Draft Minutes of the 12th UEAA General Assembly

19 12 2024

October, 10th 2024, Bucharest, Romania

UEAA GENERAL ASSEMBLY AGENDA

October, 10th 2024, Bucharest, Romania

Registration and introduction of the current present members
Approval of the agenda
Approval of the minutes of the previous UEAA General Assembly Prof. Elena HORSKA, president of UEAA
Short information about UEAA activities from the period 2022-2024 Professor Elena HORSKA
Approval of the changing of the Art. III.1 from the Current Charter[1]^–Prof. Michel THIBIER, Prof. Nazim GRUDA
Election of the new UEAA President, Prof. Ioan JELEV, Romania
UEAA Motion about Gene Editing – Michel THIBIER, France (This item was included on the agenda after the proposal of Michel THIBIER)
Election of the new UEAA Vice-President – Prof. Nazim GRUDA, Albania
Election of the Steering committee members
Establishing the place of the future UEAA General Assembly
Suggested plan of actions of UEAA for 2024 – 2026
Conclusions

The 12th General Assembly of the Union of European Academies for Science Applied to Agriculture, Food and Nature (UEAA) took place in Bucharest, Romania, on 10th October 2024, at the headquarters of the Academy of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences “Gheorghe Ionescu-Sisesti”.

The General Assembly was held in a hybrid format (online and in-person) and was attended by 43 guests representing the Union’s Steering Committee, representatives of the European academies and guests from national academies and institutions.

Attendees: 43 members from Slovakia, Romania, France, Italy, Czech Republic, Latvia, Sweden, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Great Britain, Albania, Slovenia, Republic of Moldova, Ukraine

Elena HORSKA (Slovak Academy of Agricultural Science)/ online; Vladimir GOZORA (president of the Slovak Academy of Agricultural Sciences)/online; Cristian HERA (Romania)/online, Valeriu TABĂRĂ (Romania)/online, Ioan JELEV (Romanian Academy of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences)/in-person, Aurel-Florentin BADIU (vice-president of the Romanian Academy of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences)/in-person, Michel DUCLOS (French Academy of Agriculture)/ in-person, Michel THIBIER (UEEA President’s Counselor, French Academy of Agriculture)/online, Simone ORLANDINI (Accademia dei Georgofili, Italy)/online, Vilém PODRÁZSKÝ (Czech Academy of Agricultural Sciences)/online, Baiba RIVŽA (Latvia Academy of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences)/ online, Kerstin NIBLAEUS (Swedish Academy of Agriculture and Forestry) /in-person, Per ERIKSSON (Swedish Academy of Agriculture and Forestry) /in-person, Violeta BOZHANOVA (Agricultural Academy of Bulgaria)/in-person, Vyara STEFANOVA (Agricultural Academy of Bulgaria)/in-person, Zenonas DABKEVIČIUS (Lithuanian Academy of Sciences)/ in-person, Evi ARACHOVITI (Great Britain, RASE/Innovation for Agriculture)/in-person, Nazim GRUDA (Academy of Science of Albania)/in-person, Hojka KRAIGHER (Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts)/online, Vasile BOTNARI (Academy of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences of Moldova)/in-person, Mihail RAPCEA and Constantin DADU (Academy of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences of Moldova)/in-person, Shamil IBATULLIN (National Academy of Agrarian Sciences of Ukraine)/online, Oleh STASIV (Ukraine)/on-line, Anuch BALIAN (Ukraine)/online, Ervin BALÁZS (Hungary)/online, Maria DUCA and Gheorghe DUCA (R. Moldova)/online, Catherine REGNAULT (France)/online, Mihail COMAN, Director of the Research Institute for Fruit Growing, Romania/in-person, Alexandru STRATAN, Eugenia COTENCO, Nicolae EREMIA, Eugen ALEXANDROV, Mihail MIHAILOV, Valerian BĂLAN (R. Moldova)/online, Marian BOGOESCU, Militaru DUMITRU, Matilda CIUCĂ, Nicole PETCULESCU, Cipriana BUDEANU, Adela NISTOR, Cristi CORDIȘ (Romania)/in-person, other guests from Romania.

