Ten days after the inaugural seminar at Renmin University, the collaboration between GREENCOOP and its Chinese partners moved to its main event: the International Academic Conference on Smart Agriculture and Green Development, hosted at the National Agricultural Library of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS) in Beijing on 16 July 2026, organised by the Agricultural Information Institute of CAAS together with the Youth Working Committee of the Beijing Overseas Returned Scholars Association.
The conference brought together around thirty participants from Chinese research institutions, international academic partners and agricultural technology companies, combining presentations on Chinese smart-agriculture research and industry solutions with contributions from the GREENCOOP consortium. Three members of our team spoke at the conference:
- Professor George Vlontzos — Advancing Technologies in the Agrifood Sector under the CAP Framework and HORIZON Projects
- Dr Marios Vasileiou — GREENCOOP: Agroecology and Digital Innovations in Living Labs
- Dr Leonidas-Sotirios Kyrgiakos — Improving agricultural performance with DEA: insights from real-world case studies
The consortium contribution was completed by Associate Professor Georgios Kleftodimos (CIHEAM-IAMM) on an integrated methodology for assessing the socio-economic performance of circular agri-food systems, while Chinese speakers presented, among others, smart water and fertiliser management based on growth models and AI-enabled smart-farm production management — capabilities directly relevant to the two demonstrations the Chinese Living Labs will deliver within GREENCOOP, on smart water management and smart fertiliser and nutrient management in the North China Plain.
