The Joint European Organic Congress in May 2006

The first Joint European Organic Congress will be held in Odense (Denmark) on 30 - 31 May 2006. The congress is to be held by no less than 16 EU projects on organic food and farming in cooperation with the Danish Biennial Congress, thereby providing a platform for science communication to a broad range of stakeholders in the organic world, including farmers, consultants and executives.

Programme

The congress programme relies on four main topics:

Topic 1: Towards a sustainable Europe
Within this topic, sessions on economic, social, environmental, mercantile, and political aspects of organic food and farming will be conducted. Furthermore, sessions will discuss if and how organic food and farming systems can enhance a sustainable development in rural areas. The topic consists of three themes:

• Research in sustainable systems
• European policy initiatives
• What should be the rule?

The topic is coordinated by the EU research projects EU-CEE-OFP, ORGAP, CHANNEL, Organic Revision and CORE Organic.

Topic 2: Improving quality of crops, soil and environment
The topic will include sessions on improvements of organic plant production, and how this production affects soil quality and the environment. Furthermore, the connection between organic production methods and nutritional content of plant products will be examined. The topic consists of three themes:

• Crop systems and soils
• Protecting plant health
• Plant breeding and seed production

The topic is coordinated by the EU research projects QLIF, REPCO, ENVIRFOOD and INTERCROP with contribution from Organic Input Evaluation, SUSVAR and STOVE.

Topic 3: Animal husbandry – health, welfare and food quality
The topic will consist of sessions on organic livestock farming, including animal health and welfare. Furthermore, there will be sessions on food quality and food safety together with socio-economic aspects of organic animal production. The topic consists of three themes:

• Development of livestock production systems
• Animal health and disease handling
• Organic animal products quality and safety

The topic is coordinated by the EU research projects QLIF and SAFO.

Topic 4: Consuming organics
The topic will include sessions on consumer relations together with sessions on general nutritional and health aspects of organic food, and it consists of three themes:

• Health and nutrition
• Understanding consumption
• Measuring the trends

The topic is organized by the EU research projects QLIF and EISfOM

Contributions and papers

Both project and individual participants can suggest contributions, as a call for papers has been issued. The deadline for submission of papers is 1 March. Submission of papers is done directly to the open access archive Organic Eprints by use of simple guidelines.

Manuscripts will be evaluated on the basis of theme-relevance, scientific quality, clarity and suitability for a broad audience. Approved papers will be printed and published in the congress proceedings, which all congress participants will receive at the congress.

The proceedings will be made available at Organic Eprints. Further, the programme committee is negotiating the possibilities for publication of a special issue of a scientific journal with selected papers from the congress.

Also, the exhibition feature a special, life-sized exhibition on machines and solutions developed in grassroots research by and for organic farmers.

Social events and study tours

The Congress study tour
The Study tour includes a guided visit to Research Centre Aarslev which is a public research institution under the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries. Thereafter, we visit an ecological plant-breeder (Christian Andersen), who has many years of experience within organic farming. And finally, there is a guided tour at tour the Ørbæk Bryggeri, which is a brewery producing both really good ecological beer and soft drinks.

The Congress study tour is arranged on Monday the 29th of May 2006 (12.00 - 18.30) and again Thursday the 1st of June 2006 (09.00 - 16.00).

Dinner in Odense on Monday the 29th of May
At 19.30 on Monday the 29th of May we have arranged with a very good chef that he serves an ecological dinner for Euro 30,- .

In the footsteps of Hans Christian Andersen
The fairytale writer Hans Christian Andersen is known all over the world for his wonderful stories such as “The little Mermaid”, “The Ugly Duckling”, “The Tin Soldier” and many more. Hans Christian Andersen was born in Odense, so when visiting the island Fyn the Museum of Hans Christian Andersen (where the fairytale writer was born) is a “must”.

Therefore, we have arranged a social event on 31st of May (start at 17.00) that includes a guided tour at the Museum of Hans Christian Andersen, a refreshment at a café close to the Museum, a city walk 'In the footsteps of Hans Christian Andersens', and a dinner in cosy assembly rooms close to Odense River. The dinner will consist of mainly ecological food as well as “The Best of Fyn”. Se the further details on the Joint Organic Congress homepage.

- More details on study tours

Satellite meetings

In order to utilize all possibilities for communication between congress participants, the organising committee has reserved the congress centre on the 29th of May and on the 1st of June (the day before and the day after the congress). On these dates it is possible organisations, institutes, projects etc to organize workshops, project meetings etc. Please contact the organisers in order to get receive further information.

In the following public meetings held by in connection with the congress are mentioned with links to a full description on the Joint Organic Congress homepage.

SOAR summer school 2006, 28 May to 2 June:
Potential of Organic Farming to contribute to Rural Development in Europe

FQH workshop on 29 May:
Towards a better understanding of organic food quality

CORE Organic workshop on 29 May:
Increased transnational research cooperation

ISOFAR Workshop on 1 June:
Energy self-reliance in organic farming - is it feasible?

5th SAFO workshop on 1 June:
Conclusions and technological transfer

Large exhibition

The Congress will include a large Congress Exhibition, that will be a supreme opportunity for producers, processors and allied service providers to showcase their products and services to the international organic community.

Parallel with the main congress program, the exhibition will be hosted at the congress centre, providing visitors and delegates with ample opportunity to view displays during session breaks. The Congress Program has been structured to accommodate this.Also, the exhibition feature a special, life-sized exhibition on machines and solutions developed in grassroots research by and for organic farmers.

Further information

Registration details can be found at www.organic-congress.org