PROTECT ITN VIRTUAL WORKSHOP 2 IN THE ERA OF COVID-19 – GOPI TALARI
The objective of PROTECT ITN was to train a new generation of creative, entrepreneurial and innovative ‘Early-Stage Researchers’ (ESRs) in food safety and microbial risk assessment concerning climate change. I am glad to be one of the members of a team of 8 ESR’s in the ITN project. All of us are midway through our PhDs amidst the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. There is an increasing need for a rapid and widespread vaccination essential to help contain the further spread of the deadly virus. Across the world, new norms such as physical distancing, wearing masks and frequent hand-washing have emerged. These measures have proven fool proof in combating the pandemic. As a result, unlike the previous hybrid workshop 1, which was held partly on-site and mostly online, workshop 2 was held completely virtual via zoom meeting. This workshop 2, entitled as food chain environmental sustainability, went for two days virtually. Participants were limited to 24 with the ESRs and supervisors from PROTECT, including a few more participants from the partner institutes.
Project manager, Eleanor, distributed the schedule two weeks prior to the workshop. All participants were advised to complete the e-learning courses before the day one workshop. Free e-learning courses were provided to address life cycle thinking and approaches from different perspectives and on various levels. The course material was well designed in the form of short videos and materials to give a glimpse of life cycle thinking from the perspective of business decision-making and policy-making.
On day one of the workshop, Professor Enda Cummins introduced himself and the workshop’s agenda, followed by a welcome presentation by Professor Almudena Hospido, the workshop coordinator. The morning session consisted of life cycle initiatives, environmental sustainability and LCA on the food sector. Unfortunately, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic barred us from visiting Santiago in person. The first day ended with a social activity, the Pilgrim Way ‘Camiño de Santiago’, a local guide arranged a virtual tour via videos, pictures and it was delightfully remarkable. The virtual tour guide seemed to possess an immense knowledge of the cathedrals. It was marvellous, and we all missed not being present there in person. I definitely wish to visit Santiago when the days are back to normal.
Day two of the workshop consisted of lectures and an interactive session on the environmental sustainability of dairy farms. Before the lunch break, an interesting open session was conducted on how sustainability is managed. Here we formed groups and discussed environmentally sustainable products in food safety, especially the dairy industry. In my team, ESR Rhea came up with a packaging material in the dairy sector, examined it, and gathered relevant information. Finally, all the groups presented their ideas in a short presentation from a consumer awareness perspective.
In the afternoon, another interesting and my favourite session on data mining from KU Leuven took place. Most of the ESRs are interested in applying data mining to their projects and had numerous queries during the sessions. Despite being virtual, the session was engaging and everyone got the chance to ask questions smoothly without any technical interceptions. Overall, the virtual zoom setup of the PROTECT workshop 2 sessions went superb given the current COVID situation. However, still, we dearly miss conference venues, socialising with colleagues and the presenters. As the vaccination rolls out across the world, we are optimistic and hopeful to see life getting back to normal.
