Innovative agriculture is becoming increasingly industrial

On March 3, 2016 the National Research University Higher School of Economics hosted international workshop “The Future of Agriculture: Grand Challenges and Technological Change”, aimed at identifying new growth areas for the agricultural sector and new opportunities for international cooperation in particularly promising S&T areas.

The debates were organised by the Centre for International Projects and the Foresight Centre of HSE Institute for Statistical Studies and Economics of Knowledge (ISSEK) in the scope of the project “Enhanced bi-regional STI cooperation between the EU and the Black Sea Region” (funded by the European Commission through the HORIZON 2020 Framework Programme).

The global economy faces numerous social, environmental and technological grand challenges. The most dire ones include shortage, quality, and safety of food. Finding technological solutions to ensure countries’ food security has long since stopped being a national- or regional-level problem; success here largely depends on finding efficient infrastructural solutions to support global value chains in the agricultural sector.

In his opening remarks Leonid Gokhberg, HSE First Vice Rector and ISSEK director, noted the need to develop practical arrangements and tools for such international cooperation, equally suitable for government agencies, businesses, academic and educational organisations.

Elena Metelkova, director of the S&T Policy and Education Department of the Russian Ministry of Agriculture, stressed her agency’s significant interest in making forward-oriented, justified management decisions and implementing long-term industrial strategy whose cornerstones would include identifying innovative solutions and promoting international cooperation of researchers and entrepreneurs specialising in the agricultural sphere.

Richard Burger, head of the S&T section of the Delegation of the European Commission to the Russian Federation, described opportunities for taking part in joint research projects funded by the European Commission in the scope of the HORIZON 2020 programme. He presented priority work plan for the next few years and spoke about opportunities open to Russian research teams, including through tenders organised by the Russian Ministry of Education and Science.

Alexey Nistrean, executive director of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation International Secretariat, outlined potential areas for joint research projects. It should be noted that in January — June, 2016, Russia chairs this international association, and agriculture was selected as a priority area for strengthening cooperation.

Leading experts of the HSE ISSEK Foresight Centre Ozcan Saritas, Alexander Chulok and Ilya Kuzminov spoke about various foresight tools, specifically monitoring global technological trends to identify breakthrough growth areas, and about the work on long-term S&T foresight study for the Russian agricultural sector that had already started.

Experts from 11 countries (Armenia, Bulgaria, Hungary, Germany, Greece, Georgia, Moldova, Poland, Russia, Romania, and Ukraine) made presentations on such topics as sustainable agriculture based on advanced technologies and institutional solutions; the future of genetic engineering; food security (new challenges to agricultural countries). Several speakers noted that efforts to find technological solutions in these areas should be accompanied by assessing the society’s willingness to accept new products and services, and unconventional agricultural models. Due to a large extent to changing relationship between food producers and consumers, and rapid technological progress, the agricultural sector can become more industrialised in the medium term, with agricultural complexes emerging not just in rural, but also in highly urbanised areas.

Following the workshop, prospective areas for multilateral S&T cooperation in the agricultural sphere between the EU member states and other Black Sea countries will be identified, to set up joint calls for R&D project proposals.

Please follow the Black Sea Horizon project’s website for announcement about calls for proposals.

Information about agricultural foresight studies will be regularly published on the websites of HSE Institute for Statistical Studies and Economics of Knowledge and Monitoring of Global Technological Trends, and made available upon request by email at issek@hse.ru or by phone at +7(495) 621 82 74.

See more:

Event Review with presentations at the project BLACK SEA HORIZON website: Black Sea International Workshop: “The Future of Agriculture: Global Challenges and Technological Change”