(8 May 2017) Research and innovation in the water and organic food sector can represent an important tool for dialogue and cooperation among Mediterranean EU countries and for a long lasting economic and social development. This has been a topic of discussion among others in Valletta. Research Ministries of 42 different EU and non-EU countries came together in Malta in recent days to discuss how research and innovation can contribute to the most inclusive and sustainable Mediterranean communities. With the signed Declaration of Valletta, they entered a commitment to strengthen scientific cooperation in the European Mediterranean area to confront emergent environmental issues and to promote economic development and stability. In the context of this encounter, a lot of attention was given to the PRIMA programme (Partnership for Research and Innovation in the Mediterranean Area) coordinated by professor Angelo Riccaboni, from the University of Siena, representing MIUR (Italian Ministry of Education, Universities, and Research). The European Commissioner Moedas highlighted that PRIMA constitutes the most important scientific cooperation programme ever to be launched in the Mediterranean. (red)

STRATEGIC RESEARCH AGENDA

The strategic research agenda of PRIMA was also discussed in Malta which identifies the priorities for the 8 operational objectives which describes the initiative, i.e "smart" agriculture and sustainable solutions for saving water, Mediterranean food and diet, efficiency of the food and water chain, reduction of parasite and pathogen impact, innovative business models in the organic food industry, sustainability for soil and water in dry and semi-dry, and politics and governance of water management systems.