Absentee: Guram Aleksidze and Anatoli GIORGADZE – Georgian Academy of Agricultural Sciences)/SC member, Maria Salome PAIS (Portugal, Lisbon Academy of Sciences)/SC member observer, Tomas Garcia AZCARATE (National Association of Agricultural Engineering, Spain) /SC member observer

The President of the UEAA, prof. Elena HORSKA, opened the meeting and welcomed those present. After the official opening and greetings part, the working program started according to the Agenda:

Agenda item 1 – Registration and introduction of the current members present (8 from 9 SC full members and 5 from 6 observers participated)
Agenda item 2 – Approval of the Agenda
The Agenda was sent to all members by e-mail and also was published on the UEAA website.
Michel THIBIER proposed to add on the Agenda the presentation of the UEAA Motion about Gene Editing and everybody agreed.
– The Agenda with the addition of 1 item was approved.
Agenda item 3 – Approval of the Minutes of the 2022 UEAA General Assembly, in Bratislava, Slovakia
The Minutes was also proposed for approval by the UEAA SC in December 2022, and internal by the Slovak Academy.
– The Minutes was unanimously approved by the XII UEAA GA.
Agenda item 4 – Short information about the UEAA activities from the period 2022-2024
Prof. Elena HORSKA, the UEAA President, gave an overview of the activities carried out between 2022-2024 where the most important aspects were emphasized. The full report as presented at the 2024 GA is published on the UEAA website at the point: https://ueaa.info/wp-content/uploads /2024/ 11/GA-Raport-2022-2024-Bucharest-Elena-Horska-10.10.2024.pdf.
– The Report was adopted by applause.
Agenda item 5 – Approval of the changing of the Art. III.1 from the Current Charter – The point has been discussed at the SC meeting that took place in the morning, prior to the GA.
– The change was adopted as it was discussed in the SC meeting, with the improvement proposed by prof. Zenonas DABKEVICIUS that: “The Steering Committee is composed of representatives of “up to” 12 Member Academies…”.
Agenda item 6 – Election of the new UEAA President.
According to the Charter, the current UEAA vice-president is nominated as the person who can be elected in this position. Thus, prof. Ioan JELEV was nominated President of UEAA and Prof. Elena HORSKA made a short introduction of his professional activity, mentioning that he is a very active and strategic thinking person.– Prof. Ioan JELEV was unanimously elected President of the UEAA.

