Wageningen Campus

Shared research facilities - user story 🤝 Efficient sharing of knowledge, skills and underused equipment is a logical choice for researchers connected to Flora Food Group and the Wageningen Light Microscopy Centre (WLMC).   Direct access to advanced research facilities was one of the reasons why Flora Food Group, a world leader in plant-based foods, moved its R&D activities to the Wageningen Campus two years ago. At the company, they see access to shared advanced research equipment in collaboration with Wageningen University & Research (WUR), and courtesy of funding from the RegioDeal Foodvalley, as a valuable opportunity. 🌿 'We wanted to make product property testing on high-quality equipment easier for our employees and speed up decision-making in product development,' says Gertjan Heijman, Platform Manager Aroma and Flavour at Flora Food Group.  The collaboration adds to the quality of products and efficiency of the process. The knowledge and guidance from researchers at WLMC helps shorten the analysis processes for Flora Food Group. Through the Search database for shared research facilities made available by WUR, interested parties can search through the supply of shared research equipment. 'Use this database to find out what a piece of equipment can do,' is, WLMC manager, Norbert De Ruijter's advice to prospective users. 'And don't hesitate to contact the experts from the team behind Shared Research Facilities at WUR or the other administrators if you want to know more.'  Read more: https://lnkd.in/eBRWKmQg       Are you interested in using, sharing, and investing into facilities together with WUR? Make sure to contact the SRF team here: https://lnkd.in/efxJSg7Z     

CineScience: Interstellar 📽 CineScience Movie Talks offers you unique and accessible insights in the scientific works of WUR researchers while enjoying an inspirational night at the movie theatre. The presenting researchers creatively connect their scientific work to a personally selected movie. Next up? Interstellar! 📅 Wednesday 16 October, 19:30  📍 Visum Mundi, Wageningen Interstellar released exactly 10 years ago. It portrays humanity's struggle for survival in a universe where time, space, and resources are scarce. In our current era of global challenges and transitions, it's crucial to rethink our roles within this system. How do you see your role and what do you expect of others? Simone Ritzer, as dialogue facilitator at WUR, often witnesses how misunderstandings arise from differing expectations. But what do we actually expect of scientists? And how can they have a positive impact on society while also exploring new terrains? Together, we'll examine the roles scientists can play and reconsider the expectations placed on them. Learn more about novel scientific insights, discover how our everyday lives relate to the work being done in Wageningen, and enjoy a fabulous movie that sparks conversation. The intermission offers ample opportunity to talk with each other and the presenting researcher.  https://lnkd.in/eqJTcqdB  

Thai Union opens Innovation Hub on Wageningen Campus 🎈 Thai Union Group PCL. is the world's seafood leader, bringing high quality, healthy, tasty and innovative seafood products to customers across the world for 47 years. Today, Thai Union is one of the largest producers of shelf-stable tuna products with and a global workforce of more than 44,000 people who are dedicated to pioneering sustainable, innovative seafood products. With a commitment to “Healthy Living, Healthy Oceans,” Thai Union is proud to be a member of the United Nations Global Compact.    Thai Union has officially opened its Innovation Hub in Wageningen, marking the latest expansion of its global innovation network. The Innovation Hub focuses on product and packaging innovation for the Group’s ambient seafood brands. Around 40 product, process and packaging developers, nutritionists, sensory and consumer scientists, and innovators are working at or for the Innovation Hub, collaborating closely with Thai Union’s brands and the Global Innovation Center (GIC) in Bangkok. 🤝 Thiraphong Chansiri, CEO and President of Thai Union Group, said: “With the Innovation Hub here in the Netherlands, we are strengthening our global innovation capabilities”. For Thai Union the access to shared research equipment and facilities on Wageningen Campus is a major advantage of the ecosystem in Wageningen.   Key features of the Innovation Hub include a pilot plant, an analytical lab, a packaging lab, a sensory lab, and a user experience kitchen. Having Thai Union on campus will contribute to collaboration in the fields of sustainable world food supply and the living environment. Professor Ellen Kampman, Chairholder Nutrition & Disease at Wageningen University & Research, said: “Thai Union as one of the world’s major seafood companies adds a marine protein element to the ecosystem of Wageningen – and we look forward to collaborative research with them.”

