Starting from the observation that Wallonia has, in its universities and research centres, high-level researchers and remarkable equipment, but that these resources are often scattered, the board of directors of Wagralim put forward the idea of federating this potential for more efficient and more visible agri-food research.
A Walloon showcase
"The five universities of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, along with four accredited research centers and the Walloon agri-food cluster Wagralim, have decided to create a joint (virtual) institute: the Wallonia Institute of Food Science and Technology (WIFST)," says Professor Yvan Larondelle, president of the Belgian Nutrition Society and general coordinator of FoodWal, a research portfolio with a budget of 12 million euros, partner of this new institute.
"The aim of the WIFST is to federate and energize Walloon scientific and technological research in the field of food and nutrition."
And expertise in this field is well established in Wallonia, as demonstrated by the international spring school co-organized recently at Université de Namur by Wagralim, the Agri-Food Innovation Cluster of Wallonia and the FoodWal consortium, with the support of Wallonie Bruxelles International and Wallonia Export & Investment Agency (AWEX).
Three main missions
"The WIFST has set three main missions," continues Prof. Larondelle. "The first is to develop new research activities in fields of interest to us, particularly at the European level."
"The second objective aims to stimulate an innovation dynamic within the member laboratories of WIFST. It is a question of encouraging them to be more open to applied purposes, while maintaining their anchoring in basic research, where relevant."
"Lastly, with this new institute, the goal is also to strengthen Wallonia’s position on the European map as a region of excellence in food and nutrition sciences. We have the critical mass, the high-quality stakeholders, and qualified scientists and industrial partners equipped with cutting-edge tools. Everything is in place to attract multiple partners. What we need now is to make our resources and expertise more visible. The institute will help achieve that."
Ten partners
The founding members of this new institute are the five universities of the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles Université catholique de Louvain, Université libre de Bruxelles, University of Liège, UMONS and Université de Namur), four Walloon research centres (CER group, Multitel, Celabor srl and CRA-W Centre wallon de Recherches agronomiques) and the agri-food cluster Wagralim. Other Walloon research excellence players active in the field of food and nutrition will be able to join the institute. At this point, the WIFST coordination cell is relying on resources available within several ongoing projects and initiatives, including FoodWal, IIS FoodBooster and IIS Protewin and Wagralim. The latter will host WIFST’s coordination cell.
'By its contribution to the coordination of WIFST, Wagralim confirms its role as a relay between companies in the Walloon food system and researchers, thus strengthening the connection between the current and future needs of the field and the themes of the Strategic Innovation Domain 5 (DIS5 / "Agri-food chains of the future and innovative environmental management") of Wallonia", underlines Emmanuel Vanzeveren , co-director of Wagralim.
WIFST will perpetuate the dynamics established within the framework of the six Strategic Innovation Initiatives (IIS) of DIS5, and in particular within the IIS FoodBooster and Protewin. The IIS indeed have a limited lifespan. "The WIFST will enable a further increase in research and innovation initiatives in the field of agri-food chains, an area in which we excel," explains Dr Stephane Khonen, coordinator of the IIS Protewin.
The first edition of the International Spring School foreshadows the impact of WIFST by bringing together Walloon researchers at the heart of an international seminar that will have contributed to strengthening the visibility of scientific research and Walloon know-how.
Source : Christian Du Brulle pour Daily Science, avec le soutien de Wallonie Bruxelles International