September was a busy and inspiring month for the SOSFood Project team. Our partners travelled across Europe to share research results, exchange knowledge and strengthen collaborations for safer and more sustainable food systems.
We began the month in Athens, where the 13th International Conference on Predictive Modelling in Food took place at the vibrant Technopolis City of Athens. On September 3rd, our lead partner Prof. Jesús Simal-Gándara presented SOSFood’s vision and progress to an international audience of scientists and innovators. The conference offered three days of stimulating discussions and fresh ideas on how predictive modelling can enhance food safety and sustainability.
While in Athens, the SOSFood consortium also gathered for an intensive partner meeting at the Agricultural University of Athens. Despite the sizzling weather outside, the atmosphere inside was even hotter — filled with strategic planning, research updates and collaboration to push the project forward.
Later in the month, members of the team travelled to Pescara to take part in the 46th AIEAA Conference – Territorial Inequalities: Prospects for Regions and Cities. On September 11th, we presented the paper “Interregional Knowledge Diffusion and its Impact on R&D Investment in Europe”, a study exploring how spatial spillovers and interregional knowledge flows shape private R&D investments across European regions. Using a spatial econometric approach at the NUTS2 level, the research highlights the importance of highly skilled human capital and strong research infrastructures, cross-regional knowledge diffusion and collaboration, and policies that foster balanced innovation ecosystems. The findings show that regions with strong public R&D and skilled workforces are more likely to attract private R&D, creating a virtuous cycle of innovation-led growth. At the same time, interregional knowledge spillovers can reduce inequalities if supported by mobility, collaboration and infrastructure investment. The paper, authored by Andrea Pronti, Emy Zecca, Ginevra Coletti and Marco De Nigris, reinforces SOSFood’s mission to generate knowledge and solutions that support sustainable and inclusive regional development.
We wrapped up September again in Greece for the Joint International Conference of Mikrobiokosmos & CEESME (Central and Eastern Europe Symposium on Microbial Ecology) — a true scientific fest on all aspects of microbial life in terrestrial and aquatic habitats, agriculture and food science. Our colleagues George-John Nychas and Chrysoula Tassou presented the SOSFood poster, showcasing how our work contributes to tackling food safety and sustainability challenges through cutting-edge research. You can explore the full scientific programme of the conference here.
September once again demonstrated the breadth and depth of SOSFood’s expertise – from predictive modelling and microbial ecology to regional innovation policies. Each event strengthened our network, expanded our knowledge and brought us closer to our shared goal: building safer, more sustainable and more resilient food systems for the future.