Drone solutions for forestry presented to the Lithuanian Forestry Agency
In May, Vilnius hosted an international meeting of partners of the EU initiative ICAERUS to discuss the progress of the project and present innovative drone solutions to representatives of the Lithuanian Forestry Agency. The event brought together scientists, technology developers, public sector and forestry experts seeking to apply unmanned aerial vehicle technologies in agriculture, forestry, and environmental monitoring.
What is the ICAERUS project?
ICAERUS is a European Union-funded project that aims to promote the use of drones, data analysis, and digital solutions in agriculture, forestry, and rural development. The project focuses not only on technology development, but also on real-world use cases that meet the needs of the public sector, farmers, and foresters.
The project is being implemented by a broad network of European partners: universities, research centers, technology companies, start-ups, and public institutions. All partners are working together to ensure that innovations are practical, economically viable, and environmentally friendly. You can find out more about the project and its partners on the official website: https://icaerus.eu/
Lithuanian use case: forestry and biodiversity
One of the most important elements of the ICAERUS project is the Lithuanian forestry and biodiversity use case. This use case focuses on how data collected by drones can help to:
- monitor forest conditions and changes in real time;
- identify signs of disease, pests, or climate change;
- assess biodiversity and habitat conditions;
- plan sustainable forest management and logging;
- reduce human resource and field work costs.
During the meeting in Vilnius, these solutions were presented to the Lithuanian Forestry Agency, discussing the possibilities of integrating them into everyday forestry practices and national monitoring systems. A detailed description of the Lithuanian use case is available here:
https://icaerus.eu/use-cases/forestry-and-biodiversity-uc/
ICAERUS platform – unified access to innovation
An important part of the project is the ICAERUS digital platform, which acts as a central hub for drone solutions, services, and knowledge. On the platform, users can:
- find and compare drone solutions for different sectors;
- learn about real-life use cases in Europe;
- assess the maturity and applicability of technologies;
- establish contacts with service providers and technology developers;
- share experiences and best practices.
The platform is particularly useful for the forestry sector as a tool for finding solutions and making decisions, helping to accelerate innovation and support data-driven decisions. More about the platform:
https://icaerus.eu/icaerus-platform/
A step towards smarter forestry
The ICAERUS partner meeting in Vilnius and the presentation of solutions to the Lithuanian Forestry Commission mark an important step towards digitized, sustainable, and data-driven forestry in Lithuania. Drone technology, combined with advanced analysis platforms, opens up new opportunities to protect forests more effectively, enhance biodiversity, and adapt to the challenges of climate change.
The BioSolFarm project was presented in Kaunas to a broader audience
On 14 May 2025, the BioSolFarm project (Renewable Energy Solutions for Farms in the South Baltic Region, Interreg South Baltic Programme) was presented in Kaunas to a broader audience, contributing to a wider discussion on innovation in the agri-food sector.
The event brought together local and international participants — including project partners, SME farmers, local residents, policymakers, public institutions, educational organizations, agricultural agencies, rural development associations, the Institute of Economic and Rural Development, and agricultural chambers. This diverse composition enabled cross-fertilization of knowledge and perspectives between BioSolFarm partners and cooperatives of farmers, residents, and public entities.
During the session, the project team introduced the project’s objectives, activities, and early insights. This was followed by discussions on how renewable energy, digital tools, and cooperative approaches can strengthen farm resilience, energy efficiency, and sustainability. The exchange supported peer learning and stakeholder dialogue, linking practical farm needs with emerging solutions from the South Baltic region.
Overall, the Kaunas session served as an important learning activity and dissemination opportunity within BioSolFarm — fostering networking, cross-border cooperation, and collaboration between actors working toward greener and smarter agriculture. The event marks another step toward supporting a more sustainable and resilient agricultural sector in the South Baltic region.
BIOSOLFarm: Green Energy in Agriculture – Innovations, Support, and Policy
The role of agriculture in the energy transition is becoming increasingly important. Rising electricity, fertilizer, and fuel costs highlight the need for energy efficiency and independence in the farming sector. To address these challenges and explore opportunities, BIOSOL Farm is organizing the event “Green Energy in Agriculture – Innovations, Support, and Policy”, which will take place on March 5 in Rietavas, Lithuania.
