Facilitating knowledge exchange to help the horticultural sector meet global challenges

学术研究往往不能有效地应对行业当前的挑战和需求。对于园艺部门来说，这尤其是一个问题，在园艺部门，植物科学的进步不能保证转化为有益于利益相关者(如工业、政府、教育机构、非政府组织)的成果。造成这种情况的原因包括缺乏有效地将研究转化为适用知识的方案，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界之间分享知识和经验，我们可以确保研究直接应对这些挑战，有效的知识转让刺激研究，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。该项目的主要目的将是促进思想、经验和知识的交流，以推动该部门向前发展，迎接当今的挑战。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。我会组织研讨会，在这三年中每年在五个关键领域举行：树木栽培、花卉栽培、宽容栽培、果树栽培和采后生理。这些讲习班的目的将是向企业传播学者的研究成果，并鼓励双方开展合作。我还将与该网络联系，鼓励工业界进行农场示范，让学术界了解当前的农艺实践和技术发展。最后，建立一个网站和在线资源数据库将扩大对研究的获取，并鼓励更广泛地参与该部门。这三年的结果有望产生更大的研究影响，学术机构以行业为重点的研究增加，案例资助的博士学位增加，有才华的研究生进入该部门的刺激，以及研究成果的传播增加，以便能够按行业快速转化为实践或产品。该项目的最终目标是通过以上所有内容提出建议，向政策制定者通报园艺的现状，以及应对该部门未来挑战所需采取的行动。

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.