Public research for organic agriculture is very limited and fragmented in many European countries. In an effort to create synergies between limited national research resources, the EU formed special research networks known as ERA-NETs (European Research Area Networks). Meanwhile, over 70 such networks exist Europe-wide.
The network for organic agriculture research is called CORE Organic and has existed since 2004. Originally there were 11 countries involved. In the meantime, the network consists of 22 partner countries, making it one of the largest networks. Switzerland has been part of this network since its inception.
CORE Organic is jointly coordinated by the International Centre for Research in Organic Food Systems (ICROFS) in Denmark and the German Federal Institute for Organic Agriculture. The first call (for projects) is planned for September 2010 with an advance announcement expected by the end of June 2010. There will be approximately seven million Euros available for the first project. Switzerland, represented through the Federal Office of Agriculture and FiBL, has the task of moderating the process of finding a topic between the 22 partners.
So far, 8 cooperative research projects have been financed within the framework of CORE Organic. These projects will be completed during the course of the year and are listed on the CORE Organics website.
Further Information
Contacts
Switzerland
Urs Gantner, Bundesamt für Landwirtschaft, Bern, Schweiz, Tel.+41 31322-2511, E-Mail Thomas Alföldi
Links
- BLE.de:„CORE Organic, das europäische Netzwerk zur Ökolandbauforschung, startet in eine neue Phase.” BLE-Pressemitteilung vom 22.4.2010
- COREorganic.org: Homepage des Projekts CORE Organic
- COREOrganic.org: Informationen über die im Rahmen von CORE Organci I geförderten Projekte
- COREportal.org: Länderberichte
- forschung.oekolandbau.de: CORE Organic: Jahresberichte der transnationalen Forschungsprojekte stehen zum Download bereit
- OrgPrints.org: Veröffentlichungen der CORE Organic Projekte der ersten Projektphase