KNOWLEDGE CENTER
As the Nordic knowledge center for genetic resources, NordGen participates in and leads research projects, arranges outreach activities and shares information with relevant stakeholders concerning conservation and sustainable use of genetic resources important for food and agriculture. NordGen is also participating in several Nordic, European and International networks and commissions.
Our most important tools for exchanging knowledge within the Nordic countries are our working groups and councils. The different working groups of NordGen Plants, the working group and the council of NordGen Forest and the council of NordGen Farm Animals are vital advisory groups consisting of experts within each field from all the Nordic countries. The Board of NordGen also provides valuable input and knowledge exchange. Information is disseminated through our website nordgen.org, social media, project reports, press releases, arranged events, network meetings and targeted e-mails.
Followers Social Media | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|
Instagram | 2.470 | 3.014 |
Facebook | 3.789 | 4.300 |
LinkedIn | 1.994 | 2.732 |
Twitter | 1.610 | 1.951 |
In 2023, NordGen continued developing its competence within digitalization considerably. Video online meetings and seminars has increased the bridgebuilding over country borders, both internally and externally. Externally, our digital competence has enabled us to reach a wider audience that can take part in important knowledge sharing events concerning genetic resources without having to spend time and resources on travelling. It is expected that NordGen will continue to use these digital options at future events.
During the year the work with the new website continued. The site is now easier to navigate, more visually appealing and in accordance with the new European web accessibility rules. It also has, apart from a Scandinavian and English version, a Finnish version enabling us to reach members of a very important target group in their native tongue.
Table 1: Social media statistics, numbers from the month December.
The NordGen Day
On June 16 2023, NordGen celebrated its 15th anniversary with "The NordGen Day" together with invited guests to the head quarter in Alnarp. The program included tours of the main building with the laboratories, excursions of the greenhouse and field cultivations, festivities and informations stands on NordGen's entire operations. The day was successful with about 100 participating guests.
Some of the highlights during the NordGen Day: field excursion of flax cultivation, information stands on NordGen activities, presentation of the Nordic potato collection and the welcome introduction.
Other Visits and External Events
The new main office in Alnarp was inagurated in 2022, these new facilites offers new opportuinities for receiving short term and long term visitors. In 2023, we noted a continued high interest in visiting NordGen. During the year there were many visits from journalists, politicians, students, companies as well as other European and international genebanks. In 2023 NordGen also organized several workshops, one such example was a seed laboratory workshop for genebanks in Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria and Zambia, in collaboration with the Crop Trust projcect "Seeds for Resilience". We also designed longer training programs for genebanks colleagues in Thailand and Ukraine (read more about the last example in Projects).
During 2023, NordGen staff also participated in several external events by other organizers to inform about our operations. For example we were present during the Nordic Council Session in Oslo and at the Icelandic democracy festival "Fundur fólksins" in Reykjavik.
In the following pages, our different sections and their activities during 2023 will be introduced.
