4th Innovation Forum as part of the Innovations in the Agri-food sector
On November 26, 2020 the fourth edition of Innovation Forums as part of the EmpInno Monitor S3 project took place in the Lublin Conference Center. This time, during the conference, interesting solutions for the Agri-food sector in the region as well as innovations and the latest technological achievements of Lublin scientists were presented. Due to the epidemic situation caused by pandemic of the virus SARS-CoV-2, the meeting was hybrid - the invited guests debated in the studio of the Lublin Conference Center and interested listeners were made available on-line transmission.
The invited guests from the University of Life Sciences in Lublin presented innovative activities in the food sector and Agro in various types of innovation. Product and process innovations were distinguished as the two main types of innovation. Consumers' preferences in the food market were considered to be one of the main factors determining the success of innovation. The University of Life Sciences in Lublin has a lot to offer to the Agri-food sector.
The second part of the 4th Innovation Forum was a discussion on the place of innovation in the Agri-food sector in the Regional Innovation Strategy of the Lubelskie Voivodeship, which is currently being updated. The "Analysis of detailed issues carried out by the Lublin Center for Research on Innovation of the Marshal's Office in the field of smart specialization areas of the Lubelskie Voivodeship" was presented. As part of which a list of detailed issues grouped by category and subcategory, constituting the basis for reformulating the areas of smart specialization in our region was developed.
Entrepreneurs and on-line listeners also took the floor. It was emphasized how important is cooperation between science - business - business environment institutions. In activities in the Lublin region, much more cooperation between entrepreneurs and universities is needed,
in order to shorten the supply chain to be able to create more and more innovative products.
On the basis of the talks on departing from the broad understanding of the bioeconomy area during the update of the Regional Innovation Strategy of LV until 2020, for more detailed issues. There was also the concept of introducing the area of "Agriculture 4.0.", which would integrate many issues regarding the personalization of agricultural production with the use of solutions from various fields, not only agriculture itself, but also engineering and IT, for better farm management.
During the discussion, there were also new platforms for cooperation between the University of Life Sciences and entrepreneurs from the region in the field of, for example, the production of functional food, biodegradable packaging or preservation technologies without artificial substances or even on natural preservatives. On the part of entrepreneurs, there was also a suggestion to meet the increasingly popular vegan products, the production of which in our region has quite a strong position and great potential. And to include this issue in the updated Regional Innovation Strategy, which would allow entrepreneurs and universities to reach for EU funds from this range.
The 4th Innovation Forum is behind us. But thanks to it, many new topics were born, both for cooperation in the science-business line with the support of the Marshal's Office of the Lublin Province in Lublin, and for the implementation of the EmpInno Monitor S3 project, including the new topics for the next Innovation Forums, to which we invite you now!
Compiled by: Malgorzata Brodzicka, Lubelskie Voivodeship, Dec 2020