The Rural Development Innovation Week was organised by the Government of Tuscany and the Smart Specialisation Platform for Agri-Food in Florence (Italy) from 26 to 29 March 2019.

The Agrifood Campus of International Excellence ceiA3 attended the Rural Development Innovation Week, in which took place the ERIAFF Annual Conference, the 2019 Spring Agri-food Working Committee Semi-annual Meeting as well as an exhibition space to share the results of the innovative projects carried out by the Operational Groups of EIP-AGRI. The event aimed at linking actors at regional and European level while transferring knowledge about existing initiatives in order to support and promote innovative projects on agriculture and forestry.

ceiA3’s manager Lola de Toro and University of Cordoba researcher José Emilio Guerrero shared the results of Water Footprint with other European regions. This project consists of an intelligent connectivity system that focuses on the concept of footprint. Likewise, it works as a connection point between the user experience generated by the wine consumer and the added value provided by the winery. Thus, Water Footprint improves the efficiency of the agrifood chain, which results in a reduction in the associated environmental impact, and therefore in a more efficient use of natural resources.

In addition, members of ceiA3’s International Project Office of ceiA3 attended the Annual Assembly and working groups within the framework of ERIAFF. There, they disseminated other Operational Groups, such as DOSAOLIVAR (Dosage of Phytosanitary Products in Olive Groves), CUVrEN (Coverings of Native Species in Olive Groves), InnoTuber (new control measures and techniques for bovine tuberculosis in Andalucia), #DejaTuHuella, 4 Retornos (regeneration of degraded soils) and Subpgan (improved management, valuation and marketing of livestock byproducts through innovation). All of them are financed by EAFRD through the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Rural Development of the Junta de Andalucia.