The 5th GeneBEcon Consortium Meeting brought partners and stakeholders together in Berlin to assess progress, strategize for the project’s final phase, and explore ways to maximize the impact of its results. Highlights included insightful presentations from project partners, updates from the Stakeholder Advisory Board (SAB), and sessions on advancing the project’s Key Exploitable Results. Partners also refined the NGT Transition Action Plan in a Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) Workshop facilitated by XPRO Consulting. This plan outlines short-, medium-, and long-term actions to boost awareness of new genomic techniques (NGTs) and counter misinformation across diverse stakeholders, including farmers, the food industry, policymakers, and NGOs.

Participants also engaged in an Exploitation Workshop with external advisors and the Horizon Booster Service, focusing on strategies to sustain the project’s impact beyond its conclusion. The consortium’s work on systems mapping was another focal point, offering frameworks to connect GeneBEcon’s research with policy pathways and practical applications in sustainable agriculture and plant breeding.