Tuesday Sep 26th

10:15- 10:25
Presentation
Welcome Remarks

Sabine Loos, Director, Messe Dortmund 

Christine Zimmermann-Loessl, Chairwoman Association for Vertical Farming e.V.

10:25 - 12:00
Presentation
Keynotes

Resilient food cities – growing food from within by Karen Fabbri, European Commission, Healthy Planet Directorate, DG Research and Innovation 

"Doughnut Economy - Thinking like twenty-first century economists" by Erinch Sahan Business & Enterprise Lead, Doughnut Economics Action Lab (DEAL)

Growing a million trees in Vertical Farming by Ali Amirlatifi, CEO Evergreen Oy

"Understanding the Advances in Plant Factories" Eri Hayashi, President Japanese Plant Factory Association

 

12:00 - 13:00
Break
Lunch
13:00 - 13:45
Pillar A Science + Industry Panel
What are the claims and reality of Vertical Farming? An open discussion led by scientists on efficiency of LEDs, energy, pesticide, water use in VFs

Moderator: Prof. Silvana Nicola, University of Turin

Panelists: Ard van de Kreeke, Jasper den Besten, Roland Siers, Alessandro Olivieri

  • How can science leverage to prove the claims of vertical farming?
  • How far is science from reality and vice versa?
  • Is science closing knowledge gaps?
13:45 - 14:00
Presentation
The Elephant in the Grow room -Reality check of VF
  • Thomas Williams, CEO Baaz Global
14:00 - 15:00
Panel
Biology in Vertical Farming critical discussion on different aspects of biology in VF

Moderator: Jasper den Besten

Panelists: Chiara Tenconi Planet Farms,  Madar Godge GRAIN, Alberto Campanaro, Zayndu

  • What is the state of the art research on pests and diseases in vertical farms?
  • How can we best address nutrition, vitamin levels of crops, shelf life extension?
15:00 - 15:20
Break
Coffee Break and Networking
15:15 - 17:15
Pillar A Workshop
Breaking New Ground from Plants to Ready Products

Workshop Room 1

Moderatoren: Dr. Heidi Heuberger, Dr. Nicole Armbrüster

Exploring and discussing how Vertical Farming can contribute to plant production for new products for food, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics.

World Cafe - We try to answer 3 questions focusing on the best framework and bottlenecks and how Vertical Farming offers solutions. 

Which plants have potential for VF and can we categories them?

Which benefits or challenges does continuously fresh produce has for the processing industry?

University of Applied Sciences Weihenstephan, Association for Pharmaceutical Industry, Bavarian Institute for Horticulture

"Vertical Farming as Innovation Trigger for Processing Herbal Raw Materials" by Prof. Dr. Strube, TU Clausthal,

"Market Potentials & Challenges in the Food, Pharmaceutical & Cosmetics Industries" by Dr. Urs Fischer, Managing Director Pharmaplant

"Potentials of Producing High-Value Products in Vertical Farming" by Applied Science Centre for Smart Indoor Farming, Ivonne Jüttner, HSWT

15:20 - 17:00
Presentation+Panel
Diving deep into Pillar A+B

 


15:20-16:10
Roundtable
"Investing in Vertical Farming - Why and How, Now?

Workshop Room 2

Experts from Investment and Finance discuss how they decide on their investment in vertical farming and what they need from the companies they want to invest in and partner with.

Annette Schoemmel, Xanadu Alpha

Horst Fickel. IBE Solution GmbH

Thomas Williams, CEO Baaz Global

15:20-15:40
Presentation
Increasing Yield using a Novel Seed Treatment Technology

Alberto Campanaro, CEO Zayndu

15:40-16:00
Presentation
Growing Tea in Vertical Farming

Galen Zhou, SananBio, China

16:00-16:15
Q+A
Q + A

Time to ask your Questions

16:20-16:40
Presentation
Next generation crops for more biodiversity

Dr. Mandar Godge, CEO GRAIN, Singapore

16:45-17:00
Presentation
An underestimated factor in hydroponic farming: Nutrient solutions

Roland Sier, Nutrient Service, Cyprus

17:00
Presentation
Q+A
Closing Remarks

Speaker to be announced

Wednesday Sep 27th

10:15 - 10:30
Pillar B: Technology+ Sustainability
Is Light the Heart of Sustainability for Vertical Farming ?

Presentation 

Marc Juarez, Innovation Manager, Seoul Semiconductor

10:35 - 10:50
Pillar B
AI & Its Potential for Efficiency in Vertical Farming

Presentation

Robin Vincent, CEO Canobi, Canada

10:50 - 11:05
Pillar B
Are Automation & Robots the Way to More Sustainability?

Presentation

Endre Harnes, COO Avisomo

11:05-11:20
Pillar B
Carbon Circularity - Capture, use, release, and press repeat

Presentation

Rob van Straten, CEO Skytree

 

11:10-11:50
Pillar B
Is the Silicon Valley business model fit for Vertical Farming? Reviewing and adapting the biz model of VF.

Roundtable - Workshop Room 2

Ralph Becker, CEO UrbanGreens
Ard van de Kreek, CEO Growy
Thomas Williams, CEO Baaz Global
Alessandro Olivieri,CEO  igrox

11:20 - 11:45
Pillar B
Sustainable Indoor Farming Certification

Roundtable - Workshop Room 1

Introducing SIF certification and discussing the first results. 

Prof. Joel Cuello,Vice Chair AVF

11:45.-12:10
Pillar B
Kilometro verde’s challenge: making vertical farming profitable in the Italian social-economical environment

Presentation

Alessandro Olivieri, Kilometroverde

12:10-12:25
Pillar B
Verti-Agrivoltaics: The New Hybrid Form of Agrivoltaics for Food and Renewable Energy In and Around Cities

Presentation

Prof. Joel Cuello Vice Chair AVF , University of Arizona

12:30 - 13:30
Break
Lunch
13:30 - 14:40
Pillar C: Food & Cities
How Cities Implement Urban Food Policies?

Presentation - Keynote Introduction of global trends in UA, by FAO Jia Ni

Panel

Cities best practices and challenges for urban agriculture implementation: Milano, Madrid, Atlanta, Hamburg& Region of Baltic Sea 

Balance Phala ,Food Systems Officer, Global Projects, ICLEI, Eva Keretic CEO Founder FFC, Kerry Babb CEO Paradise Group for Sustainable Development , Peter Wogenstein Ernährungsrat Niedersachsen,

14:40 - 15:00
Pillar C
What Role Can Vertical Farming Play in Cities & Society

Presentation 

Millan Berzosa, Board Member Isifarmer/Innovation Hub Madrid

15:00-15.35
Pillar C
Visions of Resilient City Creation

Presentation

Can we consider Cities as "Smart" without having Smart Agriculture (Urban Vertical Farms)?

Kerry Babb, Founder & CEO Paradise Group for Sustainable Development

15:35 - 15:55
Break
Coffee Break
16:00 - 17:00
Pillar C
City Representatives & Project Developers Meet Technology Providers

Roundtable - Discussing Projects and Solutions

Meet with city planners who need solutions for urban agriculture projects, introduce your project and find partners!

17:00
Presentation
Closing Remarks