The European funded research project ‘Creating Entrepreneurs in Food’ (CEF) held the International Conference in Dublin, Ireland, on 26^th February 2019. In keeping with the ethos of the project the consortium was delighted to be able to launch the project’s outputs at the Airfield Estate - an urban farm located in Dublin City.

The CEF project was launched by the international consortium in December 2016 to investigate food supply chains in Europe in a bid to identify innovative methods to help deliver an effective short food supply process (farm to fork) and build food innovation and entrepreneurship-focused rural communities across Europe.

As the project comes to an end, the consortium was delighted to have the opportunity to launch CEF’s outputs which included a Food Entrepreneurship Training Course and a Web Portal connecting and supporting European Food Producers:

• The training course was designed by industry and academic leaders and aims at providing food producers with the knowledge and skill required to gain control on their business, promote innovation, create employment and move up the value chain.
• An interactive Web Portal stimulates the flow and exchange of knowledge and best practice between education and enterprise allowing food producers to connect and collaborate with one another.

The Conference was interactive and filled with various activities:

• Presentations by guest speakers from the Airfield Estate, the European Council for Young Farmers (CEJA) in Belgium and the Polish Beef Association

• Presentations from entrepreneurs from Cookalicious and the Friendly Farmer. Topics included sustainable farming, the impact of entrepreneurship training on start-up food businesses, innovations in the market place, European support for start-up agri-food businesses, collaboration opportunities for small food producers.

• Presentation from Professor Yanqing Duan, the University of Bedfordshire, on one of the project’s main outputs: the CEF Web Portal. The University of Bedfordshire project team has been responsible for creating the web portal design and its implementation. You can learn more by watching this video

• Group discussion on review of training course and a feedback on a web portal

Dr Lisa Ryan (Head of Department of Natural Sciences, GMIT) stated:

CEF drew together expertise and skills from across the EU to boost innovation and entrepreneurship in the Agri-Food sector and enhance short food supply chains. The International Conference served as a unique opportunity to connect with other European farmers and food producers and identify collaborative opportunities and support mechanisms.

The conference was the last in the series of events associated with the project which was led by GMIT (Ireland) in partnership with the University of Bedfordshire (UoB), the Polish Beef Association (PBA) and the European Council of Young Farmers (CEJA).

The event attracted over 30 participants from food and farming sectors. One participant commented:

Great event on Tuesday in Dublin...thanks all at CEF for organising and running such a great event...look forward to many more in future!'

For more information on this project, please visit www.creatingentrepreneursinfood.eu