Agroecology at the center of events

AGRO works on topics that are important to many - even outside the university and the field of agriculture. That is why our research is getting a lot of attention. It is a privilege, and I believe many university environments are envious. In addition to our own self-understanding, it will also have an impact on the possibilities for grants in the coming years. Eg. the Folketing decided to give 1.5 billion to green research “…among other changes in agriculture..” as the first thing in this year’s financial law negotiations and similarly, the Novo Nordisk Foundation has allocated billions for research on topics that are relevant to us. The same will apply to other of the usual "boxes". Our research area right now is more central than it has ever been!

Unfortunately, we have also received negative attention on the same background. I have no doubt that the errors in the beef report would not have received the same attention if it had not been a topic on which everyone has an opinion. There were errors in the procedures, and AGRO researchers have been targeted by the media. But similar errors could probably be found at all institutes with just a little contact with reality. While we equip ourselves with contracts and checklists for forewords, I think it is really gratifying that neither the beef report nor the review of DCA reports 5 years back has revealed problems in terms of research integrity or honesty. Contracts and checklists are practical and necessary to ensure transparency, but integrity is an ultimate requirement. We support from the researchers who have been dragged through the mud for the procedural errors in these cases, well done for keeping you eye on the professionalism of the actual research. There has not been any pointed fingers towards the research part.

Researchers with government duties will also be able to recognize the attention of officials and ministries alike. But for the government area there is a quality management system (iso-certified) which ensures that there should never be any doubt about the procedures - see a description (in Danish only) of the system here. When we decided a year ago to introduce the system of governmental authority at ST, the enthusiasm may not have been great - but in retrospect, it was the right decision!