28/04/09. Derio. A conference organised by the food cluster of the Basque Country to attract new members took place last week. During the conference, the more than 30 companies attending the event were informed about the aim being pursued by the Cluster as well as about the initiatives and activities which have already been launched.

Most of the companies attending expressed an interest in joining the group; this was regarded as good news for the consolidation of this body which has set itself the target of securing more 80 associates by the end of the year.

The Food Cluster was set up last year on the private initiative of a group of 12 companies within the framework of the Strategic and Quality Plan of the Basque Country's food industry 2008-2011.

Its founding aim seeks to enhance competitiveness through co-operation between the different companies that comprise it, and its specific aims include: support for the processes to observe and monitor the market and consumption; improvement in the management of companies and leadership; the promotion of collaborative projects within the cluster in the matter of research and development, market and internationalisation.

The plan is permanently open and any company in the food sector which would like to receive information or apply to join the cluster can do so by writing to the following e-mail address: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Phanerogams or higher plants like Zostera noltii (eelgrass) constitute a group of plants characterised by an external structure in which the root, stem, leaves, flowers and fruits with their seeds can be clearly distinguished. Although it is basically a terrestrial group, some species have adapted to the underwater environment where they play an important role as sediment stabilizers and primary producers.

Furthermore, its dense formations or meadows constitute one of the most productive marine ecosystems as they are an indirect source of food and a place of refuge or breeding ground for many organisms, besides participating actively in the nutrient cycle.

The dramatic reduction in the surface area occupied by different marine phanerogams observed worldwide in the second half of the 20th century in particular, plus the acknowledged importance of the ecological functions fulfilled by their meadows in estuary and coastal ecosystems, have led to deep concern among scientists and to the carrying out in recent years of many projects designed to re-establish these marine meadows.

The transplanting of adult plants is one of the various methodologies to revive a meadow. Through the specific case of the estuaries in the Basque Country, a piece of work conducted by AZTI-Tecnalia presents a methodology to carry out a suitable selection of a candidate zone for receiving the transplants, since this selection is regarded as one of the key points for achieving success in this type of action.

Right now, the only phanerogam that forms marine meadows in the Basque Country is Zostera noltii, with the presence of intertidal populations in three of the 12 Basque estuaries (Oka, Lea and Bidasoa). After analysing and assessing the different environments offered by the remaining 9 estuaries as well as the ecological state of their waters, it was concluded that the estuary that offers the greatest chances of success for the transplanting of this phanerogam is that of Butroe, followed by Oria and Urola.

Read the study in the Revista de Investigación Marina (Journal of Marine Research)

On the 18 of March, Itziar Tueros,  researcher at AZTI-Tecnalia receibed the CAF-Elhuyar prize for the general information article based on a PhD.

"Bizkaiko Labe Garaien lorratzak Sopelanako hondartzetan" (Traces of the Altos Hornos de Vizcaya on the beaches of Sopelana) was the winner article, Altos Hornos de Vizcaya having been the emblematic blast furnace of the city of Bilbao. More concretely, the author studied the legacy of the Altos Hornos de Vizcaya as observed on the beaches of nearby Sopelana, dumped in its day by the now defunct blast furnace. The Jury highlighted the manner in which the writer brought the results of her PhD to the reader in a comprehensible and readable manner, as if it were a story, which was very well written and organised and highly enjoyable to read. "She has undertaken a marvellous work of information; together with an elegance in the choice and presentation of illustrations" they said. In fact, the Panel emphasised the level of exigency in this category, given that it involves complex work of publishing information on specialised topics. This is why they insisted in the merit of the research work presented.

The jury

This year's CAF-Elhuyar awards had two panels of judges. On the one hand, the General Jury to evaluate the works of information and journalism, and made up of jurors: Ms Itziar Alkorta (Civil Law lecturer and expert in bioethics), Mr Txema Pitarke (physicist and Director of the CIC NanoGUNE Centre), Mr Juan Ignacio Perez Iglesias (biologist and ex-Rector of the EHU-UPV), Ms Rosa Diez Urrestarazu (journalist and Director of Euskadi Irratia) and Mr Jose Mari Rodriguez Ibabe (engineer and current President of the Elhuyar Foundation,). Apart from this, the members of the panel for deciding on the awards for scientific writing for young people were Ms Teresa Irastorza (Director of the School of Writers), Mr Jesus Mari Olaizola "Txiliku" (writer, lecturer in the field of biology and corrector of Basque) and Mr Josu Waliño (project manager for the Elhuyar Foundation).

Award-winning articles will be published in the May issue of the Elhuyar Zientzia eta Teknologia journal, in a special supplement.

Further information: Basque Research

 

The Basque AZTI-Tecnalia Centre and the Catalan Institut de Recerca i Tecnologia Agroalimentàries -IRTA (Food Research and Technology Institute) have signed a joint working framework agreement the goal of which is to unite and complement the technological capacities of both bodies in the field of food and fisheries research and innovation, so as to enable R+D+i projects on the development of new products and the transfer of these to the market.

Given the current situation of the agri-food sector, consumer demand and market globalisation requires robust investment in R+D+i. This business cooperation agreement will mean the joint annual availability of a group of more than 900 professionals involved in R+D+i and with a total budget of 56 million euros (16 M€ AZTI+ 40 M€ IRTA) to develop new technologies and research and innovation projects in order to achieve new and innovative products that enable, in turn, the enhancement of competitiveness of businesses.

Besides the cooperation in the scientific sphere, both bodies will also unite their sale networks in order to achieve the transfer and marketing of developed technologies more efficiently and to jointly undertake accessing public and private investment funds. They are also considering creating synergies that will enhance the range of services that each provides to businesses and government bodies related to agricultural food.

Translation: Basque Research