• University Ghent, Prof Stefaan WERBROUCK, Action Chair, stefaan.werbrouck@ugent.be
• National Research Council (CNR), IBE-Institute of BioEconomy, Prof Maurizio LAMBARDI Action Vice Chair, maurizio.lambardi@ibe.cnr.it

(EU COST Action) In vitro culture of woody plants is leaving the academic laboratories and is now being developed in a range of commercial applications in horticulture and forestry that respond to the challenges of climate change and changing global food and wood consumption habits. It is therefore urgent that the research challenges, public acceptance, risk assessment and commercial application are confronted now in order to establish a well informed scientific community, policy makers and market place. This proposal concerns the following challenges, whose solution will have a significant scientific, social and economic impact: How can we overcome recalcitrance in a lot of woody plants? What are the best tools for diagnosis,  sanitation and storing clean stocks? How can the production of elite clones be scaled up at a acceptable price? What are the real risks of this technology and how can the public be informed so that they appreciate and accept the applications ? How can foresters and landowners be persuaded to invest in planting poly-clonal forests? Taking these aspects into account, it seems more than urgent to us to set up a European network to connect the researchers involved from various domains, so that they can share innovations and develop new research strategies, assess the risks of the technology and improve communication with stakeholders and the general public.

FEM Activities: Contribution to WG2 (Diagnosis, sanitation and conservation) and WG5 (Communication, dissemination and technology transfer)