“European Legumes in Transition”

Did you miss on ore more of the webinars you can find records at the virtual conference page

Due to the Covid pandemic it has been necessary to cancel the planned conference. Instead  a significant knowledge transfer event -a series of 8 webinars - was held from 14th April 2021.

The two EC-funded Horizon-2020 projects, LegValue and TRUE began in 2017 with the remit to identify transition paths enabling home-grown legumes in more sustainable food- and feed-value chain in the Europe. These projects are led by Frederic Muel of Terres Inovia and Pete Iannetta of the James Hutton Institute (respectively), and the multi-national multi-partner consortia have spent four years piecing together an image of the components which comprise the European Union’s food systems, and which is best summarised as ‘fragmented’.

The TRUE-Project has largely focussed on innovations with legumes beyond the farm gate and has studied the impact their adoption might have on the supply networks. The LEGVALUE-project on the other hand has focussed on studies at farmer and regional production level and values along the supply chain. Both projects have worked closely to maximise their impact using numerous real-life commercial Case Studies, at both pilot and full-commercial scales to generate their insights.

Their common aim has been to examine the levers influencing increased legume production and to identifying opportunities to encourage transition in production systems, the ultimate aim being increased European self-sufficiency in plant protein production, and to optimise the role of legumes in that.

This “European Legumes in Transition” series of webinars was launched under the banner of the Legume Innovation Network. Hear from leading influencers how they believe legumes can be exploited to deliver a more sustainable and environmentally resilient agricultural system for Europe, and the opportunities that exist to realise the transitions envisaged.

This is a significant knowledge transfer event and attracted an audience representing the entire legume-focused supply chain from across Europe.

Below we list the themes of each webinar, a short description and the date of the event. All webinars lasted about 2 - 3 hours.

1. Digging-in to legumes and the potential of the Legume Innovation Network
   Wednesday, 14^th April 2021, 10:00 - 12:00 a.m. CEST
   A summary of the legume-situation & introduction to then webinar series. Illustrating how crop management, variety development and the wider value-chain elements and global economics impact on the delivery of ecosystem services, including the success of growers. It outlines the value chain functions from processing through to marketing. End-user concerns are highlighted from the perspective of feed and food, health, and the environmental functions. Introducing how the subsequent webinars will address these issue.
   
   
2. Optimising legume production
   Tuesday, 20^th April 2021, 10:00 - 12:00 a.m. CEST
   A farm level examination of farmer attitudes, activities, and approaches. Using studies of success stories to illustrate opportunities in crop management and variety availability to demonstrate ecosystem service benefits, environmental impact and the contribution to health, nutrition, and the economy. Demonstrating how through innovation a network exists that holds the world of legumes together. Concluding, this session introduces the next webinar, setting the scene for examination and understanding of the market for value chains.
   
   
3. Legume based value chains, farm gate and beyond and the market
   Thursday, 22^nd April 2021, 10:00 - 12:00 a.m. CEST
   Exploring how markets are organised, added value and their transparency. Illustrating how success stories function in the value chain through processing to the commodity market. Demonstrating how networks exist linking farmers to the markets, and how they can be strengthened through innovation. Leading to an introduction to the end-uses for legumes, the theme of the next webinar.
   
   
4. The diversity of end uses for legumes
   Tuesday, 27th April 2021, 10:00 - 12:30 a.m. CEST
   Increased awareness of the need to transition to sustainable food systems is revitalizing legume consumption in Europe, leading to a compilation of innovations and initiatives that aim to put legumes as a foundation for this transition. This webinar summarizes initiatives that aim to enable the comeback of legumes and their placement in a diversity of end uses, enabling them to become more prominent in human diets and animal feeds.
   
   
5. Pushing the boundaries in legume breeding
   Thursday, 29^th April 2021, 10:00 - 12:00 a.m. CEST
   The goals and objectives in legume breeding, the gaps, the gap opportunities and management of expectations. Demonstrating the success of legume breeding. Highlighting the level of investment, the gaps, and opportunities for the market. Exploring the barriers to greater success and indicating where innovation can and is being successful in influencing feed and food value for the benefit of health, nutrition, and the environment. Introducing how breeding links with science. How can the whole value chain support research rather than just the farmer? - introducing the next webinar in the series, Legumes Science.
   
   
6. Science, innovation and the empowerment of legumes
   Tuesday, 4th May 2021, 10:00 - 13:30 CEST
   The strategic knowledge of how science is ready and organised to deliver solutions for stakeholders involved in the value chain to increase legume production and uses. Exploring the success of science in delivering knowledge and how the science is integral to the network standing ready to facilitate innovation in the value chain. How the science community is ready to engage with industry to create a function network for information exchange. Introducing the next webinar in the series- The role of policy in the transition of legume production and consumption in Europe.
   
   
   
7. The role of policy in the transition of legume production and consumption in Europe
   Thursday, 6^th May 2021, 10:00 - 12:00 a.m. CEST
   Introducing the joint lessons from the TRUE-LEGVALUE policy-relevant studies and initiate a rethinking of how "policy understanding" can help to transform our food system to be more legume-based. The potential impact and contribution of policy instruments in scenario-based transition pathways towards greater legume production and consumption were discussed. Participants are from the complete legume innovation helix promoting the industry, science, policy, civil society interactions.
   
   
   
8. Bringing the Legume Innovation Network together
   Tuesday, 11^th May 2021, 10:00 - 12:30 a.m. CEST
   A synthesis of the key messages for growers and markets and end users throughout the supply and value chain with a summary for policy makers with the roadmap of the Legume Innovation Network, which was launched after this event. (www.legumeinnovationnetwork.eu)