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Opportunities and challenges for research on food and nutrition security and agriculture in Europe

When

Wednesday, March 14, 2018, 09:00

Where

Academy House, 19 Dawson Street, Dublin 2

Tickets

This event is free please rsvp to policy@ria.ie

A Breakfast Briefing with Dr Aifric O'Sullivan

Research and Science at the Academy

At the Royal Irish Academy, we champion research and promote awareness of how science enriches our lives and benefits society. As we believe that good research needs to be promoted, sustained and communicated, we bring academia, government and industry together to address issues of mutual interest, and in doing so, we contribute to public debate and policy formation. As a Member of the European Academies Science Advisory Council (EASAC), the Royal Irish Academy will be hosting a breakfast briefing with Dr Aifric O’Sullivan, on a recent EASAC report: Opportunities and Challenges for Research on Food and Nutrition Security and Agriculture in Europe, in Academy House, 19 Dawson Street, Dublin 2, on Wednesday 14th March 2018.

Opportunities and Challenges for Research on Food and Nutrition Security and Agriculture in Europe

This report has implications for policy-makers working on food, nutrition, health, the environment, climate change, and agriculture. Combating malnutrition in all its forms is a problem faced by all countries, and research and innovation will therefore be central to finding solutions to such a challenge. As part of an unprecedented global InterAcademy Partnership project by 130 science academies, a team of scientists from across Europe, including Dr Aifric O’Sullivan, undertook a two-year, extensive analysis on the future of food, nutrition, agriculture, and health. Top line findings by the panel of scientists include:

  • Food consumption will need to change to improve consumer health
  • Farming and agriculture have significant impacts on human health and the environment
  • Europe should not stall on opportunities offered by genome editing, precision agriculture and the use of large data sets

Breakfast Briefing

The breakfast briefing will highlight some of the important discussion points for food, nutrition and agriculture that are of particular interest to Ireland. Many of the challenges identified in the EASAC report are identified in Ireland’s FoodWise 2025, that sets out a ten-year plan for the agri-food sector in Ireland. This breakfast briefing will therefore focus on the research priorities to meet key challenges for the food system, nutrition, agriculture and sustainable development.

Guests are invited to arrive from 8:45am for a 9:00am start. Tea/Coffee and breakfast pastries will be provided.
The event will conclude by 10:30am.
To register please RSVP to policy@ria.ie

About Dr Aifric O’Sullivan:

Dr Aifric O’Sullivan is a Principal Investigator in the UCD Institute of Food and Health and member of faculty in the UCD School of Agriculture and Food Science. She joined UCD as an Assistant Professor in Human Nutrition in 2012 from University California, Davis. Her research focuses on early origins of malnutrition and the major global challenge of providing food and nutrition security for all. She is a member of the Board of Trustees for UCD Volunteers Overseas and is a Deputy Director of the UCD Childhood and Human Development Research Centre.

Further queries to Craig Skerritt, Programme Manager for Policy and International Relations, in the first instance. Craig can be contacted at c.skerritt@ria.ie and will be happy to answer any questions that you may have.

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