ABOUT the
European Technology Platform
'Plants for the Future'
Background
The Plant ETP was officially launched by Commissioner Philippe Busquin in June 2004
with the publication of its vision paper '2025, a European vision for plant genomics and
biotechnology'. This vision was signed by 21 stakeholder organisations
representing academia, farmers, industry and consumers.
In July 2005, the Plant ETP launched its
"Stakeholders
Proposal for a Strategic Research Agenda"
at a press conference
in Strasbourg with Janez Potočnik,
European Commissioner for Science and Research, and Giles
Chichester, at the time chair of the European Parliament's committee on
industry, research and energy.
The
Plant ETP then initiated consultations in
19 European Countries, with the mirror
group at the European Parliament, with members of the European
Commission and via an online invitation for comments.
Based on the numerous inputs of the consultation, the Plant
ETP produced a final Strategic Research Agenda, launched at the European
Parliament in June 2007.
The SRA identifies five
challenges for Europe’s society and economy to which the
plant sector can contribute:
- Healthy, safe and
sufficient food and feed
- Plant-based products –
chemical and bioenergy
- Sustainable agriculture,
forestry and landscape
- Vibrant and competitive
basic research
- Consumer choice and
governance
In addition to the work on the SRA, the Plant ETP, as other ETPs, was invited to provide input to the FP7 Work
programmes. For
information on FP7 click here or visit DG Research’s
website. The Platform is continuing to give input to coming
Work programmes. This input is based on the SRA, a survey on the preparedness of the scientific community to tackle the SRA topics, and prioritisation by the ETP members.
In August 2007 the Plant ETP was transformed into a membership based ETP, still consisting of representatives from the three stakeholder groups. All members agreed on the aim, main tasks, structure and budget of the ETP for a three year period (2008-2010). Each member has made a commitment to contribute financially towards the budget of the Plant ETP for the period 2008 - 2010.
The next step forward
The next step in the strategic process initiated in 2003 is the
implementation phase. During 2008-2010 the Plant ETP will work with a focus on promoting and advocating strategic research and internationally competitive research. Education, communication and innovation embracement (including general policy statements) will be complementary tasks with second priority.
Plants for the Future will use various instruments
at European and national level in order to implement the SRA, integrate
it into national and European research strategies, promote the
development of national platforms, and enhance the public profile of
plant sciences. In addition, instruments such as the lead
market initiative, the European Institute for Technology (EIT) and the
possibility to use structural and social funds, will be considered.
The Plant ETP will also actively encourage the formation of National Plants for the Future TPs. We therefore welcome anyone with an interest in such formations to contact the secretariat.
To accomplish its goals, the Plants for the Future will work in a wider web of
collaboration with the seven other technology platforms related to the
knowledge-based bio-economy as shown in the graphic below. In addition,
Plants for the Future is developing closer collaboration with related
European Research Area networks, such as the ERA-NET on Plant Genomics, Plant KBBE,
and more distant technology platforms like ‘Manufuture’ and ‘Innovative
Medicine’.
To
structure the work of the platform permanent groupings are
established:
Secretaria - Coordinator
Manage TP activities; Balanced involvement of all
relevant stakeholders; Interaction between committees; Dissemination. The Plant ETP is currently in the process of recruiting a coordinator.
Steering Council
Ensure all
TP activities contribute to ETP long-term goal (Strengthen European Plant
Research and Innovation; Vision 2025); Leading actors in ETP initiatives;
Support for activities & results of TP among stakeholders. This list also includes the experts, observers and the group of personalities.
Executive Committee
Elected by the Steering Committee on a three year mandate. Is together with the Coordinator responsible for the every day activities of the ETP.
Advisory Group - to come
Advise for
TP from a broader point of view; Political weight for activities &
results of the TP
Mirror
Group - to come
Advise from
the 3 political institutions at European level (Council, Parliament,
Commission); Support from these institutions at European, national &
regional level; Crucial for implementation of TP
recommendations
In
addition to these, task forces are formed to approach a
specific short-term task. To come.
Working groups during the writing of the SRA
During the
development of the Strategic Research Agenda 2025 including the Draft
Action Plan 2007 - 2010 4 working groups related to 4
workshops were assembled:
·
Working
Group Basic Research
·
Working
Group Horizontal Issues
·
Working
Group Products
·
Working
Group Sustainability
For transparency reasons the working structure of the platform the members of the
groups and committees are provided per committee (see above) and
per country
An overview on the goals and foreseen timetable of the platform (1
page)
These groups work
according to the TP Code of Conduct - to be updated |
