Mission to Wageningen University & Research and stakeholder engagement activities
During July 2026, Prof. Ferdinando Branca, Prof. of Vegetable and Flower Crops at the Dipartimento di Agricoltura, Alimentazione e Ambiente (Di3A) of the University of Catania, met on the 13th of July at the NPEC with Dr. Rick van Zedde, for visiting the phenotyping...
Unlocking wild plant genetics to develop climate-resilient, disease-resistant wheat. Updates from the wheat working group
To secure the future of global wheat production against the growing threats of climate change and evolving agricultural diseases, researchers at HUN-REN Centre for Agricultural Research (ATK) have announced significant breakthroughs in crop wild relative (CWR)...
COUSIN at AgroSemana 2026 with Universidade Católica Portuguesa
On 5 September 2026, COUSIN Partner Universidade Católica Portuguesa (UCP) participated in AgroSemana 2026 – Feira Agrícola do Norte, held at Espaço AGROS in Póvoa de Varzim, Portugal. Through a dedicated stand, UCP presented several ongoing projects contributing to...
Conserving CWRs in situ across Europe: genetic reserves on the way!
COUSIN WP2 partners Rete Semi Rurali and Università degli Studi di Catania (Italy), Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (Greece), Asociación Aprisco (Spain), Federal Office for Agriculture and University of Lausanne (Switzerland) and Universidad Rey Juan Carlos...
COUSIN Project at IHC2026 in Kyoto, Japan
The COUSIN Project was presented at @The 32nd International Horticultural Congress (IHC2026) in Kyoto, providing an important opportunity to disseminate project activities and research results to the international horticultural community. The research group from the...
2: Flagship crops: Brassica – From Wild Relatives to Future Crops
The COUSIN project video, Flagship Crop – Brassica: From Wild Relatives to Future Crops, demonstrates how crop wild relatives can strengthen Brassica crops by improving their resilience, sustainability, and nutritional value, contributing to more resilient,...
1: From Wild Diversity to Resilient Agriculture: 2.5 Years of Progress and Impact
The COUSIN project is helping strengthen Europe's food system by conserving and promoting the use of crop wild relatives (CWRs) to support the development of more resilient and sustainable crops. By unlocking the potential of these wild species, the project...
Barley CWRs presented at Royal Highland Show
COUSIN partners from the James Hutton Institute presented findings from their work in the project on developing novel crosses between CWRs of barley and elite lines at the Royal Highland Show. The event took place in Edinburgh, UK between June 18th-21st 2026 and we...
Presentation and the 8th European EURAF conference in Neuchâtel, Switzerland
At the 8th European conference organized by the European Agroforestry Federation in Neuchâtel, Switzerland, Christian Schöb (Universidad Rey Juan Carlos) presented an invited talk in the session "More than simple: increasing tree and shrub complexity in agroforestry"...
From the field to comics: an educational journey discovering Crop Wild relatives
With the end of the school year, a wonderful educational experience also came to a close, involving students and teaching staff from the Russell Newton institute in a journey to discover biodiversity and the origins of our crops. The initiative, carried out within the...
Three days of activities and synergies for the third annual project meeting
The third COUSIN Annual Meeting took place from 25 to 27 May in Scandicci, Italy, and was hosted by the project partner Rete Semi Rurali. The event brought together representatives from across the consortium to review project achievements, exchange knowledge, and...
Aprisco’s presentation at the Conference on Agroecology organized by the SEAE in Pamplona
Elisa Pizarro Carbonell of Aprisco participated in the roundtable discussion on the topic “Biodiversity Management in Agroecosystems: Keys to Climate Resilience” as part of the Conference on Agroecology organized by the SEAE in Pamplona from April 22 to 25. Elisa...
Inventing the food for the future
As part of the 4th edition of Inventar a Alimentação do Futuro (“Inventing the Food of the Future”), promoted by the Escola Superior de Biotecnologia, several student groups took part in an activity designed to encourage reflection on the links between food, health,...
Art and CWRs at the event organized by Aprisco
On the 26th, the Cousin's partner Aprisco will be holding an event on Crop Wild Relatives in collaboration with the art space ‘Casa Liverata’ in Villanueva de la Vera. The event will bring together artists and the general public (including families with children) to...
Development of Advanced Pea Breeding Lines with Improved Resistance to Ascochyta Blight
On March 25th, the scientific journal Agriculture published an article written by Manuel Alejandro Jiménez-Vaquero, María José Cobos, Carmen María Ruiz-Pastor, and Diego Rubiales entitled "Development of Advanced Pea Breeding Lines with Improved Resistance to...