Laimburg Research Centre visits HNEE

How can the Laimburg Research Centre and Eberswalde University for Sustainable Development (HNEE) link and expand their joint topics and research projects in order to make agriculture and food systems sustainable, resilient and innovative? This question was the focus of the exchange during a visit by Dr Michael Oberhuber (Director) and Dr Jennifer Berger (Head of Science Support, Strategy & Communication) from the Laimburg Research Centre in Eberswalde.

The Laimburg Research Centre is South Tyrol's central research facility for agriculture and food processing. Since 1975, the centre has been pursuing the goal of contributing to the competitiveness and sustainability of the regional agricultural economy through practical, applied research. The work is divided into four institutes: Fruit and Viticulture, Plant Health, Agricultural Chemistry and Food Quality and Mountain Agriculture and Food Technology.

The 2021-2030 research programme focuses on five key areas: sustainable and resilient cultivation systems, digital innovation, climate-neutral agriculture, quality and health, and local diversity and life-cycle management. A special feature of the programme is the close link between science and practice through participatory project development with stakeholders and a variety of transfer formats such as contract research, field labs and open labs.

Represented by Director Dr Michael Oberhuber and Dr Jennifer Berger (Head of Science Support, Strategy & Communication), Laimburg met with an interdisciplinary group from HNEE: including Prof Dr Alexander Pfriem (Vice President for Research and Transfer), Dr Jakob Wegener, EU Research Officer at HNEE, Prof Dr Ralf Bloch (Agroecology), Prof Dr Marcus Schmidt (Food Systems), Prof Dr Stefan Julich (Landscape Use) and Prof Dr Martin Welp (Socioeconomics and Communication)

Cooperation formats were discussed such as:

• Research internships and Master's theses by students at the experimental centre,
• structured doctoral projects,
• research stays for academics from both institutions,
• joint digital innovation projects,
• applications for EU funding programmes such as Horizon Europe.

The dialogue partners discussed numerous overlapping topics - from climate-adapted cultivation systems to food safety and socio-economic issues. Laimburg's practical research and HNEE's academically sound sustainability approach complement each other perfectly in order to jointly develop future-oriented solutions for the transformation of agriculture and nutrition.