{"id":212420,"date":"2025-09-09T09:05:10","date_gmt":"2025-09-09T09:05:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/212420\/"},"modified":"2025-09-09T09:05:10","modified_gmt":"2025-09-09T09:05:10","slug":"shaping-the-future-of-plant-genetic-resources-pro-grace-final-event-in-crete","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/212420\/","title":{"rendered":"Shaping the Future of Plant Genetic Resources: PRO-GRACE Final Event in Crete"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The EU-funded\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.grace-ri.eu\/pro-grace\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">PRO-GRACE project<\/a>\u00a0is pleased to announce its final dissemination event: the 2nd International Workshop on Plant Genetic Resources, taking place on 8\u201310 October 2025 at the Conference Centre of\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/confer.maich.gr\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Chania (MAICh)<\/a>\u00a0in Crete, Greece. The event will also be accessible online, ensuring broad participation from the global plant genetic resources (PGR) community.<\/p>\n<p>This workshop marks the culmination of a nearly three-year long PRO-GRACE project, which has been dedicated to developing the concept for a new European Research Infrastructure (RI) for plant genetic resources. Building on\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ecpgr.org\/resources\/ecpgr-publications\/publication\/plant-genetic-resources-strategy-for-europe-2021\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the Plant Genetic Resources Strategy for Europe<\/a>\u00a0and the work of several EU-funded initiatives, PRO-GRACE has designed frameworks, standards, and a governance model to prepare the ground for GRACE-RI \u2014 a research infrastructure dedicated to cataloguing, safeguarding, and enhancing PGR for food and agriculture.<\/p>\n<p><strong>A Platform to Present PRO-GRACE Results and the GRACE-RI Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The workshop will serve as the project\u2019s final dissemination event, showcasing the results achieved by PRO-GRACE and opening dialogue on the future services the GRACE-RI will provide to researchers, breeders, policymakers, and industry stakeholders.<\/p>\n<p>These services are structured around four core pillars:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Services for\u00a0ex situ\u00a0and\u00a0in situ\u00a0conservation<\/li>\n<li>Data &amp; information management<\/li>\n<li>Characterization and (pre)breeding services<\/li>\n<li>PGR access and capacity building<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>By highlighting these outcomes, the event will position GRACE-RI as a cornerstone for Europe\u2019s long-term efforts to conserve biodiversity, strengthen food security, and enable innovation in plant breeding and agriculture.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Programme Highlights<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Across three days, the workshop will feature a keynote talk, scientific sessions, and stakeholder discussions designed to showcase the outcomes of PRO-GRACE and set the stage for the future GRACE-RI.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>On\u00a0<strong>Wednesday, 8 October<\/strong>, participants will explore PRO-GRACE results and legacy through sessions on\u00a0ex situ\u00a0and\u00a0in situ\u00a0conservation, data and information management, and characterization and pre-breeding services.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Thursday, 9 October<\/strong>\u00a0will focus on access, capacity building, and phytosanitary challenges, while also presenting perspectives on the GRACE-RI concept and its future services. The day will continue with a workshop on collaboration with international organizations and research infrastructures, and will conclude with a consortium gala dinner.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>On\u00a0<strong>Friday, 10 October<\/strong>, the programme will turn to the private sector with a session organized by\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/euroseeds.eu\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Euroseeds<\/a>, highlighting expectations and needs from the seed industry.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Why Attend?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>This event provides a unique opportunity to:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Learn first-hand about the outcomes of the PRO-GRACE project<\/li>\n<li>Engage in shaping the future GRACE-RI services that will support the conservation, characterization, and use of PGR in Europe<\/li>\n<li>Connect with international experts from research and industry<\/li>\n<li>Contribute to discussions on biodiversity, food security, and innovation in the seed sector<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Who Should Join?<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Researchers, breeders, and students working on plant genetics and agrobiodiversity<\/li>\n<li>Genebank managers and curators<\/li>\n<li>Seed industry representatives<\/li>\n<li>Policymakers, regulators, and NGOs active in biodiversity and food systems<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Registration<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Registration is open for both in-person and online participation:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.grace-ri.eu\/pro-grace\/news-events\/news\/2nd-international-workshop-on-plant-genetic-resources\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/www.grace-ri.eu\/pro-grace\/news-events\/news\/2nd-international-workshop-on-plant-genetic-resources<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Join us in Crete \u2014 or online \u2014 for this milestone event that will shape the future of plant genetic resources in Europe and beyond.<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns=\" http:=\"\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-119631\" data-lazy- data-lazy- data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Consortium-partners-1024x576.png\"\/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The EU-funded\u00a0PRO-GRACE project\u00a0is pleased to announce its final dissemination event: the 2nd International Workshop on Plant Genetic Resources,&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":212421,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[116313,815,159,49048,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-212420","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-genetics","8":"tag-brand-buzz-europe","9":"tag-genetics","10":"tag-science","11":"tag-seed-world-europe","12":"tag-united-states","13":"tag-unitedstates","14":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115173544624575405","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212420","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=212420"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212420\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/212421"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=212420"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=212420"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=212420"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}