Join us live in Edinburgh to explore what EIT Food can offer you and your organisation in the UK and the EU! Meet EIT Food Partners and RisingFoodStars from the North West region (UK, Ireland and Iceland) and West region (France, Belgium, Luxembourg and Switzerland)

About the event

Our agrifood sector is inundated with economic, environmental, and social challenges from inefficient food production methods to high levels of food loss and waste. Many of these challenges are ongoing, however, the sector also experiences constant change and new demands. The need for a transformed agrifood sector creates opportunities to optimize and create innovations and technologies to solve some of these challenges. Yet, innovation requires resilience and collaboration to succeed.

How can agrifood businesses, startups and projects be resilient and sustainable amidst constant change?

Join us on May 10-11 for the Resilient, Sustainable AgriFood System Conference in Edinburgh, Scotland, a thematic in-person networking and consortia-building event where we will facilitate matchmaking and ideation processes between our EIT Food partnerships, startups, corporates and the broader agrifood ecosystem.

What to expect

The 2-day event will feature inspirational keynote speakers and business cases that address and explore challenges of the food system as well as solutions that have not yet been found.

On day one, we will present the broad range of EIT Food programmes within Circular Food Systems and Sustainable Agriculture to showcase how they are addressing food system challenges.

On day two of the event, we will present funding opportunities at EIT Food and other European programmes to encourage participation in food system transformation.

Throughout the conference, there will be various networking and matchmaking opportunities. These are followed, on day two, by a moderated value creation and ideation workshop to formulate solutions to the focus areas challenges. These outcomes may serve as the basis for project proposals.

Event Themes

The event will explore a range of themes including:

• COP26 responses & EU Carbon Farming
• Food systems funding and investment opportunities
• Environmental labelling
• Networking and consortia-building post-Brexit

Event Timetable

10th May

• 10.30am-12pm: Closed session for EIT Food North West Partners and RisingFoodStars: AgriFood System Activities and Funding Opportunities in UK
  - Speaker: David Telford, Head of AgriFood, InnovateUK KTN
• 12.00pm-12.45pm: Networking Lunch
• 12.45pm-1.00pm: Welcome, Martine van Veelen and Jayne Brookman
• 1.00pm-1.30pm: Key Speaker: Dave Hughes, Syngenta
• 1.30pm-3.00pm: EIT Food Circular Food Systems & Sustainable Agriculture Projects and SME / RisingFoodStar Spotlights – Part 1
• 3.00pm-3.30pm: Key speaker: Chris Danks, Innovate UK- Supporting New Company Growth by Series A Finance Public Private Partnerships
• 3.30pm-4.00pm: Break
• 4.00pm-5.00pm: EIT Food Circular Food Systems & Sustainable Agriculture Projects and SME / RisingFoodStar Spotlights – Part 2
• 7.00pm-late: Dinner

11th May 

• 9.00am-09.05am: Welcome and Day 2 Agenda (Jayne Brookman & Martine van Veelen)
• 09.05am-09.35am: Sustainable food system – Key Speaker Contribution (Foundation Earth invited)
• 09.35am-10.05am: People and Ideas pitches space
• 10.05am-10.20am: Challenges of resilient, sustainable agrifood system
• 10.20am-12.20pm: Value creation and Moderated Ideation of solutions to challenges (Attendees sub-divide into groups for ideation)
• 12.20pm-12.30pm: Final remarks and Event Close
• 12.30pm-1.30pm: Networking lunch
• 1.30pm-4.00pm: Networking space remains open for closed meetings and consortia building
  - EIT Food North West Staff ‘Drop in Clinic’ Team will be available for meetings

Additional Details

The event is free of charge, but registration is mandatory. Participation in the event is limited to 120 people, so don’t miss the opportunity and get your ticket today!

For delegates who travel to Edinburgh, we recommend staying in the Travelodge (Waterloo Place), other venues will be announced soon.These hotels are informed about the event, but will not hold rooms without payment.

Please inform us if you are no longer able to attend the conference, so we can give your ticket to someone else. In case of a no show, a fee of 100 euro will be charged.

If you have any questions about the event please contact Communications and Engagement Officer Laura Elphick at laura.elphick@eitfood.eu 

We look forward to welcoming you to Scotland in May 2022!