ECPGR Networking

August 2018
The final report is available below

Report of the “ECPGR Networking” meeting (524,1 KB)

October 2017
The "ECPGR Networking" meeting took place 17-18 October 2017 at the Agricultural Institute of Slovenia (AIS) in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

Summary of the meeting
Thirty-one participants attended the meeting, including 19 out of 21 Working Group Chairs and two ex-Chairs, members of the ECPGR Executive Committee and the Secretariat and observers.
At the beginning of the meeting the Activity Coordinator welcomed the participants and presented the agenda. After the introductory words, the Slovene Plant Gene Bank and the Slovenian regulation for PGRFA were presented and the participants were welcomed by the State Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food of the Republic of Slovenia.
An update on ECPGR Phase IX was presented and information on C&E data in EURISCO was given. The first day was mostly dedicated to the review of the progress made in the implementation of ECPGR objectives of Phase IX within the individual Working Groups, presented by WG Chairs. Discussions focused on the difficulties encountered by the Chairs within their individual WG when trying to implement the objectives. Various solutions to enhance opportunities and mitigate threats were proposed and discussed. Interlink between the crop-specific and the thematic WGs was also addressed. Recommendations were prepared for the ExCo to be considered at their meeting on 19 and 20 October 2017. The recommendations addressed, among others, the WG membership and representation, communication within and between WGs, WG Chairs work and meetings, AEGIS- and EURISCO-related activities.
The second day was dedicated to more general items, related to various funding opportunities and relations with users. The implementation of two ECPGR concepts was presented (Concept for In Situ Conservation of Crop Wild Relatives in Europe, Concept for on-farm conservation and management of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture). Information on a peer review system amongst ex situ genebanks in Europe, promoted by CGN, was given and the Final report of the Preparatory Action on EU Plant and Animal Genetic Resources presented. The second draft of the revised ECPGR objectives and the first draft of the Mode of operation for Phase X were presented and the feedback received was discussed.  
At the end of the meeting the participants agreed that it was a fruitful meeting and there was a general agreement that the face–to-face meeting contributed to strengthening the networking and exchange of experiences between WG Chairs, which will enable better implementation of ECPGR objectives in future. The WG Chairs supported the idea that they should meet at least twice in a Phase prior to the Steering Committee meeting to review the progress and propose suggestions to be put before the Steering Committee.
All the details and outcomes of the meeting will be presented and summarized in the final report. 

• List of participants (240,6 KB)
• Agenda (148,8 KB)
• Presentations