H2020 WINETWORK Project: Network for the exchange and transfer of innovative knowledge between European wine-growing regions to increase the sector's productivity and sustainability

A network of experts seeks to combat vineyard diseases. A European network to share information and identify promising solutions to combat vineyard diseases could boost the European wine industry. The network's effectiveness could also inspire other economic sectors facing similar challenges. Although the EU remains a leading wine producer (accounting for 45% of the world's wine-growing areas, 65% of production, and 70% of exports), it nevertheless faces a number of challenges that threaten the sector.

One of these challenges is vineyard diseases, which, given their cross-border nature, can only be effectively addressed through strong cooperation between Member States. "We have observed a decline in vineyard productivity due to diseases such as vine trunk diseases, flavescence dorée, downy mildew, and powdery mildew, among others," explains Eric Serrano, WINETWORK project coordinator and Southwest Director of the French Institute of Vine and Wine. "These diseases are well known in many vineyards and can have a significant economic impact on the sector.

Partly due to the trend toward reducing pesticide use, we need to develop new ideas to address diseases." Indeed, fungicides such as sodium arsenite or 8-hydroxyquinoline have been banned in Europe. Without highly effective treatments, new strategies are needed. Disseminating knowledge. That's why the EU-funded project has focused on strengthening knowledge and dissemination structures at the European level. "We wanted to focus on improving winegrowers' knowledge of diseases; establishing the means to better coordinate European research; and highlighting new ideas," says Serrano.

"We want to see knowledge about disease control reach a much wider audience than just those participating in this project. Winegrowers should also be able to share different types of knowledge, experiences, and approaches." A key outcome is the Knowledge Repository of the project on Flavescence Dorada and Vine Trunk Diseases. This online platform aims to house all existing global knowledge on these topics and has been developed with both researchers and winegrowers in mind. "Stakeholders, such as scientists, advisors, or winegrowers, can contribute to this archive by uploading their videos, images, and documents in a few simple steps," says Serrano. "With many winegrowers testing innovative and sustainable approaches to combating diseases, it is vital that we collect and share these ideas among European countries." The project also developed 16 fact sheets, five end-user brochures, four technical articles, and three video clips to disseminate information on disease control.

The success of this dissemination has led researchers to revive several innovations, which are currently undergoing scientific trials. “The partners are also exploring the possibility of transferring some of the results to other agricultural sectors,” adds Serrano. Facilitating a Healthy Industry. Another success of the WINETWORK methodology has been the effective use of facilitators. The project established a network of ten people (one for each participating wine region) to update winegrowers and researchers with relevant information and help them connect with project participants in other locations. “This has been the key to our success, as it allowed everyone involved in the project to be in constant contact,” says Serrano. “This has been the missing link between science and practice.”

These ten facilitators worked with regional working groups and two scientific working groups, forming a network that transformed scientific results into practical information and materials for end-users. This effective model for facilitating knowledge transfer can be replicated in other projects and other industrial sectors.