MISCOMAR project at the FACCE SURPLUS final conference in Brussels – a fact to boast about

The achievements of the MISCOMAR project: "Miscanthus biomass options for contaminated and marginal land: quality, quantity and soil interactions", coordinated by IETU, were presented by Dr. Marta Pogrzeba, Prof. of IETU at the FACCE SURPLUS Conference on February 26, 2020 in Brussels. The purpose of this meeting was to show not only the achievements of the FACCE SURPLUS programme, but also the latest achievements of the European bioeconomy.

The conference focused on the European progress in the field of bioeconomy and the role which the FACCE SURPLUS programme has played so far and can still play in this field. The bioeconomy was analysed not only from a historical point of view, but also taking its current state and future into account, with particular focus on the European Union’s viewpoint in this area. One of the participants of the debate was Christian Patermann, who is considered to be the creator of the European bioeconomy concept.

During the conference Dr. Marta Pogrzeba, Prof. of IETU discussed not only the results of research carried out under the MISCOMAR project implemented in cooperation with renowned scientific units from Germany and Great Britain, but also presented the assumptions for a new project - MISCOMAR+.

The MISCOMAR project is one of 22 research projects that received funding from the FACCE SURPLUS programme in 2015 and 2017. In 2019, in the third call, funding was awarded to six projects, in that to the above-mentioned MISCOMAR+.

MISCOMAR+ is a continuation and extension of our previous research in the field of Miscanthus cultivation on marginal soils in Europe – says Dr. Marta Pogrzeba, Prof. of IETU. This is an excellent example of the continuity of research funded by the European Commission under the FACCE SURPLUS programme. We are very happy that the scientific cooperation coordinated by IETU has been noticed and appreciated by the European Commission and - first and foremost - that it can be developed in the next research project. Now we are handing over the baton to our partners from the University of Aberystwyth in Great Britain who will be the leader of this undertaking.

In the final part of her presentation Prof. M. Pogrzeba presented also the aims and focus areas of the Mission Board for Soil, Health and Food operating under the Horizon Europe programme, the member of which she is.

See:
Life on earth depends on soil
From field to table (PDF)

Apart from the representatives of the FACCE SURPLUS programme, among the participants of the event were coordinators of the implemented projects, representatives of the European Commission and other stakeholder groups connected with bioeconomy.