Promoting a plant genetic resources community for Europe

The European project PRO-GRACE, in collaboration with the EMPHASIS European plant phenotyping infrastructure, will be holding a policy symposium and workshop about plant genetic resources and phenotyping at Rue du Trône 62 in Brussels hosted by PRO-GRACE partner CSIC and organized by Euroseeds on 27 and 28 June 2024, with the possibility of online participation.

How could Europe contribute to conserving, characterizing and using plant biodiversity for the benefit of society and the environment?

A policy symposium and a networking event will take place on Thursday, 27 June from 13:00 to 19:00 to address the challenges and opportunities regarding the conservation, characterization, access and use of non-commercial plant genetic resources present in genebanks and in their natural habitat in Europe.
The aim of this policy symposium is to engage European and national level policymakers, as well as interested stakeholders, to raise awareness about the potential of a future research infrastructure dedicated to plant genetic resources to address biodiversity loss.

How can phenotyping help to exploit the untapped potential of plant genetic resources in Europe?

A workshop on the challenges and opportunities for harmonization of plant phenotyping will be held on Friday, 28 June from 8:30 to 16:00. This session will be of particular interest to plant researchers and breeders, who are interested in making use of plant genetic resources from genebanks and other non-commercial sources.
The aim of this plant phenotyping workshop is to provide an inventory of the different initiatives for phenotyping plant genetic resources and to discuss how plant phenotyping can support the management and utilization of plant genetic resources and to make this huge amount of data available for scientific and breeding activities and how to ensure it is interoperable with different information systems.

SAVE THE DATE if you are interested in joining the discussion on how Europe could address biodiversity loss!

The agenda will be continuously updated and available on the PRO-GRACE website, and registration for the two events will be opened soon. In case of any questions, please contact Nick Vangheluwe, Manager, Research Policy and Project Coordination, Euroseeds.