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Agricultural researchers deliberate on Green Growth

Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry
Publication date 6.9.2010 6.57
Press release -

Green Growth is the main topic of the EURAGRI Conference, which starts in Helsinki today. Directors of European agricultural research institutes and Research Directors of agriculture ministries will be reflecting on how Green Growth is connected to agricultural research and whether there are new ways to create Green Growth. Green Growth is defined as a means through which the current economies can be turned into sustainable ones.

Green Growth is a highly topical theme because, among others, the OECD is currently developing its own strategy on Green Growth. The OECD aims to construct a new model of growth, which is founded on lesser use of natural resources while increasing social welfare and reducing poverty. Green Growth is also one of the main themes of the Europe 2020 strategy published by the European Commission in March 2010.

The keynote speeches of the Conference talk about how research deals with Green Growth, food security and environmental requirements. Green Growth as a new paradigm for research is also discussed. The representative of the European Commission tells about the EU perspectives on Green Growth and the expectations that this entails for agricultural research.

The various other themes connected to Green Growth discussed at the Conference include healthy food, climate change, bioenergy and recycling of nutrients. The presentations make it very clear that agriculture cannot be viewed as a world of its own, but it is even more closely than ever before interlinked with the rest of the society and its biological, economic and social development.

The meeting in Helsinki on 6-8 September 2010 brought together a total of 80 persons responsible for the agricultural policy outlines in different countries of Europe. This is the first EURAGRI Members' Conference held in Finland.

Further information:
Director-General Erkki Kemppainen, Agrifood Research Finland MTT, tel. +358 (0)3 4188 2201, +358 (0)40 556 2477