At a meeting in Paris on November 26, ENDURE’s Governing Council (which brings together senior representatives of its 18 institutional members) unanimously decided to create a European Research Group (ERG) that will prolong the Network of Excellence after its European Commission (EC) funding ceases at the end of 2010. The ERG will be supported by in-kind contributions from the consortium members.
This decision fulfils the demand from the EC that ENDURE becomes a permanent reference point for crop protection and Integrated Pest Management (IPM) in Europe and it demonstrates the confidence of its members that it will durably serve this purpose.
Indeed, besides its research activities, ENDURE already provides support to IPM-related researchers by developing an array of tools and platforms within its Virtual Lab, to farmers’ advisers by establishing a solution-oriented web-based Information Centre, and to policy makers by providing its expertise on the best conditions for IPM implementation.
Maintaining these supports will be the main goal of the ERG. While it will no longer conduct research of its own, ENDURE will also foster the coordination of the research agendas of its members, promote their involvement in new projects, and advise them on the orientations most favourable to contribute turning the whole of European agriculture to IPM principles by 2014.
Following the Governing Council’s decision, details of how the ERG will function are now being further elaborated in order to have the final agreement signed by mid-2010.
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