HortResearch4Future – how can we respond to societal demand?

The planet and its inhabitants are challenged with unprecedented, man-made threats such as e.g. climate change, resource scarcity, biodiversity loss or massive food security and food safety uncertainty.
How can horticultural research respond? Should it at all, or would it be more promising to direct efforts to other sectors for enhancing quality of life? Clarification of this question is approached by reflecting about four sub-questions: i) What is the role of science-based progress for well-being? ii) What is the role of horticulture with regard to well-being? iii) How do pressing actual societal challenges relate with the particularities of horticulture? iv) How may horticultural science contribute to the breakthroughs needed for responding to the mentioned societal challenges? Historically, impressive progress has been achieved by science-based innovation, while this went often to the expense of the long-term overall system sustainability.
Truly inclusive research approaches are needed.
Horticulture is key for societal well-being (e.g. by disposing a healthy diet and intact landscapes). Also, horticultural particularities may offer promising perspectives in response to global challenges (e.g. a high added value per invested resource unit in response to the resource crisis, or great diversity in response to the biodiversity crisis). Innovative food production approaches, such as e.g. agroforestry, permaculture or vertical farming, relate all with horticulture and are increasingly discussed as an opportunity for the transformation needed.
However, a research-based innovation push is needed for making their ample scale out possible.
Inclusive approaches exist for avoiding innovation traps and supporting innovation scale out (e.g. agroecology), but research and innovation money flows do not yet represent this need properly.
Also, undogmatic, problem focused partnerships between public and private actors are needed for capitalizing on synergies and strengthening impact.
Horticulture offers comparative advantages as playground for developing the needed inclusive research and innovation thinking.
Horticultural science is well placed to perform as door opener for other agrifood sectors in developing solutions for the transformation needed.
Let’s grab this chance!

IV International Symposium on Horticulture in Europe – SHE2021

L. Bertschinger

horticultural science, innovation trap, research cooperation and partnership

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2021.1327.1