AREFLH is a partner in PhytoPRISM – “A Platform for Supporting a Systems Approach in Pest Risk Management”, a new Horizon Europe project funded by the European Commission under the Farm to Fork Strategy.

From 29–30 September 2026, AREFLH took part in the PhytoPRISM Kick-off Meeting, hosted by the University of Warwick, United Kingdom, marking the official start of the project.
The meeting brought together the consortium partners, including research institutions and stakeholder organisations from eight European countries, to establish the foundations for a collaborative approach to plant pest risk management across agricultural and forest ecosystems.

Addressing plant pest risks through a systems approach

PhytoPRISM aims to develop a comprehensive platform to support decision-making across the entire agri-food value chain. The project will explore how pest management strategies can be better modelled, assessed and optimised, from prevention and early detection to outbreak response, containment, long-term management and mitigation.
By bringing together scientific knowledge, data, modelling approaches and stakeholder expertise, PhytoPRISM seeks to support more coordinated and sustainable approaches to protecting European crops and ecosystems.

Two days of collaboration and project planning

The first day of the meeting included welcome sessions and presentations from the European Commission Project Officer and Policy Officer, as well as an introduction to the Sentry sister project.

The consortium then discussed the project’s overall structure and objectives, with presentations covering communication and dissemination, stakeholder engagement, pre-entry phytosanitary measures and pest entry pathways.

The second day focused on the technical and scientific work that will underpin the PhytoPRISM platform. Partners presented the work on outbreak response preparedness and planning, containment strategies, sustainable management of invading pests, behavioural drivers and economic trade-offs, systems-wide pest modelling, data preparation and model parametrisation, and platform development.

The discussions highlighted the importance of collaboration, co-creation and real-world demonstration in developing solutions that can effectively respond to the challenges posed by emerging and invading pests.

AREFLH’s role in PhytoPRISM

As a project partner, AREFLH will contribute its expertise and stakeholder network within the fruit and vegetable sector, helping to ensure that the project’s activities and outcomes reflect the needs of producers, regional authorities and other stakeholders across Europe.
The kick-off meeting marked an important first step towards building a strong collaboration among the consortium partners. AREFLH looks forward to working with the PhytoPRISM partners over the coming years to develop innovative solutions that can help protect crops, strengthen food systems and support the sustainability and resilience of European agriculture.

AREFLH warmly thanks the University of Warwick and all PhytoPRISM partners for hosting and contributing to the kick-off meeting. We look forward to continuing this work with renewed momentum and shared ambition.

 

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Know more about the project

• Social media information will  be published during the last trimester of 2026
• Read all previous articles written by AREFLH on this project here

 

This project receives funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Programme under Grant Agreement Nr.101287943.