MEDFORUM Examines Mediterranean Agriculture and Food Systems
Department of Horticultural Genetics and Biotechnology, Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Chania
Graduate education in lectures and cutting-edge labs, international research collaborations with world-class scientists
The 4th Mediterranean Forum for PhD Students and Young Researchers (MEDFORUM) convened more than 130 participants from 19 countries to explore Mediterranean Agriculture and Food Systems in a Time of Climate Change and Agrofood Crisis.?
Part of the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies (CIHEAM), the 4th MEDFORUM conference took place online and at the conference center of the Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Chania (CIHEAM-MAICh) in Chania, Crete, Greece on December 4-7.
In dozens of presentations by PhD students and young researchers, as well as eight keynote speeches by well-known senior scientists, a diverse group of international researchers considered real-world problems and solutions in four thematic sessions:
Numerous questions and comments from the audience emphasized that MEDFORUM enabled fruitful, thought-provoking interactions.
On the first day of the conference, Yasmin Muhammed was presented with the Best MSc Thesis Award at CIHEAM for designing and?developing a novel organic?yogurt based on?medicinal and aromatic plants. Ezzudeen Esaiwi received the new Youth Innovation Award for his INSPOT innovation to improve waste management by introducing insect recycling technology.
In her online remarks during the awards ceremony, Lamiae Ghaouti, president of the CIHEAM advisory board, told the young people in the audience, “you are our hope for envisioning and implementing the new paradigm for Mediterranean agriculture.” During both welcoming and concluding comments at MEDFORUM, this point was repeatedly emphasized.
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MAICh director George Baourakis recognized that by working with the next generation at CIHEAM, “we are spreading science, we are spreading creativity, we are spreading development throughout the region.” Tuning in online, Thaer Yaseen of the FAO Regional Office for Near East and North Africa commented on the value of CIHEAM’s focus on connecting research to real world problems such as water scarcity and poor land management, so that CIHEAM graduates can help find solutions.
Michele Bozzano of the European Forest Institute Mediterranean Region Office highlighted the importance of forests in the climate crisis and expressed his organization’s commitment to “supporting a new generation of scientists that will have a realistic vision to manage the landscape and see how one sector can support another sector.”
Such interdisciplinary understanding was fostered by the diverse set of topics covered at MEDFORUM “from many disciplines and scientific fields, and from different levels, from keynote speakers to PhD students,” observed conference co-chair Panagiotis Kalaitzis of the Department of Horticultural Genetics and Biotechnology at MAICh. Moreover, he added, the inclusion of online presentations in a hybrid conference like this is “a very democratic way to diffuse science,” enabling broader participation.
CIHEAM general secretary Placido Plaza emphasized the importance of dialogue and collaboration at CIHEAM in general and at MEDFORUM specifically—collaboration among people, institutions, national organizations, and international organizations. Giuseppe Provenzano of the Union for the Mediterranean pointed out that events like MEDFORUM help increase skills and employability as young scientists learn “ways of presenting knowledge, how to reach your neighbor, your colleague, your friend – ways to cooperate.”
The 4th MEDFORUM was organized by the Department of Horticultural Genetics and Biotechnology at the Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Chania (MAICh) under the aegis of the CIHEAM headquarters in Paris and with the support of the three other CIHEAM institutes.
Established in 1962, CIHEAM is a Mediterranean intergovernmental organization composed of 13 Member States (Albania, Algeria, Egypt, France, Greece, Italy, Lebanon, Malta, Morocco, Portugal, Spain, Tunisia, and Türkiye). The Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Chania is one of its four institutes, with the others located in Bari (Italy), Montpellier (France), and Zaragoza (Spain).