Prof. HORSKA together with Prof. Vladimir GOZORA, president of the Slovak Academy of Agricultural Sciences, congratulated Prof. Ioan JELEV and wished him all the best in his future tasks and, symbolically, handed over the office of Presidency of the UEAA to Ioan JELEV, transferring the presidency of the Union to Romania and to the Academy of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences, for the following two years, 2024 – 2026.
Prof. JELEV thanked to prof. Elena HORSKA for the good work they did together and to all members of the General Assembly, and he expressed the hope to do such a difficult task till the end in good condition.
Agenda item 7 – UEAA Motion about Gene Editing
After his election, prof. JELEV took over the moderation of the GA meeting and asked prof. Michel THIBIER to introduce/read the Motion, as approved today by the Steering committee just before this meeting, based on the article submitted for presentation at the Scientific Symposium associated with the UEAA General Assembly, entitled: “Does genome editing have a future in EU agriculture?” – authors: Catherine Regnault-Roger, Alain Toppan and Michel Thibier – AAF). The Motion was also debated in the morning in SC meeting, and it is going to be carried out to Brussels by the new President. After the Motion was read by prof. Michel Thibier, prof. Ioan Jelev put it to the vote.– The 12th General Assembly unanimously adopted the Motion about Gene Editing.
Agenda item 8 – The election of the new UEAA vice-president.
For this position, Prof. JELEV proposed Prof. Nazim GRUDA, member of Albanian Academy of Science, as a result of his active participation and involvement in the UEAA activities. This proposal was also being discussed and analyzed in the SC in June. Further, Prof. JELEV made a presentation of the prestigious professional activity of Prof. GRUDA, scientist in horticulture, distinguished representant of the Academy of Sciences of Albania.
In support of his election, Prof. ZENONAS, from Lithuania, added that he knows Nazim GRUDA very well thanks to the bilateral collaboration developed between their Academies which he initiated, and he is very active, has a good experience, he worked in Germany, Spain, Albania and other countries and he is prepared for international communication with researchers.
– Prof. Nazim GRUDA was elected vice-president by applause.
Prof. Nazim GRUDA thanked all and said that he will support the SC, the President and his focus will be also in supporting of the new generation of scientists to ensure the future of scientific research and development of innovation in agriculture, food and environment. In his opinion, the example of the young European Academy of ALLEA must be followed, thus calling to all Academies of the Union to create their own young academy in their countries. This will facilitate European cooperation, exchange ideas and prepare future leaders in agriculture, food and environment, because investing in the young people education and professional development is the only way we can ensure to continue and progress in scientific research.
Agenda item 9 – Election of the Steering Committee members for the period 2024-2026. The proposals submitted to the vote were:1. New President – Ioan JELEV (Romanian Academy of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences)
2. Former President – Elena HORSKÁ (Slovak Academy of Agricultural Science)
3. Vice-president – Nazim GRUDA (Academy of Science of Albania)
4. Kerstin NIBLAEUS (Swedish Academy of Agriculture and Forestry)
5. Michel DUCLOS (French Academy of Agriculture)
6. Evi ARACHOVITI (Great Britain, Royal Agricultural Society of England/ Innovation for Agriculture)
7. Vasile BOTNARI (Academy of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences of Moldova)
8. Violeta BOZHANOVA (Agricultural Academy of Bulgaria)
9. Baiba RIVŽA (Latvia Academy of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences)
10. Simone ORLANDINI (Accademia dei Georgofili, Italy)
11. Vilém PODRÁZSKÝ (Czech Academy of Agricultural Sciences)
12. Hojka KRAIGHER (Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts)

– The new SC members was adopted by applause.

Also, were elected:

– Michel THIBIER (French Academy of Agriculture) – as UEEA President’s Counselor
– Zenonas DABKEVIČIUS (Lithuanian Academy of Sciences) – as Alumni member
– Confirmed as Observer: Shamil IBATULLIN (National Academy of Agrarian Sciences of Ukraine).

Michel THIBIER added that regarding the new members who could be Observers, the principle of SC is that they can ask someone to become Observer and agree. It does not have to pass through the General Assembly. SC is competent to decide that. A point regarding the new Observers members can be put on the Agenda of the next SC meeting, regarding the countries that do not have representatives.
Agenda item 10 – Establishing the place of the future UEAA General Assembly. According to the Charter, the country which ensures the activity of vice-presidency will be the host of the following UEAA General Assembly.– The next UEAA General Assembly – 2026 will be held in Albania, Tirana.
Agenda item 11 – Suggested plan of actions of UEAA for 2024-2026. As the new President, Prof. Ioan JELEV presented the proposed priorities and activities for the next period (2024-2026), mentioning that the plan was elaborated together with Nazim, as a team. He stated that in their opinion the future activities of the UEAA will continue to harmonize with the objectives of the EU Programmatic Documents and the provisions of 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development adopted by the UN. Also of great importance is: to ensure and harmonize the continuation of 2022-2024 UEAA program; increase membership; updating of the UEAA Charter; strengthening the Dialogue with the European Commission; support the activities of European academies; promotion and popularization of UEAA; revitalizing the existing electronic working groups and creating new groups for climate change.
The full presentation was published on the UEAA website and can be consulted here: The full presentation was published on the UEAA website and can be consulted here: https://ueaa.info/2024/09/26/xii-general-assembly-of-the-ueaa-of-the-steering-committee-and-of-the-related-scientific-symposium/
As a comment on the presented plan, Kerstin NIBLAEUS said that it is very good, well-structured and very ambitious at the same time, and regarding the EU Commission Dialogue, she thinks that should be broader than just the Commission. The Commission is only a part of the dialogue, it should be a broader work, like other EU Institutions or something like that. The SC need to discuss more about that.
Hojka KRAIGHER, from Slovenia, thanked for the election and said that she hopes to have a good contribution to SC. Regarding the priorities, indeed very ambitious, she proposed to be included a little bit more climate change and conservation of genetic resources in agriculture and forestry, and particularly (since she come from the field of forestry) conservation and promoting of genetic diversity in forest genetic resources, therefore the genetic diversity supports the potential of the future adaptability of the future generations of forest trees population to the changing environment.
Prof. Simone ORLANDINI agreed with the plan and suggested and underlined the idea to add also the strengthening of the collaboration with other European academies of science, for instance EASAC, that is strongly active also in the field of agriculture, as in the past they produced the Document on Regenerative Agriculture, and UEAA must try to have some links with them in order to better define our field.

