One day, six institutes, 45 sessions, 142 staff members, 1735 participants from over 90 countries: the first digital Open FiBL Day met with great international interest. The event shows that research and advisory work in the field of organic agriculture is more in demand than ever.
Success with the digital Open FiBL Day
Last Thursday, 27 May 2021 was all about organic agriculture. Under the slogan “organic farming and beyond”, the six institutes of the FiBL Group – FiBL Europe (based in Brussels), FiBL Switzerland, FiBL Germany, FiBL Austria, ÖMKi (Hungarian Research Institute of Organic Agriculture) and FiBL France – hosted the first digital Open FiBL Day.
In 45 thematic sessions with a total audience of around 5000, FiBL experts focused on questions relating to organic agriculture. For example, the staff of the six institutes showed how organic agriculture contributes to climate protection, what chickens will have to do with organic apple production in the future, whether control with water markers really works, or what FiBL’s contribution to sustainable cocoa production looks like.
The event shows that research and advisory work in the field of organic agriculture is more in demand than ever
The field of organic agriculture is more in demand than ever
The organising committee is delighted that the first digital Open FiBL Day was so successful and went so smoothly. “The sessions were held either in English or in one of the FiBL languages (German, French or Hungarian) and were simultaneously translated for the international audience. This demanded a lot of coordination work”, emphasises Lisa Haller, the main person responsible for the Open FiBL Day. “But the day also showed the opportunities we have with such virtual events, as we were able to exchange ideas across language barriers, regardless of the respective language skills. And so we were able to work closely together to pursue our common goal – to strengthen organic agriculture worldwide”.
Well-attended opening – exciting panel discussion for closing
At the digital event, participants were not only able to attend the virtual lectures, but also to exchange views with experts, ask questions and network in the topic-specific meeting areas. This was very well received by the visitors: “We are overwhelmed by the positive feedback on the event”, says FiBL Europe President and Head of Department for International Cooperation at FiBL Switzerland, Beate Huber, and adds: “We were particularly pleased about the more than 300 guests who took part in the opening event at 8.30 a.m.”. And the closing event, a panel discussion in which the five researchers Ika Darnhofer (BOKU), Paola Migliorini (UNISG, Agroecology Europe), Dora Drexler (ÖMKi) and Claudia Meier (FiBL) discussed FiBL’s role in the transition to a sustainable agricultural and food system under the moderation of Beate Huber (FiBL), was again very well received.
Sessions can be viewed
All session recordings are available on the platform for replay, the corresponding link is available under the respective session (“replay”). Also, people who were not registered can still register and access the platform to watch the recordings by sending an e-mail to openday@fibl.org.
- Download the Programme of the Open FiBL Day
- Further information at www.fibl.org
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Bio Eco Actual, Independent European Organic Press
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