I want to

innovate on an international level

Europa landkaart

We have a vast network in Flanders and many contacts at the European level. What is the added value of this network?  

  • We know the relevant stakeholders and vice versa.  
  • We stay informed about what is going on at the European level and in the direction Europe is going. So we can inform you pro-actively.  
    • We have an impact on European programs and their functioning.  
  • We can lobby for innovation resources for Flemish agri-food companies. We put the topics that are important to our companies on the agenda.  
  • We join project consortia or initiate ourselves European projects. 
  • We have a place at the table with relevant networks.  

Flanders’ FOOD is a partner/member of:  

More information or questions?

Inge Arents
Inge Arents
managing director

Partnerships

In addition to being a member of the above organisations, we have also started up several European partnerships for topics that are important to the Flemish food industry. These include:

Smart Sensors for Agrifood
Smart Sensors 4 Agri-food
Nutritional Ingredients

Smart Sensors 4 Agri-food

The 'Smart Specialisation Strategy' partnership 'Smart Sensors 4 Agri-food' builds on the expertise of over 40 partners from 14 European regions dedicated to support the digital transformation of the agri-food industry. By connecting competences across European regions, the partners as well as their members and stakeholders will benefit from shared knowledge and expertise. This partnership is coordinated by Flanders FOOD. Imec and DSP Valley from Flanders and Wagralim from Wallonia, were also founding partners of this partnership. 2 concrete projects have been developed so far: Connsensys and S3FOOD.  

More information on the Smart Sensors 4 Agri-food website
Smart Sensors for Agrifood

Nutritional Ingredients

This partnership in shared coordination with Wagralim aims to develop new and improved food ingredients that meet consumer demands and trends.  

There are currently ten regions active, represented by clusters and knowledge institutes.  

In addition, we are also members of a number of relevant networks in the European landscape.

Bio Based Industries Consortium

  • The Bio-based Industries Consortium. The private share of BBI-JU (Bio-based Industries Joint Undertaking). This public-private partnership invests €3.7 billion in innovation in the bioeconomy.  

Logo EIT Food

  • EIT Food; This pan-European consortium focuses on entrepreneurship and innovation in the food industry. Just like BBI-JU, EIT Food has a research and innovation plan and organises annual project calls.

ERA-netten

ERA-Net projects (European Research Area Networks) are projects in which the European Commission works closely with the EU member states to stimulate research and innovation by coordinating the various funding programmes.  

The ERA-Net project partners are government organisations that are responsible for funding and/or managing national or regional research programmes. Flanders Innovation & Entrepreneurship (VLAIO) also participates in various ERA-Net projects; often with resources for business projects. Depending on the ERA-Net ‘generation’, the EC supports the coordination of the projects or supports them directly.  

The grants from the participating countries or regions are then put into a collective fund. 

Project calls are organised in the framework of these ERA-Nets. Flanders’ FOOD monitors several ERA-Nets whose themes are closely linked to the Flanders’ FOOD programmes and strategy, and also supports VLAIO in setting up projects.  

Specifically, Flanders’ FOOD monitors the following ERA-Nets in close collaboration with VLAIO:  

SUSFOOD2
SUSFOOD2
Facce Surplus
FACCE Surplus
BlueBio COFUND
ICT Agrifood
ICT-AGRI-FOOD

SUSFOOD2

Sustainable food and consumption.  

The strategic objective of SUSFOOD2 fits in with and strengthens the European strategies in the framework of bioeconomy and food. Through close collaboration with the EC and the European members states involved, the research makes a maximum contribution to increasing the sustainability of the food system, from production to consumption.

SUSFOOD2 website
SUSFOOD2

FACCE Surplus

Sustainable and resilient agriculture for food and non-food systems

About 18 grant agencies collaborate in this ERA-Net to organise project calls aimed at developing sustainable and resilient European agricultural production, both to produce food and supply the biobased economy. 

This ERA-Net is geared towards projects that strive for an integrated approach for the production of (plant) biomass that can be transformed into various end products (food, chemicals, energy, etc.) in the most efficient way. It is of course very important that the systems provided are not only economically viable but also ecologically and socially responsible with sufficient flexibility.  

FACCE surplus website
Facce Surplus

BlueBio COFUND

Aquatic biotechnology – blue bioeconomy

The main objective of this ERA-Net is to work out a coordinated grant programmethat will strengthen Europe's position in the blue bioeconomy. BlueBio provides support to ambitious, transnational research and development projects for aquatic biotechnology. Their objective is to exploit aquatic biomass - in both fresh and salt water - in a sustainable manner by, among others, using sustainable harvesting methods and new production methods. 

This will also allow for new products  to be identified that may be useful in various sectors, such as the food and animal feed industries as well as the chemical industry. Applications in nutraceuticals and cosmetics are also possible. 

BlueBio website

ICT-AGRI-FOOD

Digitisation in agriculture and the food industry

ICT-AGRI-FOOD is an ERA-Net that wants to underpin the transition to more sustainable and resilient agri-food systems with digital technology. Data from the entire food chain is used for this. This will benefit all those involved, and in the end, consumers will be able to make smarter, healthier and better choices based on information about environmental impact, source, nutritional value, safety and integrity.

ICT-AGRI-FOOD website
ICT Agrifood