EuroFIR AISBL - Annual Report 2022
Creators
Description
EuroFIR is a teenager; 13 years since its foundation in 2009 and, like teenagers, some characteristics are strongly embedded whilst there are also changes on the horizon.
2022 has for the most part been (new) normal working practices. EuroFIR Belgium-based staff have returned to the two days a week, subject to project and stakeholder meetings. Whilst the team enjoy working from home, which supports focused work and helps with that elusive work:life balance, being in the office means some discussions are quicker and easier even if the commute is harder. During 2022, EuroFIR also hosted two EIT Food RIS interns and they met colleagues in person, and were able to work closely with mentors to develop skills and new knowledge. EuroFIR was also pleased to participate in EIT Food RIS4Ukraine and welcomed Yevheniia Kotiakhova in late 2022 for four months (December-March inclusive); she will remain with the Association until September 2023 as a staff member. It remains to be seen whether EuroFIR will host interns in 2023, because of changes in the EIT Food RIS scheme, but the Association continues to support paid internships for individuals to gain experience of working in challenging interdisciplinary environments.
EuroFIR is fortunate to have two senior researchers (Paul Finglas and Siân Astley) who can lead on the (seemingly) endless and highly competitive search for new project funding. In 2022, EuroFIR was again invited to join more consortia than it was possible to participate in. Eight were identified as likely to be fruitful and five were successful.
Three of these started in 2022 (ALLIANCE A paradigm shift in the food supply chain systems management for the combat against food fraud; FISHEUTRUST European integration of new technologies and social- economic solutions for increasing consumer trust and engagement in seafood products; Data4Food2030 Pathways towards a fair, inclusive and innovative Data Economy for Sustainable Food Systems) whilst the other two (WASTELESS Waste quantification solutions to limit environmental stress and WATSON Fair, healthy and environmentally- friendly food systems from primary production to consumption) started in early 2023. In addition, EuroFIR also started work on two EFSA tenders secured in 2021, one on novel strategies for predicting (food protein molecule) allergenicity and the other that considers creation of an Open Access EU food composition database. Collectively, these mean EuroFIR remains financially secure in the immediate term (positive surplus and reserve), but the work required by the whole team to achieve this, in parallel with completing tasks for existing projects, is colossal and well above what might be expected from a microSME, especially when you consider that membership income has been maintained, and client numbers have increased year-on-year and pay- per-view income is growing steadily, despite challenging economic circumstances globally. EuroFIR's reputation continues to grow as evidenced by the increasing number of new EC proposal invitations from food, nutrition and ICT domains. Proposals where data is key include food traceability and food systems.
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FINAL 17042022 Annual Report HQ.pdf
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(49.9 MB)
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Identifiers
- ISBN
- 978-2-930672-10-6