Minister of State Martin Heydon announces DAFM partnership with the IRC on this year’s COALECSE call

The Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM), Martin Heydon T.D., and the Director of the Irish Research Council (IRC), Peter Brown, are pleased to announce the launch of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine Strand under the Irish Research Council’s COALESCE Programme.

The COALESCE Call launches for applications on Wednesday 28^th October 2020 from 4pm. All eligible Research Performing Organisations are invited to submit applications for funding by DAFM under the IRC’s competitively operated COALESCE Programme. Specifically, the DAFM Strand seeks research proposals that consider the connections and synergies between rural and urban areas with a focus on an Irish city as a test bed and driver for a sustainable, healthy and regenerative food production and circular bioeconomy system.

The results of the research will be made available for the benefit of the agri-food and biobased sectors, the consumer, citizens and policymakers.

The Minister welcomed this initiative “as an excellent example of a collaborative partnership between governmental organisations, working together to deliver innovative research in the important policy area of food systems and the circular bioeconomy. Cooperating together to promote and invest in publicly-funded research of this nature will help ensure Ireland continues to be at the forefront of national developments in the bioeconomy. It will help shape engagement by the agri-food sector to exploit opportunities between rural producers and urban markets and consumers, while also seeking to address the various challenges faced in creating more sustainable, healthy and environmentally friendly value-chains, products and services between producers, consumers and citizens.”

IRC Director, Peter Brown, remarked, “The Irish Research Council strives to establish and cultivate partnerships with Government Departments and Agencies that serve to bring researchers and policy-makers together. The COALESCE programme in particular seeks to address national and global societal challenges, including those facing Ireland’s agri-food sector. The engagement of experts in our public research system builds a robust evidence and knowledge base, ultimately leading to more innovative and sustainable agricultural practices for the social and economic benefit of all.”

Full details on the scope of the DAFM Strand under the COALESCE research call will be set out on the call page and the Department’s website.