Facilitating knowledge exchange to help the horticultural sector meet global challenges

通常，学术研究不能有效地解决当前的挑战和行业需求。对于园艺部门来说，这尤其是个问题，因为植物科学的进步并不能保证转化为利益相关者（如工业、政府、教育机构、非政府组织）的有益成果。造成这种情况的原因包括缺乏将研究有效转化为适用知识的项目，以及利益攸关方之间的沟通和协调有限。通过在学术界和企业之间分享知识和经验，我们可以确保研究直接解决这些挑战，有效的知识转移刺激研究，并迅速转化为新的实践和技术。我正在提议一个为期三年的项目，旨在弥合学术界和工业界之间的差距。该项目的主要目的是促进思想、经验和知识的交流，以推动该行业向前发展，迎接现代挑战。为了实现这一目标，我将与工业界合作，确定当前的问题和他们的研究需求，建立一个由学者、研究人员、技术人员和从业人员组成的网络，每年讨论工业界提出的问题。我将组织为期三年的研讨会，每年在五个关键领域举办一次；树木栽培，花卉栽培，蔬菜栽培，果实栽培和采后生理学。这些研讨会的目的是将学术界的研究成果传播给企业，并鼓励双方合作。我还将与该网络保持联系，鼓励工业界在农场进行示范，让学者们了解当前的农业实践和技术发展。最后，制作一个网站和在线资源数据库将扩大获得研究的机会，并鼓励更广泛地参与该部门。这三年的结果有望带来更大的研究影响，学术机构增加以行业为重点的研究，增加由case资助的博士人数，刺激有才华的研究生进入该行业，并增加研究成果的传播，以便迅速转化为行业的实践或产品。该项目的最终目标是通过以上所有的结果产生建议，告知政策制定者关于园艺的现状，以及应对该部门未来挑战所需的行动。

Often academic research is not aligned to effectively address the current challenges and needs of industry. This is particularly an issue with regards to the horticultural sector, where advances in plant sciences are not guaranteed to be transformed into beneficial outcomes for stakeholders (e.g. industry, government, educational institutions, NGOs). Reasons for this range from a shortage of programmes that effectively translate research into applicable knowledge and limited communication and coordination across stakeholders. By sharing knowledge and experience between academics and businesses, we can ensure that research directly addresses these challenges, with effective knowledge transfer stimulating research and being swiftly translated into new practices and technologies. I am proposing a three year project that aims to bridge the gap between academia and industry. The main aims of this project will be to catalyse an interchange of ideas, experience and knowledge that can drive the sector forward to meet its modern day challenges. To achieve this I would work with industry to identify current issues and their research needs, build a network of academics, researchers, technicians and practitioners to discuss issues raised by industry on a annual basis. I would organise workshops that take place annually over the three years in five key areas; arboriculture, floriculture, olericulture, fruticulture and postharvest physiology. The purpose of these workshops would be to disseminate research by academics to businesses and encourage collaboration between the two parties. I would also liaise with the network to encourage on-farm demonstrations by industry for academics to keep them in touch with current agronomic practices and technological developments. Finally, the production of a website and database of online resources would widen access to research and encourage broader engagement with the sector. The result of the three years would hopefully be greater research impact, an increase in industry focussed research by academic institutes, an increase in CASE-funded PhDs, stimulation of talented postgraduates entering the sector and an increase in the dissemination of research findings to allow for quick translation into practices or products by industry. The ultimate goal of this project is through all of the above to result in the generation of recommendations to inform policy makers as to the current status of horticulture, and to the actions needed to meet the future challenges within the sector.