This joint stakeholder forum was held at the end of the AGRIFOODPLAST Conference and was open to conference and external participants. The workshop is part of a series of high level stakeholder forum organised jointly by the MINAGRIS and PAPILLONS projects to share findings and solicit feedback from international and EU level stakeholders. On this occasion COST Action PRIORITY also joined the organising team. The workshop chairs were Julie Ingram: MINAGRIS Horizon project; Luca Nizzetto: PAPILLONS Horizon project; Stefania Federici: PRIORITY (Plastics Monitoring Detection Remediation Recovery) COST action.
Aims and scope
This workshop brought together experts, researchers, policy makers, industry, international agency and NGO representatives to explore the environmental and health risks associated with micro and nanoplastic in agri-food chains and how they can be assessed, measured and mitigated. This is in the context of the need to address research gaps with respect to risk assessment methodologies, and to remove uncertainties to enable policy development. With over forty participants in person and online respectively attended.
On 28th March 2022, we held a joint stakeholder forum workshop with high-level stakeholders.
Both MINAGRIS and Papillons are aiming to establish an inventory of the uses of agricultural plastics (AP) in Europe, explore the effects of AP on soil quality (soil biota, soil structure), and study fate, fragmentation, microbial colonisation and decay of AP in soil. They will both conduct a sustainability performance assessment of AP use in comparison to alternative techniques, as well as carry out large scale dissemination of results and involvement of end-users. The stakeholder forum with Papillons was formed due to our similar aims. This forum allows both projects to engage with our key stakeholders in an effective way, thus maximising engagement and ensuring we reach a wide diversity of audiences.
During the event, speakers shared initial findings from both projects and began discussions with participants, with a focus on the advice and information available surrounding agricultural plastic use.
