David Wilkinson Brussels, 13 April 2015

EU participation in Expo 2015

EXPO Milano 2015

"Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life"

From 1 May to 31 October 2015

• 145 countries and international organisations

• 94% of World population represented

• 20 million visitors expected

Three Objectives

for the EU participation

Take advantage of the platform provided by Expo to:

• Foster corporate communication under a new approach • Develop a reference for policy making related to the Expo

theme • Contribute to the agenda for growth & jobs

The Expo theme

is at the crossroads of several EU policies

• Agriculture and fisheries • Development Cooperation • Health, safety and nutritious food • Food waste and losses • Food fraud and counterfeiting • Industry, tourism and trade • Environment and climate • Energy and transport • Science, research and innovation

JRC Coordinator

of EU participation

• Science is at the core of the Expo theme

• JRC already supports all relevant policy DGs

• Proximity of the JRC Ispra site: 60km from Expo

Three aspects

to EU participation

• EU Pavilion & Visitor Experience • Steering Committee for the EU Scientific Programme • EU Events Calendar

EU Pavilion

• A prime location opposite to Palazzo Italia and next to Lake Arena

• Ground floor: visitor experience

• First floor: conference facility

EU Visitor Experience:

a new way of communicating

“Growing Europe’s future together for a better world”

• Engaging story on the EU food supply chain

• Focus on the example wheat & bread, founding elements

of European civilization

The aim of the story

• To better engage the public, especially young visitors

• To illustrate that global food security can be achieved through good co-operation, between different parts of the world and between food production and science.

The characters

• The EU will be communicating with the visitors through 2 characters: Alex & Sylvia

• Alex is a farmer, while Sylvia is a scientist

• They will help personalise institutional communication, in particular in social media.

The Steering Committee of the EU

scientific programme for Expo 2015

Launched on 21 March 2014

• Chairman: Franz Fischler

• 11 Experts of high repute: Jo Swinnen (BE), Joachim von Braun (DE), Hannelore Daniel (DE), Maria Helena Saarela (FI), Béatrice Darcy-Vrillon (FR), Peter Heffernan (IR), Claudia Sorlini (IT), Esther Kok (NL), Ewa Jakubczyk (PL), Katarina Hedlund (SE), Tim Benton (UK)

• It is complemented by stakeholder representatives from UN, OECD, the private sector and civil society.

Role of the Steering Committee

• To contribute to the legacy of Expo 2015

• To confirm the EU role as a key player in the debate on global food and nutrition security

• To exploit the opportunity of Expo for a six-months global dialogue

Expected contributions

of the Steering Committee

• A discussion paper with European priorities for research,

development & innovation

• Guidance on the draft programme of EU events

• Organisation of a dialogue with stakeholders and the public during Expo 2015 through conferences, workshops and an online consultation

The Discussion Paper

"The role of research for global food and nutrition security"

The paper identifies 7 key research areas

Launch of online consultation

• Today we have launched an online consultation on the discussion paper

• Contributions are welcome until 1 September

• The consultation is open to all, but we are seeking contributions from the scientific community in particular

EU Events Calendar

• 180 events divided into thematic weeks/days already scheduled

• Different publics: Policy makers, stakeholders, scientists, young people, families, etc.

• Different venues: EU Pavilion, Expo site facilities, Milan universities, JRC, etc.

• Important B2B dimension

EXPO and Ispra

• 'Sylvia's Lab': link between storyline and work of the JRC. Focus will be on food related issues.

• General public visits from Expo site

• School visits

• Media visits

Contact: eu-expo-2015@ec.europa.eu

Thank you for your attention!