Breakthrough in the fight against devastating banana diseases! 🍌  Researchers from KeyGene, in collaboration with Chiquita, MusaRadix, and Wageningen University & Research, have developed the first banana plant resistant to both Fusarium TR4 and Black Sigatoka—two of the most destructive diseases in banana cultivation. Yelloway One is the new hybrid banana. Researchers have shown that using the latest genetic tools, developing plants resistant to diseases can be done much faster. TR4 and Black Sigatoka have caused devastating global losses in banana farming, with no resistant varieties—until now. Yelloway One is developed through traditional crossbreeding techniques and modern DNA analysis technology. The researchers are collaborating with several organisations to ensure that the technology is also available to other programs. The prototype is headed for field trials in the Philippines and Indonesia, regions severely affected by these diseases. 🌍 Yelloway One is the first step in the broader Yelloway initiative. The goal is to develop a continuous stream of excellent and resistant banana varieties that are genetically diverse. This will not only increase the resilience of banana cultivation but also improve the sustainability of the sector. By introducing more variety into cultivation, smallholder farmers in Africa, Asia and Latin America will be better equipped to respond to changes in climate and new diseases.  

Symposium Biodiversity-Positive Food Systems 🥗 This event is a unique opportunity to engage with the latest insights and innovations in biodiversity-positive food systems from Wageningen University & Research (WUR). 📅 Tuesday 15 October, 9:30-17:00  📍 Omnia, Wageningen campus The research programme 'Biodiversity-positive Food Systems' aims to provide the fundamental knowledge for innovative pathways that enhance biodiversity and ecosystem services on fields, landscapes, and value chains. This programme explicitly combines feasible production, supply- and demand-side food system efforts with opportunities for crop diversity and conservation of natural biodiversity in the landscape. Key note speaker Dan Saladino, BBC journalist and author of the book Eating to Extinction, will open the programme with a lecture. He will also provide a reflection at the end of the day. Join for a morning or the whole day of knowledge sharing, innovation, and collaborative thinking. Your participation is crucial, as co-creating a sustainable future together is striven for.  Register here: https://lnkd.in/ezXcWhwg  

Lunchtime concerts! 📯 🎵   Every month on Tuesdays from 12.30 - 13.30 varying performances take place in Impulse on Wageningen Campus. Be sure to check out the three performances in October!     Sol Jang Trio will play in Impulse today, the 1st of October! This dynamic ensemble merges lyrical melodies, free improvisation and traditional jazz harmonies, inviting listeners into Jang’s own musical world. Born in Seoul, and inspired by her global experiences, Jang’s compositions paint vivid soundscapes. With recognition as a jazz competition winner(Women In Jazz Festival 2024), Winner of the Jazz Prize of the City of Halle, and global performances, Sol Jang Trio is a journey through sound and emotion. The trio will released their first album '19-29' on 3rd of October 2024 with Unit Records.    Join the 8th of October for a preview of the third edition of Rhinegold Festival: a chambermusic festival for classical music in Wageningen. The festival takes place on Thursday 17, Friday 18 and Saturday 19 October 2024, in the Grote Kerk of Wageningen. During this lunchtime concert in Impulse, the “Rhinegold-musicians" will perform parts of the festival program. Come along if you love classical music, but also if you’re curious or unsure; classical music can be something for everyone!  And last, but not least, on 15th of October, Esquina Latina, the colorful, professional, and immensely talented Latin band hailing from Arnhem, Apeldoorn and Dieren. Comprising 5 passionate musicians, they weave vibrant rhythms and electrifying melodies, breathing new life into traditional tunes from artists like Ibrahim Ferrer, Arsenio Rodriguez, Luis Vargas and the iconic “Buena Vista Social Club” 12. Their name, which translates to “Latin Corner,” reflects their love for music and their commitment to creating their own unique interpretations while honoring the roots of this captivating genre. So, get ready to be swept away by their soulful sounds and infectious energy—Esquina Latina is here to ignite your senses and set the dance floor ablaze! #lunchtime #concert #impulse 

