Virtual Event: Beyond the Apple of Discord

In this virtual event, Re-Imagine Europa, together with ALLEA and EU-SAGE, will present two reports that explore different narratives and policy options around genome editing for crop improvement.

Building on previous work on genome editing for crop improvement, ALLEA has recently joined a cross-disciplinary Task Force on “Sustainable Agriculture and Innovation”, led by Re-Imagine Europa. This task force aims to develop scientifically backed proposals on how new innovations, such as genome editing in crops, can support the creation of more sustainable and resilient European agriculture systems. 

Public discourse and the narratives framing the discussion around genome editing remain relics of a past environment and inhibit movement towards a shared vision. The narratives are presented as members of two antagonistic groups referred to for convenience as “precaution–focused” versus “innovation-focused”. One of the task force’s aims is to better understand the emotions and values behind different perspectives and to see if, with ambitious climate goals as a clear priority, it is possible to find positive pathways forward.  

In this virtual event, Re-Imagine Europa, together with its partners ALLEA and EU-SAGE, will present two reports. The first report explores the role of emotions and narratives in framing the way we think about using genome editing for crop improvement. The second report aims to describe the attributes of an ideal regulatory system and discusses different policy options that can be pursued in relation to existing EU law. 

Event agenda

10:30 – Housekeeping

Erika Widegren, Chief Executive, Re-Imagine Europa  

10:35 – Introductory remarks by the Chair

Prof. Louise Fresco, President of the Wageningen University & Research Executive Board and Vice Chair of the Scientific Group of the UN Food Systems Summit 

10:45 – Presentation of task force deliverables

• Erika Widegren, Chief Executive, Re-Imagine Europa
• Prof. Andrzej Nowak, Chief Narrative Scientist, Re-Imagine Europa; Professor of psychology at the University of Warsaw
• Dr. Peter Kearns, Special Adviser to Re-Imagine Europa; former Principal Administrator, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (Steering Committee)

11:15 – Contribution and discussion with keynote speakers

Chaired and moderated by Prof. Louise Fresco

• Janusz Wojciechowski, Commissioner for Agriculture, European Commission
• Maria do Céu Antunes, Portuguese Minister of Agriculture (tbc)
• Norbert Lins MEP, Chair of the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development, European Parliament
• Prof. Urs Niggli, President of agroecology.science

12:20 – Closing remarks

The most up-to-date event agenda and speaker information can be found here.

Registration requests must be addressed to events@reimagine-europa.eu, mentioning name, surname, email address and affiliation.