Launch of SUPPORT’s co-creation workshops

The first co-creation workshops of SUPPORT’s Community of Practices (CoPs) are taking place this autumn with the aim to collectively develop policy and strategy recommendations to support the uptake of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) in European agriculture.

The first workshop was organised at WUR in the Netherlands in September, with 11 participants including ministries, certified advisory boards, inspection agencies, suppliers, academics, and other policymakers. The meeting focused on the state-of-the-art production techniques for strawberries in different cultivation methods.

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SUPPORT’s scientific coordinator, Johan Bremmer (WUR), gave a presentation about the project and discussed the current policy related to IPM. Then, the leader of the National Crop Cluster (NCC) for strawberries presented the farmer’s perspective on IPM.

The participants were enthusiastic and eager to discuss the future of strawberry production in the Netherlands, not only from an IPM standpoint but also from a consumer’s perspective. They reached a consensus that IPM strategies should incorporate a combination of advanced technology and biological approaches. The pricing of strawberries in Europe and consumer education related to it were key topics of discussion. As a recommendation, it was suggested that both retailers and farmers should be involved in ensuring price transparency.

For further information about this event, please contact Yaite Cuesta Arenas (ZLTO): yaite.cuesta.arenas@zlto.nl

You can read more about the multi-actor approach of the SUPPORT project here.

Also, a short report from the first Italian CoP on onions can be found here.