Within the activities LIVINGAGRO is implementing during its last project year, the Business to Business brokerage events (B2Bs) are taking place with the aim of presenting, transferring and capitalizing the innovations which have been developed and tested in several Mediterranean countries.

In addition to the two B2Bs organized in Greece in 2021, the project partnership is now working on the Lebanese and Jordan events. With particular reference to Lebanon, the Lebanese Agricultural Research Institute (LARI) organized already two B2B events in cooperation with the Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Chania (MAICH) and the Regional Forest Agency for Land and Environment of Sardinia (Fo.Re.S.T.A.S.): a first one focusing on to Multifunctional Olive systems (LIVINGAGRO Living Lab 1 - LL1) and a second one related to Grazed Woodlands (LIVINGAGRO Living Lab 2 - LL2).

The first event (LL1) was organized by LARI with the support of MAICH at the SmallVille Hotel, Badaro on July 21, 2022. During this event, face-to-face presentations, round tables and one-to-one meetings took place starting from a list of eight innovations which were selected from the project Master Catalogue prepared by the LIVINGAGRO consortium. The innovations were presented by the corresponding researchers/innovators from Greece, Italy and Lebanon and focused on:

• intercropping of olive with other crops such as grasses and legumes and their impact on soil characteristics
• olive fruit production and olive oil quality
• Zen Irriware precision technique for irrigation management;
• technique of digital analysis of the size, shape and structure of the fruit to determine the identity of olive cultivars;
• method of a DNA-based diagnostic test to document the origin of the cultivar for olive oil;
• use of the FT-NIR technique to assess the quality of olive oil;
• use of Syrian sumac in the preparation of table olives.

In the afternoon session, one to one meetings were organized and round tables sessions took place to discuss the challenges of the sector with relevant stakeholders discussing also about appropriate solutions.

Research centers, agricultural policy makers, olive growers and other interested stakeholders in olive and olive oil sector participated in this event which highlighted the latest scientific research related to multifunctional olive systems contributing at the encouragement of cooperatives and agricultural operators to adopt innovative agricultural practices and cooperate with each other.

The second Lebanese B2B event (LL2) took place at the Hotel Le Royal Dbayeh on October 5, 2022 (LL2) and was organized by LARI with the support of Forestas.

During this event, onsite and online innovations were presented by a professional panel of local and foreign speakers introducing the latest scientific research and innovations related to grazed woodlands that can contribute to the development and growth of the sector. The main topics of the event did include innovations related to:

• adaptive grazing management;
• reconciling grazing with trees;
• seed mixtures for quality pasture;
• shade tolerant species that could be used in grazed woodlands;
• remote sensing techniques to monitor oak forests;
• thinning and pruning trees in silvopastoral systems;
• land imprinter for rangelands rehabilitation coupled with rangeland species seeder;
• hydroponic system to produce fodder.

In the afternoon, round tables were organized and open discussions related to possible near-future collaborations between the stakeholders community and innovators took place. Moreover, several one-to-one meetings to connect stakeholders with the project representatives and the innovators were held.

In the conclusive part of the day, the LIVINGAGRO Project manager for LARI, Peter Moubarak, presented the newly launched project ICT platform pointing out the related opportunities and free services available for users registering to the availavble platform Living Labs on multifunctional olive systems and grazed woodlands.

Farmers, entrepreneurs, local administrators, researchers, private companies, policy makers and multiple stakeholders interested in agroforestry in the field of grazed woodlands participated to this event with a strong involvement and motivation towards the creation of a community through the facilitating project ICT platform.

A third B2B event focusing on multifunctional olive systems (LL1) is taking place on November 15, 2022 from 9:00 A.M. to 5:30 P.M. local time at Gefinor Rotana Hotel, Hamra, Beirut.