b'GIANT VIEWSBY: NICK VANGHELUWEBREEDING PLANTS FOR TOMORROWS WORLD: HOW TO FACILITATE RESEARCH UPTAKE BY THE PRIVATE SEED AND PLANT BREEDING SECTOR?is cooperation between companies, publicfood business operators, are facing, and research institutes and other actors. Thedevelop solutions, which are more read-basis for this is for instance the principlesily applied in practice. In multi-actor pro-of public-private partnerships: partner- jects, activities are expected to be based ships at eye level, with mutual recognitionon co-innovation between actors with of the respective motivation, fair balancecomplementary knowledge and exper-of interests and thus ultimately a "win- tise during the project from defining the win" situation for the involved partners.problem to develop the solution, increas-Moreover, there are other possibilities toing the likelihood that the solution will be facilitate research uptake by the privateadopted in the future.plant breeding sector such as stakeholder engagement and agri-food value chainAGRI-FOOD VALUE CHAIN involvement. Through co-creation, theINVOLVEMENTNick Vangheluwe involvement and commitment of end-us- The traditional, top-down linear model ers is strengthened, increasing the like- of knowledge transfer is not effective lihood that the developed plant-basedbecause agri-food value chains involve PLANT BREEDING HAS A LONGsolutions will meet their respective needs. a wide range of stakeholders and rep-HISTORY OF R&I resent a complex network of inputs and Better, high-quality plant varieties are1. PUBLIC-PRIVATEoutputs that link farm production inputs the starting point of all food production,PARTNERSHIPS to end-products. To facilitate research but also the starting point for non-foodPublic-private partnerships ensureuptake, the plant sector from fundamen-renewable raw materials and energy.know-how and technology transfer andtal research to crop production, distribu-They play a pivotal role in supporting thecan result in a wide range of useful inno- tion, and processing, needs to be involved sustainability of Europes farms and thevations. Within the seed sector R&Dto increase commitment and expertise entire agri-food value chain as input foractivities take place in different forms,from different actors. Communication the bioeconomy. regardless of the company size. In gen- and cooperation between public institutes Plant breeding involves the processeral, SMEs and breeding activities aroundand business stakeholders are important by which new technologies and findingssmaller, orphan, or non-cash crops, relyto better understand each others needs from plant sciences and other researchmore strongly on public-private part- and requirements. Aspects like intellec-domains are turned into innovations:nerships, compared to large companies.tual property protection and in this con-improved plant varieties that have prac- Adequate public research funding, espe- text freedom to operate or regulatory tical impact on agri-food systems. Itcially also in forms of public-privateaspects that might limit the practical thus has a central transfer role, and it ispartnerships, specifically supports SMEsuse of products, need to be considered in essential that future crop research pro- in addressing their respective researchaddition to scientific opportunities and grams involve plant breeders, the users ofneeds and gaps. The strength of pub- competence only. This helps to create research findings who develop and finallylic-private partnerships is to generatethe necessary trust to unify efforts and introduce on the market new plant varie- gains through collaboration that may notto co-develop solutions, which are more ties. R&D activities therefore take placebe realised otherwise. They contribute tolikely to be applied in practice.along the value -and process chains fromdeal with barriers and risks for the use,In conclusion, a scientific approach the field to the shop counter to meet thedevelopment or commercialisation ofto plant breeding, with high invest-challenging and ever-evolving needstechnologies or products. ment in R&D has triggered an unprece-of farmers and the rest of the agri-fooddented acceleration of progress in plant chain, including consumer preferences2. STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT productivity. Through participation in and policy objectives. Cooperation between different actors isEU-funded projects, our sector provides also supported through the multi-actorinput to the research agenda, engages THE SEED SECTOR ISapproach put forward in Horizon Europe,with many different stakeholders, and CHARACTERISED BY A MULTITUDEthe EUs key public funding programmecreates awareness for the seed sectors OF COLLABORATIONS ANDfor research and innovation activities.mission and vision.COOPERATIONThe multi-actor approach helps to ensure A central element in any pre-competitivethat research projects focus on needs andNick Vangheluwe is Manager Research R&D project that aims to contribute toproblems that value chain actors, e.g.,Policy and Project Coordination at commercial competitiveness and successfarmers, food and feed processors andEuroseeds.40IEUROPEAN SEEDIEUROPEAN-SEED.COM'