SPECIAL (VIRTUAL) SESSION SPONSORED BY FASTER:

“LIVING LABS AS A TOOL FOR FACING CLIMATE CHANGE EFFECTS ON WATER, SOIL AND FORESTRY RESOURCES”

11^th June 2021
09:00 – 13:00

The special FASTER branded session is dedicated to the study of living labs which represent a form of open innovation, an approach designed to enhance cooperation between multiple actors sharing a same stake, such as researchers, public administration, farmers, FAS agents, practitioners and other stakeholders.

The session will introduce the FASTER project, provide an overview of the activities promoted and will host presentations on recent research works. Successively, roundtables with high-level experts and stakeholders engaged in the fields and working on Living Labs will allow us to further explore the barriers and opportunities ahead for promoting open innovation in Tunisia. In conclusion, an open debate with participants will also identify ways to promote adaptation in water, soil, and forestry in the Tunisian context and allow networking between relevant stakeholders active in the field.

Afterwards, the authors of selected papers about Climate change adaptation in water, soil, and forestry in Tunisia will present their work.

Farmers Adaptation and Sustainability in Tunisia through Excellence in Research (FASTER) is a Twinning Project funded by European Commission (Directorate General for Research and Innovation) through Horizon 2020 funding programme.

The consortium gathers seven European and Tunisian partners: Two EU partners of established scientific excellence in the topic, CREAF and the Lund University, will ensure strengthening of researchers and technicians of INRGREF and the associated IRESA (the Institution for Agricultural Research and Higher Education) centres. Europe for Business will then evaluate the experience from the economic perspective, and Vision Communication will ensure an appropriate public awareness, dissemination of results, and training support. Finally, AVFA (the Agriculture Extension and Training Agency) will serve as a liaison with policy makers and related stakeholders making sure to integrate the FASTER results in national policies.

FASTER Project Living Lab focuses on knowledge transfer on adaptation to climate change strategies between researchers in the field of water, soil and forest management, and practitioners engaged in Farm Advisory System in Tunisia.

The living FAS-Lab is intended to provide an opportunity to take up the developed research knowledge into professional praxis, creating a dynamic tool for improved FAS implementation. The process would allow researchers and practitioners of different profiles to reflect on the challenges of adaptation and co-produce solutions.

• 

  Annelies Broekman

  Centre for Ecological Research and Forestry Applications (CREAF)
  Partner of FASTER H2020 Project
  University of Barcelona, Spain
  

• 

  Sihem Jebari

  National Research Institute for Rural Engineering, Water and Forestry (INRGREF)
  Partner of FASTER H2020 Project
  University of Carthage, Tunisia

• 

  Helmi Mardassi

  General Director of UGPO-H2020, Tunisian Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research
  University of Tunis El Manar, Tunisia

• 

  Samia Charfi Kaddour

  General Director of Scientific Research, Tunisian Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research
  University of Tunis El Manar, Tunisia

• 

  Aymen Frija

  Agricultural Economist at International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), Tunisia

• 

  Andrea Rubini

  Director of Operations at Water Europe, Brussels, Belgium

• 

  Philippe Ker Rault

  Consultant at Key Resources for Environmental Research (KREM), The Randstad, Netherlands