I-SENSE Group had an amazing experience at Synergy Days2024 held in Barcelona during which we presented three of our flagship projects: CHOICE, THEROS and RURBANIVE. This time, our team -composed of Dr. Tina Katika, Dr Giorgos Tsimiklis and Kostas Naskou- has introduced new advancements related to the sustainable food systems and rural-urban integration synergies.
CHOICE Project
Organized by Dr. Tina Katika: We demonstrated how XR (Extended Reality) and various digital tools are fundamental in shaping climate conscious Food Systems. The project integrates advanced Integrated Assessment Models (IAMs) like GLOBIOM and FELiX to tackle climate change, food security, and sustainability challenges. In tandem with digital technologies, innovative structuring of behavioral attitudes is being engaged by the project CHOICE in deliberate work aimed at shifting consumer and policy maker practices towards ecologically sustainable consumption patterns while reducing food waste. Tina also presented an immersive tool designed to help consumers understand the environmental impact of their food choices through data storytelling and interactive interfaces.
THEROS Project:
The activities of Giorgos Tsimiklis revolved around our food quality verification operations which aim at ensuring high sustainability of our technology. THEROS avails blockchain, DNA-based approaches, and Earth Observation & IoT to ensure the authenticity and transparency of food products. The integrated toolbox of the project improves the food supply chain surveillance, protects the consumers from fraudulent activities and provides excellent informed decision making processes ensuring better security and quality of organic, and geographically specified products.
RURBANIVE Project:
At the interactive workshop, Kostas Naskou presented a session that centered around using Extended Reality as a means through which rural–urban interactions can be improved especially with respect to the agri-food value chain. RURBANIVE revolves around promoting bi-directional interactions between rural and urban communities in six different areas. Such a project shall promote the setting up of co-creation labs in local communities, supplementing such spaces with XR applications for social connectedness and experimentation for sustainable development.
Key Takeaways:
- While interacting with the project beneficiaries within other EU funded projects and policy makers and stakeholders in the agri food sector, the focus remained on collaboration and innovation.
- We also highlighted how digital technologies can contributed towards explaining climate action uptake, sustainable development and resilience of food systems.
- Our projects still remain ahead of the time in terms of integration of digital technologies into agriculture and food systems of future.