Campus Connect: The future is water 💧 Extreme weather conditions, natural disasters, the failure of climate mitigation & adaptation, and water crises are some of the most likely and impactful current risks. The availability of water for agriculture is jeopardized by climate change. Globally, we are increasingly seeing that droughts and floods threaten our food production. Wageningen University & Research (WUR) and other knowledge partners play a key role in addressing these challenges and developing policies. Additionally, the Wageningen Campus is a place where innovative startups are encouraged to accelerate. This is crucial because 60% of our global water shortages must be solved through new technologies. 👩🔬 This Campus Connect event on Water is intended as an inspiring gathering, offering a glimpse into the operations of two water tech companies and several current water projects on campus, all focused on Food & Water Security. As Sjoukje Heimovaara (President of the Executive Board of WUR) aptly put it, "without action, no water, no food for the future." 📅 Thursday October 10, 16:00-18:00  📍 Impulse, Stippeneng 2, Wageningen Campus. Speakers during the event include Annelies Schenk, Raphael Fredon, PhD, Tiemen Nanninga, Alexander van der Kleij, and Kirsten Dekkers. Please register here: https://lnkd.in/gdErJUaT  

Opening exhibition: Food for Thought 📸 An average meal travels around 30.000 kilometres before it reaches our plates. Where does our food come from? Like many students and employees on Wageningen Campus, photographer and filmmaker Kadir Van Lohuizen unravels the world behind our food. His search is captured in a beautiful documentary and photo series with the title Food for Thought. His work is in 2024 on display at the Maritime Museum Amsterdam, but now on our campus as well. Join Van Lohuizen for the opening of his outside exhibition to look at our food systems through a different lens. 📅 Thursday 3 October, 12:00-13:00  📍 Impulse, Wageningen Campus Van Lohuizen visualises what often remains outside our field of vision: where and how is our food produced? He portrays how the Netherlands, Kenya, the United States, the United Arab Emirates and China organise food production in a large-scale and efficient way. This approach evokes both admiration and questions: what are the effects on nature, people and animals, and how future-proof is this system? This leads to amazement and perplexity, emotions that also live on Wageningen Campus. 🌿 What do the images evoke in you? And what does that say about you and your position in the food system – both as a researcher and as a consumer. Enter into a conversation about the food systems of the future and discover what it requires of us to build that sustainable future. Also look at the system through a different lens. Who knows where new perspectives and connections can lead to. https://lnkd.in/e-bk5_VU  

2024 Futures of food systems event 🌾 To create a world without hunger, in which everyone has access to sustainable, healthy, safe and affordable food we need to transform our food systems. On 30 September, two Wageningen University & Research initiatives join forces to bring together bright and motivated minds from all over the world and to inspire you on how to develop creative pathways and solutions to address these challenges.   📅 Monday 30 September 9:30-17:00  📍 Omnia, Wageningen Campus What will our food systems look like in 2100? This has been investigated intensively in a project called “Imagine Food Systems 2100”, belonging to the WUR Knowledge Base programme Food and Water Security.   During the morning, researchers and students will present and pitch their visions for the future of our food systems. 📈 In the afternoon the winner of the 18 student teams participating in the Food systems Innovation Challenge will be announced. How do ideas developed in the Challenge contribute to creating a better future for our planet? Join the afternoon programme to find your answers! During the event, Sjoukje Heimovaara, President of the Executive Board of WUR, Kazuki Kitaoka, Head of World Food Forum and Sagar Paudel, Vice-president External Relations of IAAS (International Association of students in Agriculture and related Sciences) will also officially open the Youth Food Lab Netherlands at WUR. Read more and register here: https://lnkd.in/eJU8NTcC