CISAS-Centro de Investigação e Desenvolvimento em Sistemas Agroalimentares e Sustentabilidade

Designação:

Centro de Investigação e Desenvolvimento em Sistemas Agroalimentares e Sustentabilidade

Centre for Research and Development in Agrifood Systems and Sustainability

Âmbito e Objetivos do CISAS

CISAS is a multidisciplinary unit of research and development (R&D), based at the Polytechnic Institute of Viana do Castelo, which is focused on agri-food systems in the Mediterranean and sustainability issues. With an interdisciplinary approach combining research, development and innovation (RDI) into an applied science strategy, CISAS is heavily involved in promoting a balanced approach between food science, landscape, agriculture and sustainability studies.

The centre is organized in two main axes, namely Agri-Food Systems and Resource Management and Sustainability. Specifically, the main goals of the centre are to contribute, through a strong community involvement, to:

• Protect and promote the certification of origin of food products through the development of methodologies to guarantee authenticity;

• Develop products and processes in a perspective of health promotion, well-being and safety;

• Contribute to the sustainable development of the industrial tissue through the adoption of innovative practices towards the creation of new products and processes together with the valorisation of industrial co-products as potential functional ingredients;

• Valorise endogenous resources and traditional food products aiming at the preservation of autochthonous species and the protection of biodiversity;

• Improve sustainably agricultural productivity with technologies in precision agriculture and organic farming practices;

• Promote innovation in agrarian systems, in a context of climate change adaptation, particularly in water use efficiency, soil and plant protection and agro-biodiversity.

CISAS intends to be an efficient research Centre, strongly supported by the knowledge and advice of external experts, but simultaneously reinforced with the contribution of the different stakeholders, private or public entities, interested and involved in the main goals of the Centre.

The Integrated Researchers will be associated in a Scientific Council, responsible for the definition of the political and scientific strategies. A Management Board, constituted by the Coordinator and two members that should be representative of the main scientific domains, will implement the defined strategy. An external Advisory Board of four (three of them international) reputed scientists will promote an external view and will contribute to the development of CISAS. The Centre will also be very close to the region, through the establishment of a Stakeholders Committee.

CISAS aims to contribute to these objectives, giving continuity to the research undertaken by its Integrated Researchers, by:

i) Providing and applying to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), tools and technological resources, in the field of smart farming, that will contribute to climate-resilient agricultural systems; development of new methods of detection and control of pests and diseases; ethical and sustainable food production in low density territories; efficient use of water in agrarian systems;

ii) Preservation of agrobiodiversity through the enhancement of endogenous resources - identification, conservation, improvement and propagation of declining genetic resources - capable of responding to different scenarios of climate change;

iii) Development of innovative technologies to improve the quantity or quality of local food products by preserving their healthy, nutritional, nutraceutical and organoleptic characteristics;

iv) Valorisation and recovery of traditional food products perpetuating important elements of local knowledge and cultural heritage.

The past and present researchers’ participation in multiple financed projects, most of them in close collaboration with industry, in the area of ​​processing, valorisation, food safety and consumer acceptability, reinforces the commitment of the centre to promote quality, sustainability and innovation of food companies, in particular.

Comissão Coordenadora

Alexandre Nuno de Vaz Baptista de Vieira e Brito – Coordenador;

Ana Sofia de Sá Gil Rodrigues;

Maria Manuela Lemos Vaz Velho;

CISAS

INVESTIGADORES INTEGRADOS

CISAS

INVESTIGADORES COLABORADORES