The Australia-Brazil Virtual Research Collaboration is a networking strategy that builds on existing and growing relations and common projects between these two countries. It aims to foster and expand joint research on global challenges to increase the pace of knowledge production and its impact, taking advantage of common and complementary interests, expertise and infrastructure. It is run by the Brazilian National Council for State Funding Agencies (CONFAP) and the Australian Department of Education (DE) with the support of other institutions, such as the Australian Academy of Sciences (AAS) and the Brazilian Academy of Sciences (ABC).

The Virtual Research Collaboration events were established following the 2020 Memorandum of Understanding between CONFAP and the Department, which seeks to strengthen Australia and Brazil’s history of research collaboration, including through facilitating the streamlining of joint research funding applications.

This edition will be on Food Security due to the critical and global challenges we are facing in ensuring all people have access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food today.

The research streams to be featured are: 

• Environment and agriculture
• Access to nutrition and supply chains
• Smart farming and innovative food systems

Moreover this edition will have the institutional support of the United Nations Development Program (PNUD).

Themes for 2022 Edition on Food Security

Food security, as defined by the United Nations’ Committee on World Food Security, means that all people, at all times, have physical, social, and economic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food that meets their food preferences and dietary needs for an active and healthy life.

The Australia-Brazil Virtual Research Collaboration edition on Food Security comes at a time of where a changing climate, growing global population, increasing food prices and environment stressors are impacting food security. Science-based innovative solutions, partnering with policy makers, is key to addressing these complex challenges.

The Australia-Brazil Virtual Research Collaboration will have three separate breakout rooms covering the following research streams:

1. Environment and agriculture

In this breakout room participants will debate ways of minimising environmental impacts of agriculture, including reducing greenhouse gases and deforestation, and discussing land management and degradation.

2. Access to nutrition and supply chains

In this breakout room participants will debate themes related to ensuring adequate access to nutrition particularly for low socio-economic and regional communities, considering supply chains, local farms and enterprises, and education initiatives.

 3. Smart farming and innovative food systems

This breakout room will feature discussion on innovative solutions to farming including automation in monitoring and managing farms, use of satellite imagery to understand crop rotations and land usage, and better management of water systems.

• Event Format

The event will be held across two ninety-minute sessions running on consecutive days.

Session 1: It will feature keynote speakers from both Australia and Brazil, as well as from the United Nations Development Program. This will be followed by a panel session for participants to engage on the topics discussed.

Session 2: It will see researchers moving into breakout rooms on the event themes to share information about their current research and hear from other participants.

Ten senior researchers from each country will be selected to participate in the event. Each senior researcher may nominate up to two early to mid-career researchers to also attend.

The event is not designed around an extensive speaker program, but rather focuses on creating connections between researchers and provoking collaborative research ideas.

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• General Draft Agenda 

Session 1: keynote speakers

– Welcome and introductory remarks (10 min)

• Prof. Odir Dellagostin, president of CONFAP
• Mr. Grant Morrison, charge d’affaires of the Australian Embassy in Brazil
• Mrs. Maristela Baioni, assistant resident representative at UNDP Brazil

– Information on requesting funding support for research (10 min)

– Keynote speakers (45 min)

• Professor Phil Brown, Central Queensland University
• Professor Márcia Dieguez Leuzinger, UniCEUB
• Mr Jose Luis Chicoma, UNDP

– Panel discussion from keynote speakers (20 min)

– Close and information on following session (5 min)

>>> Click here to access the slides

>>> Click here to access the participant booklet

Session 2: breakout rooms

– Welcome and overview of breakout rooms (5 min)

– Breakout rooms (60 min)

• Moderated sessions on selected themes

– Presentation breakout rooms by moderators (20 min)

– Close  (5 min)

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• Date

Brazil: 21 and 22 November 2022, 7:00pm (Brasília Time Zone – BRT)

Australia: 22 and 23 November 2022, 9:00am (Australian Eastern Daylight Time – AEDT)

Zoom platform

• Contacts

For Australians: education.brasilia@dfat.gov.au

For Brazilians: projetosconfap.dese@gmail.com