Dates
The 3-day training will take place on December 14, 15, and 16.
Venue
International Center for Agribusiness Research and Education (ICARE).
Address: 74 Teryan Street, 0009 Yerevan (entrance from Teryan Street)
Time
18:30 - 20:30 (this includes a coffee break). For details, see agenda below.
Working language
The working language will be English.
Training participation fee
The training is free of charge
Training description
Bio-economy has recently been emerged as one of the key tools for Sustainable Development, forcing the European Union to adopt a relevant strategic approach and allocate significant funds within the framework of Horizon 2020. One of prime pillars of bio-economy which refers to the exploitation/valorization of biomaterials presently considered as wastes, constitutes the spine of this course. In particular, specific examples of three different approaches, complementary to each other, will provide the audience with the required knowledge and insight for the identification of valuable resources, the implementation of their valorization and exploitation procedures and finally the registration of the final products under the framework of the European Agricultural Products Quality Policy.
Target audience
Though the course is developed in a generalized concept, it presents specific appeal for agro-industry and agribusiness managers as well as to members of governmental agencies or nonprofit organizations having as fundamental consideration the environmental prioritization and sustainable development. Finally, the course presents significant interest for managers of agricultural partnerships, since includes the fundamentals for agri-products certification.
Course design
Lectures, presentation of up-to-date case studies.
Trainer
Dr. Serko A. Haroutounian is professor of the Agricultural University of Athens (AUA) and the Hellenic Open University. His scientific interests concern the FOOD CHEMISTRY (food safety, development of novel functional foods, exploitation-certification of Greek traditional agricultural products) and the VALORIZATION of NATURAL PRODUCTS (isolation-evaluation-uses of bioactive natural compounds, management of agricultural wastes). He has supervised the implementation of twelve doctoral and eighteen master theses. His current research team consists of three postdocs, seven PhD and two MSc students. He has published 124 scientific articles in international journals, 8 books chapters, holds 2 patents and he is the editorial board member of the American Journal of Agricultural Science and Technology, the International Journal of Clinical Nutrition and Dietics, the Journal of Chemistry and the Research and Reports in Medicinal Chemistry. He has implemented 16 research projects (funded by the EU and the Greek government) and currently is involved in the implementation of two projects funded by the EU, two by the Greek Ministry of Education and four funded jointly by the Greek Government and SMEs.
He was the chairman of the board of directors of the Hellenic Agricultural Organization DIMITRA (2013-15), which is the national authority for the Greek: 1) inspections-security assurance of the agricultural products, 2) supervision of the meat and dairy products system, 3) agricultural research (11 Institutes) and 4) agricultural education and training. He has implemented the certification as PDO of numerous agricultural products of Greece and designed-supervised the implementation of the following projects of the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs (HELLENIC AID) concerning the development of rural sector of Armenia:
- Organization-installation and operation of a pesticide residues assessment laboratory
- Organization-installation and operation of a water analyses laboratory
- Foundation of a farmers cluster in Northern Armenia, providing means for cultivation, crops preservation, marketing etc
- Creation-operation of an animal feed production plant in Ararat province.
His LIFE+ research project DIONYSOS on wineries waste management was awarded by the European Commission as one of the best environmental projects of 2008 http://ec.europa.eu/environment/life/publications/lifepublications/bestprojects/documents/bestenv08.pdf His research on the management of the vinification wastes was honoured in the terms international scientific competition “Energy Globe Awards, 2010”.
Registration procedure and deadline
If interested, please register for the training by filling out the registration form (in English) and email it to the training coordinator, Arpine Arakelyan at arparakelyan@gmail.com . Registration deadline is December 9, 18:00. Due to limited seating only shortlisted applicants will be notified for participation.
Contacts
If you have questions, please contact Arpine Arakelyan at arparakelyan@gmail.com, or call at 098 106-105.
Agenda
Date: December 14
Time: 18:30-20:30 - Valorisation of agro-industrial wastes for the production and marketing of cosmetics, food supplements and pharmaceuticals
A valorization streamline approach leading to high added value end products, with special focus on winery wastes and the acquisition of polyphenol rich extracts and products, will be presented. The course will elaborate on a success story that concluded to the production of a cosmetic brand from winery wastes, but will also investigate the intriguing potentials for the development of food additives, nutraceuticals and pharmaceuticals through the same value chain. An overview of the theory, the wastes batch-process, their marketing and some practical applications will be presented.
Date: December 15
Time: 18:30-20:30 Exploitation of biodiversity for the production of novel products of natural origin
The consideration of biodiversity only as a subject of protection constitutes a serious drawback, acting as a threshold for the development of protected areas and the valorization of wild plant species. Despite these problems and misconceptions, biodiversity is a valuable natural resource, renowned for its pharmaceutical and biotechnological applications. This course aspires to provide a more fundamental approach for the valorization of the biodiversity through the presentation-discussion of several key steps and actions for the sustainable exploitation of wild plant populations. The case of Sideritis clandestina, also known as Greek Mountain Tea, will be presented and analyzed. At the end of the course a methodological replication scheme will be provided to the trainees.
Date: December 16
Time: 18:30-20:30 - European schemes for quality assurance and certification of foods and agricultural products
Quality is a key issue for every farmer and consumer, regardless if concerns commodities produced by basic procedures and standards or high-end quality products. Countries of limited Agricultural resources -like Armenia- has to invest and rely on high quality reputation in order to sustain competitiveness and profitability. EU quality schemes identify products and foodstuffs farmed and produced to exacting specifications. Three EU schemes known as PDO (Protected Designation of Origin), PGI (Protected Geographical Indication) and TSG (Traditional Specialty Guaranteed), along with the newly introduced quality scheme for Mountainous Farming Products aim to promote and protect names of quality of agricultural products and foodstuffs. The prerequisites and the step-by-step registration procedures will be presented in detail for all of the above mentioned schemes, utilizing as case studies the recently certified PDO Greek Products “Fava Santorinis”, “Tomataki Santorinis” and “Tsipouro Tyrnavou”.