The event will bring together farmers, policymakers, researchers, and industry experts to discuss the latest developments in green energy adoption in agriculture. Participants will have the opportunity to gain insights into technological advancements, funding opportunities, and regulatory changes affecting the sector.
Key topics to be covered:
- Innovations that enhance energy production and efficiency on farms
- Financial support available for green energy investments
- Evolving regulatory frameworks for agricultural energy use
- Practical examples and case studies from farm visits
Experts from the BIOSOL Farm international project, along with policymakers and farmers who have successfully integrated renewable energy solutions, will share their expertise and experiences. The event will include discussions, knowledge exchange, and on-site visits to farms implementing innovative energy solutions.
This event provides a valuable opportunity for stakeholders to connect, learn, and explore strategies for a more sustainable and resilient agricultural sector.
Event details:
Date: March 5, 2024
Time: 10:00 AM
Location: Rietavas Tourism and Business Information Center, Parko g. 5, Rietavas
Duration: ~3 hours + farm visits
RURBANIVE launches Open Call to transform rural-urban connectivity
Offers up to €100,000 per project in funding for innovative solutions!
In an effort to fuel the growth of digital solutions for rural-urban synergies and to maximize project impact, RURBANIVE has officially launched its Open Call for projects. With a budget of €600,000, RURBANIVE’s Open Call aspires to fund innovative and disruptive ideas that will help transform communities and boost the well-being and economy of rural-urban areas.
RURBANIVE invites consortia of 2-4 parties, including at least one technology and service provider and one end-user, to submit proposals that address societal and environmental challenges. These challenges span a variety of critical areas such as improving logistics and shortening value chains, ecosystem and biodiversity restoration, regional circular bioeconomy development, user engagement and empowerment, culture and heritage promotion, and enhanced mobility.
Each selected project stands to receive up to €100,000, with individual partners eligible for funding between €20,000 and €60,000. This financial support aims to accelerate the development and implementation of innovative solutions that bridge the gap between rural and urban communities.
Bridging Communities with RUEs
More specifically, applicants are expected to propose Rural-Urban Enablers (RUEs), meaning digital solutions or other types of advanced technologies, based on the six identified domains of RURBANIVE:
- Improving logistics, and shortening value chains: refers to the flow of resources between rural communities and urban hubs, investigating new ways by which reciprocal growth can be achieved.
- Ecosystem and biodiversity restoration: includes degraded, arid soil ecosystems, like quarrying operations, targets in local plant community reinstallation (drought tolerant plant species), and integration of natural and agricultural ecosystems in a uniform landscape by introducing novel, microbiome-based, restoration technologies and processes.
- Regional circular bioeconomy development: includes optimizing regional residual biomass streams by data collection, visualizing resource flows, and developing innovation pathways based on environmental, social, and economic factors in sustainable and resilient city-region areas.
- User engagement, empowerment, society and territorial awareness: centred on empowering individuals and communities, particularly in rural and underserved areas, by fostering a deep connection to their environment and society.
- Culture, landscape and heritage access and promotion: focuses on enhancing the appeal and accessibility of rural cultural and natural heritage for urban visitors, and potentially prospective future inhabitants for the rural areas.
- Enhanced mobility: refers to mobility patterns of citizens, existing infrastructure and other accessibility constraints to investigate how commuting between rural and urban communities takes place. Enhanced mobility paves the way for a holistic approach towards mobility, where all people, and especially Vulnerable Road Users (VRUs), can optimally utilize the urban space and reach their destinations on time.
The Open Call intends to enrich RURBANIVE’s Community Store, a digital hub offering enhanced capabilities for accessing solutions and services. By incorporating at least six new RUEs, the initiative seeks to expand the reach and impact of these enablers across diverse regional contexts and socio-economic conditions.
The implementation of selected projects will follow a structured 12-month timeline divided into three phases between September 2025 and August 2026.
