TALLHEDA 3rd Brainstorming Visit to the Agricultural University of Athens!

Angeliki Milioti
11 hours ago
2 min read

The Agricultural University of Athens (AUA) welcomed partners, researchers, students, and industry stakeholders for the 3rd Round of the TALLHEDA Brainstorming Action, held from 24–26 November 2025. Organized by AUA’s Informatics Laboratory, the three-day event brought together experts from Greece, Belgium, and Serbia to explore advancements in digital agriculture, AI-driven decision making, data sharing, and emerging smart-farming technologies.

Day 1: Digital Agriculture in Action

The event opened at the Library & Information Centre “Alexandros Poulovasilis” with welcome remarks from AUA representatives and Prof. Constantina Costopoulou, Director of the Informatics Lab.

The first keynote session was delivered by Jürgen Vangeyte, Valentijn De Cauwer, and Assala Bourafai from ILVO (Belgium), who presented insights into data-driven agriculture, blockchain applications, AI integration, and digital twin technologies. This was followed by a lecture from Fotis Chatzipapadopoulos of Smart Agro Hub, who unpacked the reality and misconceptions surrounding AI in farming.

The afternoon sessions highlighted innovative work from AUA researchers, including presentations on drone-based crop protection, AI-supported greenhouse nutrient management, and the use of artificial intelligence in cotton cultivation.

Throughout the day, participants also explored digital student research showcased in four e-poster presentations developed under TALLHEDA.

You can find the 1st day's presentations here:

Day 2: Smart Farming, Digital Twins, and Innovation Pathways

The main lecture was delivered by Nikola Kopilović and Radivoj Ničin from TERRA (Serbia), presenting practical approaches for implementing decision-support systems enhanced by AI and digital twin methodologies.

Further sessions highlighted ongoing academic and innovation initiatives at AUA, including a presentation on digital twin applications in dairy sheep welfare and overviews of the AGRILEARN ERASMUS+ project and TRUSTFOOD – a Digital Europe initiative.

AUA students later shared insights from their Summer School experience at Ghent University, followed by a hands-on workshop in data sharing. The day concluded with a networking social dinner, fostering collaboration across participating institutions.

You can find the 2nd day's presentations here:

Day 3: Industry Engagement and Forward Planning

The final day featured a study visit to Nestlé Hellas, offering participants a real-world perspective on digital transformation in agri-food supply chains.

The event concluded with an open discussion at the Informatics Lab, where participants consolidated the key outcomes of the brainstorming sessions and outlined future action points, research directions, and managerial considerations for the TALLHEDA project.

A Collaborative Step Forward

The 3rd Brainstorming Visit successfully advanced TALLHEDA’s mission to enhance digital skills, promote knowledge exchange, and drive innovation in agri-food systems across Europe. By uniting academic, technological, and industrial perspectives, the event reinforced the project’s commitment to preparing the next generation of professionals for a data-driven agricultural future.