Official delegates from EIT Food visited CPSBB

On 22 May, 2023, a delegation led by the executive director of EIT Food, Dr. Andy Zinga, met with student and teaching community, business and political representatives,  scientists and innovators.

Head of the Funding Department, Assistant Prof. Dr. Veselin Petrov, took part in the meeting as the Center will partner the Bulgarian hub of EIT Food. The goals of the institute are to support the development of solutions to global challenges related to food, to accelerate the implementation of innovations, to educate and train future experts, to create new food patterns and habits.

The event started with a presentation entitled “Innovations in the agro-food sector – building synergy for better opportunities”, which took place in the hall of the Agricultural University, Plovdiv.  Dr. Zinga and EIT Food Director for North-East Europe Maria-Liisa Mouris presented the European strategies for innovations in the agri-food sector and the bioeconomy, training support and funding programs of EIT Food.

The meeting continued with a round table discussion with experts from the Ministry of Innovation and Growth and the Ministry of Agriculture, the Deputy Mayor of Plovdiv Stefan Stoyanov, the rector of MU-Plovdiv Prof. Mariana Murzhdeva, lecturers from University for Food Technology-Plovdiv, scientists from CPSBB, representatives of Rakovski and Brezovo Municipalities, Trakia economic zone, businesses and startups.  The participants discussed the Innovation Strategy for Smart Specialization in the context of our country.  Close cooperation between science, education, business and institutions was the main topic of the discussion.

The event ended with an official visit to the scientific campus of the CPSBB, where the delegates got acquainted with the infrastructure, technologies and research of the Center for Excellence in Plant Biology.