Proposals for the Open Call must be submitted digitally through the opencalls.fund platform by March 31, 2025, at 17:00 CET. For more information, interested parties can visit RURBANIVE’s official website.
To ensure the quality and fairness of the selection process, RURBANIVE is seeking experienced evaluators. If you are interested in being an evaluator you can apply here.
OPEN CALL: study visits in Europe
Are you ready to become a better professional? Study visits provide a fantastic chance to learn from the best in the industry and discover innovative methods and success stories that you can implement in your company.
The “ENACT” project invites you to join study visits across Europe, offering an unforgettable experience to broaden your horizons and gain valuable insights. Here's what you'll gain:
- Exchange knowledge. Collaborate with professionals from diverse regions and industries, learning from Europe's top success stories.
- Boost your skills. Sharpen your expertise by exploring cutting-edge techniques, advanced technologies, and efficient workflows.
- Expand your network. Meet like-minded peers, industry experts, and stakeholders. Build strong connections that could lead to exciting collaborations and partnerships.
- Find practical solutions. Learn how others have successfully tackled challenges and gain fresh ideas to address your own.
Don’t miss this incredible opportunity to grow your skills, expand your network, and bring back actionable solutions to your organization. Register now: https://bit.ly/4jzoSvy
Get funding and implement food innovation projects in Africa!
INCiTiS-FOOD is a European Union-funded initiative aimed at promoting the development of inclusive, sustainable, and innovative food systems in African cities and towns. The project seeks to empower local innovators and communities to create solutions that address global food supply challenges.
Now you have the opportunity to contribute to this significant initiative and secure funding to bring your ideas to life!
Learn more about the application process at the online webinar taking place on March 5th. During the event, we’ll discuss how to apply, the eligibility criteria, and the opportunities available for local innovators striving to make a difference.
The event will also feature distinguished speakers—stay tuned as we will introduce them soon!
Don’t miss the chance to be part of this transformative journey. Register today to secure your spot: https://lnkd.in/dCUNGbHh
Together, we can create a brighter and more sustainable future!
The success story of Super Garden: revolutionizing the snack industry
The small but vibrant city of Panevėžys, Lithuania, has become a harbor of innovation and sustainability. Here, a mother’s innovative idea for healthy, tasty snacks for her children has blossomed into the thriving business “Super Garden.” Now, with support from the EIT Food community, it’s about to reach broader markets—beginning with Germany.
As its name suggests, “Super Garden” offers a variety of garden goodies—berries, fruits, vegetables—and beyond (even cheese), all preserved through a unique, innovative method: lyophilization, or freeze-drying. Laura Kaziukonienė, the founder of “Super Garden,” describes freeze-drying as one of the most effective food preservation methods worldwide: “It preserves up to 98% of the nutritional value and ensures a long shelf life without special storage conditions. This results in nutrition-rich products that also address food waste. For example, a fresh raspberry might spoil in two days, but a freeze-dried raspberry can last up to two years at home, ready as a healthy snack anytime.”
Best of all, these snacks are a perfect alternative to sugary products, with no additives, preservatives, added sugar, or other unnecessary ingredients—making them a great addition to our daily diets.
“Almost anything can undergo freeze-drying, except fats. Products like chocolate, butter, olive oil, and other fatty items aren’t suitable for this process. However, foods like meat, fish, dairy, and even liquids—including alcohol—can be successfully freeze-dried,” says Kaziukonienė. As a result, “Super Garden” has experimented extensively to create new flavors and now proudly boasts the world’s largest assortment of freeze-dried products, with over 300 items and more than 1,500 variations. There is a huge demand for unique natural products, and that’s precisely what “Super Garden” aims to deliver.
How did the idea come about? Interestingly, Laura found inspiration right at her kitchen table. When her kids were eating cereal with freeze-dried berries—at the time, she didn’t even know what they were—she noticed they would pick them out to eat first. She decided to buy more but couldn’t find any in the local market. That’s when she started researching this special processing method and came up with the idea to offer these berries as a product. “I started with packaging since I didn’t have a freeze-dryer. I created a brand, bought in bulk from Germany, repackaged, and, once I saw the market demand, purchased my first freeze-dryer. Things developed quickly from there,” she shared.
