Location - Dubai

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From November 6 to 12, 2021, the Walloon Agency for Export and Foreign Investment (AWEX) and Wallonia-Brussels International (WBI) organized the Wallonia-Brussels visibility week on the Belgian pavilion at Expo 2020 in Dubai.

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In this context, Haïssam Jijakli, director of the Laboratory of Integrated and Urban Phytopathology at Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech ULiège, coordinating structure of the Smart Aquaponics project, presented the master class “Is sustainable development on our plates?" with the ambition of presenting innovative systems for the production of fruits and vegetables based on soilless soil, such as aquaponics or roof cultivation.

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To respond to issues related to the depletion of biodiversity and land resources, it is crucial to imagine sustainable solutions for food. This event was an opportunity to present the application developed as part of the Smart Aquaponics project, to learn about good aquaponics practices, while having fun.

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Professor Jijakli also presented other innovative solutions for tomorrow's food production:

 

• Arom@home: a hydroponic rack that high-end restaurants can use to grow premium, fresh seedlings all year round.

• Optibiomass: a research project aimed at optimizing the production of plants of interest to the pharmaceutical industry (hemp and euphorbia).

 

In order to bring out new production methods while taking into account the circular economy and production possibilities on the outskirts and in the heart of cities, the WASABI platform has been developed. The latter brings together the Optibiomasse and Smart Aquaponics projects.

 

Professor Jijakli also underlined the importance of collaboration between researchers, of sharing expertise, of adapting research to its environment and of valuing results in order to achieve more respectful, safe and healthy agri-food systems.

 

Sources:

Expo 2020 Dubai - Is sustainable development on our plates? | Wallonia.be

Wab_Dubai by Jean-Willy Lardinoit - Flipsnack

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