16 January 2024
We are excited to share that the CATALYSE project has officially started on 1 January 2024. The consortium of this new EU-funded project comprises 17 partners, including ILSI Europe. CATALYSE was selected as the best proposal on the call "HORIZON-CL6-2023-FARM2FORK-01-12: Thematic network ensuring food safety by translating research & innovation into practice". CATALYSE will run for three years and will thus be bursting with inspiring activities until 31 December 2026 and hopefully beyond.
Accelerating the uptake of food safety innovation
The ambition of CATALYSE is to accelerate and make more efficient the uptake, by food system actors, of knowledge and innovative solutions that promote food safety. To achieve this, CATALYSE is determined to:
- Increase awareness and understanding of the innovations produced from “farm2fork” by establishing a database that collects, translates and disseminates knowledge and practices to the relevant food system actors;
- Establish the CATALYSE Commynity of Practice to foster collaboration and knowledge sharing between food system actors, and to accelerate the adoption and scaling-up of innovative practices and technologies;
- Produce and provide educational materials and training to practitioners and end-users on the latest best practices in food safety, including reaching out to traditional food sectors;
- Support start-ups and SMEs with promising innovations in food safety (testing methods, testing technologies, solutions to improve food safety), including traditional and local producers who often are the most in need of support;
- Encourage end-users, such as consumers and policymakers, to prioritise and support innovation in the food system through education and outreach;
- Evaluate the impact of innovation on the food system and identify areas for further development.
Overall, the ambition of CATALYSE is to promote the creation of a more resilient, sustainable, and equitable community, both online and in practice, to meet the needs of all stakeholders, from “farm2fork”, with the common goal to ensure food safety.
Uniqueness of CATALYSE
Catalyse will be a common place where all the actors of the food chain can meet, innovators, regulators, academia, industries, non-governmental organisations and define together the needs and possibilities that innovation can either answer and/or offer. By linking all these actors, we will foster tailor made and co-created innovation with an identified market for implementation, providing win-win solutions.
Role of ILSI Europe
ILSI Europe will lead the Work Package focused on stakeholder management. Its main objective is to engage and interact with stakeholders/end-users and practitioners to understand their needs, priorities and barriers & levers in terms of food safety innovative applications.
#foodsafety #europeanunion #increaseawareness #knowledgesharing #education #startups