On July 4, 2024, a practical workshop took place at the Agricultural Products Processing Education Center (FAPPZ) as part of the so-called Living Labs, supported by the European project AgroServ. Approximately 250 potential individuals and organizations involved in plant and animal production, as well as food manufacturing and processing, were contacted as part of this project. A meeting was organized for the registered participants, aiming to identify the problems they encounter in their daily practice and subsequently propose and ensure possible cooperation from the university.
The workshop was attended by 23 external participants and another 13 university teachers and staff, along with Prof. Ing. Lenka Kouřimská, Ph.D., who is also the project manager of AgroServ for the Czech University of Life Sciences. At the beginning and end of the event, tours of the food pavilion were organized, participants' questions were answered, and practical experiences were exchanged between our technologists and farm processors of agricultural products. A brief introduction of the AgroServ project and the food pavilion also took place within the pavilion premises. It was crucial to introduce our faculty experts and connect them with the attending participants, as well as to facilitate meetings and connections between farmers dealing with similar issues. In the next part of the workshop, an informal discussion occurred, where participants were thematically divided and discussed current topics and problems with our experts.
The AgroServ project strives to establish cooperation with private sector entities in the food production and processing area, and we have managed to contact approximately 40 entities interested in further cooperation via the email address agroserv@af.czu.cz. An online evaluation of the workshop will follow, along with subsequent collaboration with the participants (so-called stakeholders). The goal of this cooperation is not only to address current problems but also to build long-term mutually beneficial relationships between the academic sphere and the private sector.