Working with Kaunas University of Technology scientist Jonas Damašius on snacks made from freeze-dried powders, which they later named BITES, she learned about the EIT Food program and decided to participate.
Their first attempt paid off: after intense competition, “Super Garden” won second place, validating their efforts. The most rewarding part was the attention from major companies, including Nestlé, which reached out to them. “Although nothing materialized, the fact that a major player from Switzerland’s research department contacted us confirmed that we were doing something intriguing,” Laura recalls.
This year, five years after their win, the EIT Food team in Germany reached out again. “They found us in their database, said they were looking for healthy snacks, and invited us to participate in REWE’s supplier selection process. Through EIT Food’s Germany contact, we went to Vienna in October, joined a meeting, and now we’re working together—it’s still very recent.”
Now “Super Garden” is on the brink of becoming part of REWE’s network of 50 chains, poised to expand into the much larger German market. This partnership marks a major milestone, enabling the company to reach a broader customer base within one of Europe’s largest markets and introduce its innovative, freeze-dried products to health-conscious consumers across the country.
RURBANIVE event – a glimpse into rural and urban synergies in an innovative ecosystem
On October 30, a virtual event “RURBANIVE – Rural and Urban Synergies in an Innovative Ecosystem”, organized by the cluster and digital innovation center, AgriFood Lithuania, and Kėdainiai Municipality, took place. The event introduced the EU-funded RURBANIVE project, which aims to create the synergy between urban and rural areas, improving quality of life, fostering social innovation, the circular bioeconomy, culture, and public engagement, and developing new policy recommendations.
The goal of RURBANIVE is to strengthen social ties and collaboration between rural and urban areas, paving the way for mutual interactions and reducing the gap between them. This dialogue offers stakeholders an opportunity to assess current processes and envision future scenarios that will further contribute to synergy development and policy recommendations.
At the heart of the RURBANIVE project – one of the country’s strongest economic regions
The project has selected Kėdainiai Municipality—one of the strongest economic regions in the country—as its focus region. The event welcomed members of the Kėdainiai community, technology providers, agricultural sector representatives, the academic community, regional administration officials, and representatives of business and non-governmental organizations.
During the event, the Director of Administration at Kėdainiai municipality, Gintautas Muznikas, delivered a welcoming speech. He congratulated the project’s initiators and participants, inviting everyone to join and support the project’s development, the way Kėdainiai Municipality is already actively contributing. G. Muznikas also emphasized that the project developed by AgriFood Lithuania DIH partners holds exceptional importance for fostering rural-urban synergy in the Kėdainiai region, with a huge potential to significantly improve residents’ quality of life.
Consortium partner AgriFood Lithuania introduced the project’s main objectives and goals, aligned with EU targets for regional development in Kėdainiai. The presentation concluded with a discussion on the project's engagement opportunities and future perspectives. The event attracted attention not only from the public, regional business, and administration representatives but also from professors at Vytautas Magnus University, who are expected to contribute to the project’s development in the region.
Encouraging public engagement
Attendees were also invited to participate in a RURBANIVE survey to encourage public engagement and gather insights into community needs, challenges, and potential benefits in the region.
One of RURBANIVE’s primary goals is to empower the Kėdainiai region’s community by bringing together initiative groups, organizing co-creation workshops to discuss regional needs, agrifood sector development opportunities, investment and logistics chain issues, and improving circular bioeconomy processes. The project also plans to establish “Startup Villages” in the region, featuring a digital space to ensure access to data and essential information, encourage sharing of ideas, knowledge, and best practices through digital technology and innovation, and foster discussions and policy recommendations.
We invite everyone interested to join this project: “Discover unique, tailored technological solutions to improve your life in the local community,” “Engage – Participate – Create.”
For more information about the project, visit the AgriFood Lithuania DIH and RURBANIVE project websites. Join us and follow project progress on social media.
