NextGenBioPest at the 11th meeting of the IOBC-WPRS!

From March 11th to 13th, 2026, our partner INRAE (National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food & the Environment) organised and participated in the 11th Meeting of the IOBC-WPRS Working Group on "Landscape Management for Functional Biodiversity", held in Avignon, France — one of the most prestigious gatherings in the European landscape ecology and integrated pest management research community.

The International Organisation for Biological and Integrated Control of Noxious Animals and Plants – West Palaearctic Regional Section (IOBC-WPRS) brings together leading scientists and practitioners working at the interface of biodiversity, landscape ecology, and sustainable agriculture. This working group specifically focuses on how landscape structure and management can support functional biodiversity — the diversity of organisms that provide ecosystem services, including natural pest regulation.

Sharing NextGenBioPest Results with the Research Community

The three-day meeting provided an exceptional platform for INRAE to present and disseminate the latest results from NextGenBioPest to a highly specialised scientific audience. The discussions explored how landscape-scale approaches to biodiversity management can enhance and complement the biological control strategies and biopesticide innovations being developed within the project.

The intersection is a natural and important one: the effectiveness of biological control agents — a key pillar of NextGenBioPest — is closely linked to the ecological context in which they are deployed. Landscapes that support greater functional biodiversity provide stronger foundations for integrated pest management, making the dialogue between these research communities particularly valuable.

Presenting NextGenBioPest's outcomes in this setting enabled meaningful exchanges with researchers working on complementary approaches, and strengthened the scientific network surrounding the project's core themes.

A Strategic Dissemination Opportunity

Avignon, long a centre of agricultural research excellence in southern France, provided the ideal backdrop for these discussions. The meeting brought together experts from across Europe, ensuring that NextGenBioPest's results reached a broad and highly relevant scientific audience.

INRAE's dual role — both organising the meeting and representing the project — underlines the strong position NextGenBioPest occupies within the European research landscape on sustainable agriculture and biodiversity-based pest management.