4th. #INTERACT Scientific Conferences: Two weeks left
INTERACT project (“Integrative Research in Environment, Agro-Chains and Technology”) announced this Tuesday, the complete schedule for the forth edition of #INTERACT Scientific Conferences. The event, which involves project stakeholders and researchers, will have three round tables in which the debate will be the key piece of the event.
Scheduled for April 10th, the #INTERACT Scientific Conferecnes are the main moment of the whole project. This is where researchers disseminate the main results to national and regional public institutions and stakeholders. Now that the project is heading towards its end, “the dissemination of the results obtained and the interaction with entrepreneurs and local and regional agents becomes a priority,” project coordinator Rui Cortes said, assuming that the event is “a great opportunity to discuss the importance of research in the face of the challenges facing the agricultural sector in the North of the country. It isn’t enough to do excellent research: it needs to be known and applied”, he emphasizes.
Event is focused on debate
The schedule includes three round tables involving several external speakers to discuss the “Challenges for the Rural World in Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro”. All the round tables will focus on this main theme in which all the research of the INTERACT project comes together. To the already announced Arlindo Cunha and Rui Soares, seven more speakers will now join.
“Environmental Sustainability and Climate Change” is the theme of the first round table. Pedro Beja, professor at CIBIO-inBio of the University of Porto; and Marcelo Fragoso, professor at the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon are the speakers of this panel that will focus on “maintaining the sustainability of ecosystems” while trying to deal with “future challenges” such as climate change.
The second round table will include Francisco Pavão, president of the Association of Producers in Integrated Protection of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro; João Roquette, executive director of Herdade do Esporão; the already announced Rui Soares, engineer at Real Companhia Velha and also a representative of the Portuguese Farmers Confederation. This panel will have as its theme “Bioproducts and Technological Innovation” and will focus on “the technological increment of the region” through new products.
Finally, “Rural Desertification and Territorial Cohesion” will be the theme of the last round table of the event and counts with the already announced Arlindo Cunha, president of the Dão Wine Commission, and Helena Freitas, professor at the Faculty of Sciences and Technology of the University of Coimbra.
Each round table will consist of a short speech by each speaker. Afterwards, the floor is given to the spectators, in a moment of debate and exchange of knowledge.
The forth edition of #INTERACT Scientific Conferences will also be attended by the Rector of the University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Prof. António Fontainhas Fernandes, and the Vice-Rector of UTAD for Research and Innovation, Prof. Emídio Gomes.
