptible power supply from solar energy, reverse osmosis water purification system and dosing, and EC (Electrical conductivity) – pH control systems to develop new techniques to accelerate breeding process by shortening the juvenile phase of olive growing.
The aim of the Hybrid-FAC Experimental prototypes is to observe the effects of different environmental parameters, such as humidity, CO2 and lightening on the growing of olives and on the stimulation of rapid growth.
Thanks to these cabinets, the observations and experiments will be made with minimum cost and maximum efficiency.
This system is unique for this task and GEN4OLIVE Project!
6M CONSORTIUM MEETING
The GEN4OLIVE Consortium successfully conducted an online 6-month progress meeting between April 15th and 16th, 2021. The meeting was attended by representatives of the GEN4OLIVE Consortium and it was organised and hosted by our Greek partner, DEMETER.
The aim of this GEN4OLIVE 6M meeting was to allow the partners to discuss thoroughly on the activities realized during the first six months of the GEN4OLIVE lifetime and to also elaborate on the planned actions for the following semester. During the meeting, the partners developed a scientific discussion on actions regarding the definition of common protocols and consulting end-users needs (WP1), among others. These tasks will lead to the optimization of the protocols and methodologies that the following WPs, which were also addressed during the meeting will undertake to ensure the soundness of the expected results. Also, specific information with regards to managerial and communication and dissemination issues were discussed during the meeting.
The next Consortium Meeting is expected to be held during September 2021 and organised by the FCTA in Seville (Spain).
GEN4OLIVE OPEN CALLS
In September 2021 we will open the first GEN4OLIVE call to finance innovative projects that maximize the use of olive genetic resources. It will be aimed at SMEs in Spain, Italy, Morocco, Greece and Turkey. This activity is coordinated by our partner CTA (Technological Corporation of Andalusia.
GEN4OLIVE at Red Rural Nacional
On December 16th, 2020, the GEN4OLIVE project was presented at the workshop “Virtual exchange between operational groups and innovative projects under genetic improvement thematic” organized by the Spanish National Rural Network (Red Rural Nacional, RRN). Hristofor Miho and Cristian García from the University of Córdoba (UCO) and Nathalie Chavrier from Corporación Tecnológica de Andalucía (CTA) presented the main objectives to be achieved and the potential results. The presentation is available from minute 22:55.
PRESENTATION OF THE PROJECT AT THE INTERNATIONAL OLIVE COUNCIL
On December 11th, 2020, the GEN4OLIVE project was presented at the workshop held by the International Olive Council where representatives of the germplasm banks from 23 countries participated. Concepción Muñoz and Hristofor Miho from the University of Córdoba (UCO) presented the project.
GEN4OLIVE PROJECT PRESENTATION AT THE RURAL INNOVATION HUB
On December 10th, 2020, the GEN4OLIVE project was launched before the oil community at the Rural Innovation Hub, on the El Valenciano farm in Carmona (Seville, Spain). In this event, attendees were able to see the project first-hand, as well as discussing the importance of genetic variability of the olive tree. In addition, there was a tasting of 13 varieties of oil and networking of European project.
GEN4OLIVE: OFFICIALLY LAUNCHED
GEN4OLIVE (Mobilization of Olive Genetic Resources through pre-breeding activities to face the future challenges and development of an intelligent interface to ensure a friendly information availability for end users) project held its online kick-off meeting on October 19th, 2020.
The meeting was an opportunity for the project partners to meet, obtain an overview of the entire project and initiate the first interactions which will take place during the project. Further actions upon the scheduling and requirements of activities were discussed and agreed among all partners.
A plan for future interactions will be discussed over email and in following virtual meetings soon.
This project has received
funding from the European
Union’s Horizon 2020 research
and innovation programme
under grant agreement No. 101000427
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