Background
The ongoing global change will affect agriculture in many ways:
it is increasingly affecting the climate in many regions around the world. Rising temperatures and scarcer precipitations raise concerns, amongst others about the sustainability of productions, evolution of growth periods, sensitivity of crops to stress and diseases. Moreover, demographic pressure is increasing, in particular in tropical and sub-tropical regions, more sensitive to climatic variations. These trends will lead to more and more conflicts involving water uses (irrigation versus drinking water production or freshwater ecosystems maintenance, sanitation etc.) and food production. This appeals to the development of agricultural practices equally or more productive than the current ones, with less induced pollution of soils and water bodies.
In Europe, the current Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) appears obsolete. Designed in a period where self-sufficiency was the main driver, and subject to various adjustments afterwards, the CAP is currently inappropriate, for economical, political and environmental reasons, and will be profoundly re-shaped during the coming years.
There is a current focus in the public and political debates, at least in Europe, on source reduction of plant protection products (PPP), which may not be sufficient to address and manage the impacts and risks generated by the use and transfers of PPP in air, soil, water, feed and food...

Aims and scope

To set the scene: identify issues at stake, describe the current status and trends, assess risks to ecosystems or farmers. Discuss governance, policy, plans for risk reduction, approaches and tools for risk management.
Present and discuss the PPP risk assessment approach, its limitations (e.g. spatial scale, multi-stress situations), the links with other regulatory texts such as the water framework directive, the use of models ...
Present and discuss researches around PPP design, developing (integrated) practices and innovative technologies which could or are intended to affect the abovementioned issues. Put these in context and question their relevance (e.g. by using life-cycle assessment approaches, or ecosystem services evaluation).
Discuss scenarios for the future and research/development needs.

Though the main focus of the conference would be on European issues and perspectives, communications from Mediterranean, African or other tropical areas are welcome.

Scientific program - abstract submission
Platform presentations and posters will be organised in consistent thematic sessions by the scientific committee. Submitted abstract should mention whether the authors wish a platform or a poster presentation. The final decision will be made by the scientific committee. Platform presentations will last 15 min.

Tentative list of sessions:

PPP fate, transformation
Monitoring tools and strategies, trends (water, soils ...)
Ecological risk assessment
Models and information systems
Risk management: risk indicators, technical aspects, economical approaches ...

Abstract submission
The deadline for submission is May 24th. The scientific program will then be made available in June, and authors be advised on platform or poster requirements.

Scientific committee

Anna Barra CARACCIOLO (CNR IRSA, I)
Merete GRUNG (NIVA, N)
Erwin W.M. ROEX (Deltares, NL)
Paul van den BRINK (Alterra, NL)
Marc BABUT (Cemagref, F)
Nikolai FRIBERG (NERI, Dk)
Véronique GOUY (Cemagref, F)
Dr Richard SHORE (CEH, UK)
Stéphanie ROULIER (ANSES, F)
Benoit REAL (ARVALIS, F)
Nicolas DOMANGE (ONEMA, F)
Kees ROMIJN (UIPP, Bayer Crop Science, F)

Contact: euraqua@cemagref.fr
Call also available at PEER website

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