UCAM HiTech, the incubator of High Technology in Sport, Health and Food, has hosted today, the conference on the complementary plans AGROALNEXT and THINKINAZUL, strategic projects funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, and the Region of Murcia, together with other autonomous communities, to promote innovation in the agri-food and marine sectors, to address different social problems and to foster collaborations between research institutions.

Inaugurated by UCAM President, María Dolores García; the Regional Minister for the Environment, the Mar Menor, Universities and Research, Juan María Vázquez; and the UCAM Vice-Rector of Research, Estrella Núñez, the event has brought together 130 researchers, entrepreneurs, journalists and representatives of public administrations, who have discussed the advances in their research and how their innovations can contribute to the development and sustainability of the food and marine sectors. The round tables addressed key issues such as food innovation, the circular economy in the agri-food and marine sectors, the sustainable management of the Mar Menor and the digital transition.

The aim is to hold ‘a forum for the follow-up of both plans, with the hope of obtaining tangible results that can be applied for the benefit of society,’ said UCAM President María Dolores García. In this respect, Estrella Núñez, Vice-Rector of Research, highlighted the multidisciplinary nature of the researchers participating in the projects ‘which focus on subjects such as digitalisation, sensors and the food sector’.

The Regional Minister for Universities, Juan María Vázquez, underlined the contribution of the 18 million euros earmarked for these complementary plans in the field of research. In the two short years that they have been in force, more than 100 young researchers have been recruited, 150 scientific publications have been published and more than 400 knowledge transfer actions have been undertaken, with the aim of improving two essential areas in the Region of Murcia: marine sciences and agri-food.

AGROALNEXT, is led by the Autonomous Community of Navarre, and THINKINAZUL, is led by the Region of Murcia, thanks to funding from the Seneca Foundation and the Regional Ministry for the Environment, Universities, Research and the Mar Menor, with the participation of the Universidad Católica de Murcia (UCAM), the Universidad de Murcia (UM), the Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena (UPCT), the Instituto Murciano de Investigación y Desarrollo Agrario y Medioambiental (IMIDA), the Centro de Edafología y Biología Aplicada del Segura (CEBAS-CSIC) and the Instituto Español de Oceanografía (IEO). These plans seek to establish synergies to promote innovation in the use of natural resources and to provide sustainable solutions to current environmental and food challenges.