Welcome to the 1st RA TDT Newsletter!

Connecting the community. Sharing what is moving. Turning ideas into action.

Welcome to the first issue of the Resilient Agriculture Think & Do Tank (RA TDT) newsletter. This is a space to keep our community connected between meetings, sharing key developments and updates from the Think & Do Tank, relevant EU policy developments, opportunities to engage, and highlights from our valued members and partners.

The newsletter will be shared on a monthly basis, and we warmly invite all partners to contribute to each edition. You can share general updates, new policy developments, programmes, relevant news from the press or governments, or highlights from your organisation.

If you would like to contribute to an upcoming edition, click the button to submit your updates. Your contributions will help us collect and share relevant highlights in each monthly newsletter.

As we move into the next phase of the Think & Do Tank, we look forward to keeping the conversation going, and turning it into effective action.

Share your updates!

Update from the RA TDT Leadership Team

Since our last RA TDT plenary in June, the leadership team has been working on several key areas:

- Finalisation of our Shared Intent on Resilient Agriculture: Following an extensive round of feedback from RA TDT members, we are now finalising the document, which will be shared with all members in the coming weeks. The Shared Intent will serve as the common grounding document for the RA TDT, articulating our shared ambition and priorities for resilient agriculture and providing a common direction for our work, collaboration and future activities.

- Farmer Advisory Council: The leadership team has been engaging with farmers from across the EIT Food landscapes, as well as European associations and other relevant networks, to establish a Farmer Advisory Council. Some of the farmers involved will also participate in our next RA TDT meeting in Warsaw on 29 October.

- Working Groups developments: The three TDT leaders are currently developing a concrete approach for the Working Groups, which will be further discussed and shaped during the next in-person meeting in October.

Farmer Advisory Council: A reality check from the farmers

The Farmer Advisory Council brings practical farming experience into the RA TDT to challenge assumptions, stress-test ideas and help shape outputs.

The Council will bring together pioneers and early adopters, mainstream and risk-exposed farmers, as well as farmer organisations and cooperatives, ensuring that different farming realities are part of the discussion.

The aim is not to validate decisions already made, but to ensure the Think & Do Tank’s work is realistic, feasible and grounded in on-farm realities.

As we build the Council, we are looking for diverse voices from across the farming and agrifood community. Know someone who could bring a valuable perspective? We’d appreciate your help in connecting us.

Find out more!

Share with your network!

Protein Action Plan: Shaping a stronger European protein system

EIT Food and partners from the Resilient Agriculture, Protein Diversification and Healthy Ageing Think & Do Tanks joined forces to develop recommendations for the EU Protein Action Plan, presented to DG AGRI representatives in Brussels.

The recommendations call for a more connected and resilient European protein system, placing farmers, innovation, value-chain collaboration and market uptake at its core. The priorities include expanding the Protein Action Plan towards a whole-food-system approach, establishing an EU Protein Value Chain Partnership, supporting the transition from innovation to scale, and creating the right conditions for sustainable market growth.

This work also highlights the concrete value of collaboration across the three Think & Do Tanks. Joana Oliveira, VP for Policy and Advocacy of the Resilient Agriculture TDT, contributed to the development of the recommendations alongside the leaders of the other TDTs, bringing together different areas of expertise and perspectives to help shape actionable policy recommendations.

Together, the three TDTs are helping connect knowledge, innovation and policy to support a stronger and more resilient European protein system.

Explore the recommendations!

SAVE THE DATE:

Next Bite Satellite Resilient Agriculture

Next Bite Session: Resilient Agriculture

🗓️ 28–29 October | 📍Warsaw, Poland

EIT Food is organising a Next Bite Session focused on resilient agriculture, bringing together experts and stakeholders to explore how to strengthen the resilience of European agriculture and support the transition towards more sustainable farming systems.

See the full agenda!

RA TDT Session: The Farmer at the Centre

🗓️ 28 October | 📍Warsaw, Poland

The EIT Food Resilient Agriculture Think & Do Tank will join Next Bite for “The Farmer at the Centre: From Field to Policy”, exploring how farmers’ voices can help shape policies for a more resilient European agricultural system.

Learn more!

RA TDT Meeting & Dinner

🗓️ 29 October | 📍Warsaw, Poland

The Resilient Agriculture Think & Do Tank will come together to reflect on its first year, discuss key policy activities and priorities ahead, and explore how to accelerate the transition towards more resilient agriculture. The meeting will be followed by a dinner for participants.

The draft agenda is:

- 10 min: Welcome

- 10 min: One Year of the RA TDT: key achievements and priorities ahead

Shared Intent Publication
Policy Activities: CRCF + Protein Action Plan
FAC Establishment

- 30 min: Landscape Strategy Review

- 15 min: Future Harvest

- 15 min: Break

- 1h: Workshop: Working Groups Round Tables

Policy and Advocacy: Position EIT Food programmes as delivery vehicles for EU policies
Barriers to Adoption: Leverage Future Harvest learnings to scale up an EU-wide programme
Financing a Fair Transition: Identify EU priority financial instruments for EIT Food to deploy

- 10 min: Closing and Next Steps

We'll close the day with a dinner party. We look forward to seeing you there.

Policy Overview: AgRI 2040

The European Commission has launched AgRI 2040, a new strategic framework for research and innovation in agriculture, forestry and rural areas, with a strong focus on resilience, innovation and turning research into practical solutions.

The strategy highlights the importance of strong innovation ecosystems and identifies EIT Food as an ally for agri-food innovation, supporting the pathway from research to real-world application and market uptake. This closely aligns with the RA TDT’s mission to connect research, farmers and other actors across the agri-food system and help turn innovation into practical solutions for more resilient agriculture.