It is our great pleasure to invite you to participate in the International Symposium on Climate-Resilient Agri-Environmental Systems (IS-CRAES) organized by the Climate-Resilient Agri-Environmental Systems ( CRAES) group in University College Dublin (UCD).  This symposium will be held at the Talbot Hotel, Dublin 4, Ireland from 19 to 22 May 2020. The theme of this symposium is “Contributing to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN-SDGs) through the Development of Climate-Resilient Agri-Environmental Systems”. Addressing the central goals of the UN-SDGs requires a multi-disciplinary approach involving academic, industrial and policy-related collaborations for scientific knowledge advancement and exploration of ways for their practical implementation .

Globally climate change is one of the most important issues facing the agricultural sectors and these, in turn, contribute significantly to climate change through enhanced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Other environmental concerns associated with agriculture include increased  water, air and soil pollution.  Minimising potential impacts represents  a big challenge for  the agri-food sector, given the need to significantly enhance food production.

To meet the dual challenge of enhancing food production whilst minimising the environmental impact in line with the UN-SDGs,  cooperation with stakeholders from both the public and private sectors  is required. This will also requires significant steps in the development and adoption of  technologies with a low carbon/GHG footprint throughout the lifecycle/supply chain.

Given that agriculture is also a major contributor to GHG emissions, they could play a significant role in meeting GHG mitigation targets but this needs to be achieved in a sustainable way without compromising agricultural productivity. This is particularly challenging for Ireland  where  agriculture contributes significantly to the economy but is, in turn, a major contributor to national GHG emissions.

This symposium will provide  a platform to discuss the scientific and technical aspects of the range of cross-cutting issues associated with the environmental impact of agricultural, including public perception, regulatory and socio-economic factors.

We also feel proud of welcoming you to Ireland, the green island in the North Atlantic, with  a fascinating mix of the very old and very new, of city life and country life, and the vibrant city of Dublin, which is the Europe’s fourth most popular city and one of the friendliest capital cities in the world.