On October 2nd, the ERIAFF network has organized the conference “Rural Innovation on the move!”. ERIAFF (European Regions for Innovation in Agriculture, Food and Forestry) is the first network on innovation and research in agriculture; it is composed of 26 regions and it is chaired by Tuscany. The main objective of ERIAFF is to facilitate the connection between research and the concrete needs of the agricultural sector at the local level. Therefore, ERIAFF serves as an essential tool for communication and best practices sharing between regions, in the field of research and innovation.
A video message from the European Commissioner for Agriculture, Dacian Cioloş, has opened the meeting. Major attention has been dedicated to experiences sharing in the field of climate change and food security. The concluding session focused on the analysis and discussion of tools and priorities for inter-regional collaboration, within the programming period 2014-2020. In the conclusion Ciaran Mangan, DG RTD, and Martin Sheele, DG AGRI, intervened praising the experience of the network for its effectiveness with regard to development of projects for the European Innovation Partnership.
