The METROFOOD-PP 1st Project Progress Meeting took place on line, via Adobe Connect.  The METROFOOD-PP Management Committee members, with their deputies and other colleagues, were due to gather in Freising, Germany, for the 1st Project Progress meeting to be organised by TUM. But, as with many meetings and events, the plans were changed due to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. Therefore, once it became clear that it was neither possible, nor safe, to travel and meet in person, the meeting was moved on-line.

The meeting started with a welcome from the “virtual hosting partner” Michael Rychlik (TUM, Germany) and the Coordinator Claudia Zoani (ENEA), then it was time for discussing:

Block 1 “Building METROFOOD-RI” (led by Claudia Zoani – ENEA, Italy), and

Block 2 “Structuring METROFOOD-RI” (led by Isabel Castanheira – INSA, Portugal).

An open discussion session on criteria for service provision and access took place, and finally it was discussed about 5th IMEKOFOODS Conference (planned in Prague, Czech Republic - 16-18 September 2020) and the organisation of the METROFOOD-PP Consortium Assembly meeting, to be held on November 2020.

In the second day:

Block 3 “Strategic Planning” (led by Nastasia Belc – IBA, Romania), and

WP15 “Dissemination” (led by Lenka Kourimska – CZU, Czech Republic)

were examined in detail,

then open discussions took place on: cross-WP activities, inclusion criteria and definition of KPIs.

During the Block discussions, the respective WP Leaders gave updates on the activities performed during the first 6 months (Dec. 2019 - May 2020) and detailed plans for the activities of the upcoming 6 months (June – Nov. 2020), then the whole Management Committee openly discussed about the results, next steps and possibilities of improvement.

To complete the periodic meetings planned at month 6, on Monday 18 May the 2nd InterMinisterial Group (IMG) meeting will take place, with the participation on the Ministry representatives from Italy, Belgium, Czech Republic, Greece, Portugal, Rep. of North Macedonia, Romania, Slovenia, and Switzerland. The 2nd IMG meeting was supposed to be held in Rome under the organisation of ENEA, while then it was moved to on-line meeting (via Adobe Connect).

It was a pity not to meet in person, and everybody missed the personal contact, as well as the coffee breaks and social lunches and dinners that always represent very important parts of the meetings. Nevertheless, the virtual meeting was very successful and a great way to connect and discuss the project during this unprecedented time. Once more, it has been demonstrated that the most important strengthen and added value is the team!

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