To mark Bioeconomy Ireland Week, on Friday October 18th, two research groups from the Munster Technological University joined forces with Teagasc Clonakilty Agricultural College to host workshops.
The workshops took place at the Teagasc site in Clonakilty, County Cork and focused on bringing together farmers, researchers, and bioeconomy stakeholders to discuss smart farming and the bioeconomy, to explore how this will be shaping tomorrow’s agriculture.
These impactful workshops highlighted three EU funded research initiatives:
- the ReNu2Cycle project, funded by Interreg North-West Europe, which aims to close the loop on nutrient recycling;
- the Horizon Europe Funded MainstreamBio project, which promotes small-scale bio-based solutions across seven EU regions, including Ireland;
- the SIMONE project, also under Interreg North-West Europe which focuses on enhancing crop resilience through smart agricultural technologies.
Led by MTU’s Dr. Niamh Power and Robert Ludgate the workshops explored the invaluable feedback from participating stakeholders, with their hands-on insights and experiences shaping discussions around the practicalities of both biobased fertiliser adoption and future biobased solutions within Irish agriculture.
Engaging directly with the agricultural community was a top priority, as these interactions helped not only the ReNu2Cycle project to refine their approaches, but gaining valuable insights for the MainstreamBio and SIMONE projects also.