– The plan of actions was approved.
Agenda item 12 – ConclusionsAt the end of GA meeting, President Ioan JELEV thanked to all participating members, closed the meeting and declared open the scientific session associated with GA.
The program continued with the Scientific Symposium associated with the GA “New research techniques and the agricultural progress”
Oral Presentation (see the Abstract Book of the Symposium published on https://ueaa.info/2024/10/16/ueaa-scientific-symposium-new-research-techniques-and-the-agricultural-progress-abstract-book-and-some-full-papers-bucharest-october-10-2024/).
• Does genome editing have a future in EU agriculture? (Catherine Regnault-Roger, Alain Toppan et Michel Thibier – Academie d’Agriculture de France)
• The role of synthetic hexaploid wheat in winter wheat resistance to leaf rust at NARDI Fundulea. (Matilda Ciuca, Alexandru Dumitru, Alina Turcu, Laura Contescu, Daniel Cristina – National Agricultural Research-Development Institute – National Agricultural Research-Development Institute Fundulea)
• Learning from hen’s physiology to improve the sustainability of egg production. (Michel Duclos – INRAE)
• Morphological variability and mineral composition of three garlic genotypes cultivated in Korça region, Albania. (Pirro Icka, Robert Damo – University “Fan S. Noli” Korça, Albania, Nazim Gruda – ASA)
• Modern techniques for research and control of Orobanche cumana Wallr. in sunflower. (Acad. Maria DUCA-Moldova State University)
• Genetically diverse landscapes require an integrated concept for conservation of genetic resources among domains. (Hojka Kraigher, Danijela Bojkovski, Gregor Božič, Andreja Ferreira, Jelka Šuštar Vozlič, Marjana Westergren – Slovenian Forestry Institute& Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts)
• Digitalization of Latvian Agriculture as tool for agricultural progress, sustainability and competitiveness. (Baiba Rivza, professor, Aleksandrs Jaroslavcevs doctoral student, Latvian Academy of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences)
• Improving environmental and agronomic outcomes through targeted slurry/manure management: an English policy perspective. (Angela Bywater – University of Southampton, Richard Gueterbock – Foodchains, Trevena, Stockbridge, Evi Arachoviti, Martha Hayes – Innovation for Agriculture, RASE Centre)
• Sustainable forestry in Sweden supported by digitalization – operational experiences (Erik Willén – StoraEnso AB. Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture and Forestry)
• Better capitalization of the organic white sea buckthorn (Hippophaë rhamnoides L.) and blueberry fruits (Vaccinium myrtillus L.) as functional foods. (Petculescu Nicole – Academy of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences ”Gheorghe Ionescu-Sisesti”, Vlăsceanu Gabriela – Bioterra University of Bucharest)

The President, Professor Ioan JELEV, concluded the scientific session and handed all physically present participants the certificates of SC membership and participation.

___________

[1] Instead of – The Steering Committee is composed of 7 to 9 Members, as follows:

a representative of the Member who hosted the previous General Assembly

a representative of the Member who will host the following General Assembly

Members elected by the General Assembly, half of whom must be renewed every two years. The election is by absolute majority of those present at the Assembly,

The Proposed version is:

The Steering Committee is composed of representatives of 12 Member Academies, including:

a representative of the Member who hosted the previous General Assembly,

a representative of the Member who hosts the current General Assembly,

and a representative of the Member who will host the following General Assembly.

Members are elected by an absolute majority of those present at the General Assembly. One third of whom are renewed every two years (1). A renewable member may be candidate to re-election.

The President’s vote counts double in the event of a tie.