On 19-21 June 2017 took place an international conference entitled "Strategies for the agri-food sector and rural areas - dilemmas of development" in Licheń. The Conference was organized under the Multi-Annual Program 2015-2019 "The Polish and the EU agricultures 2020+. Challenges, chances, threats, proposals" by the Institute of Agricultural and Food Economics - National Research Institute.

On 12-13 December 2016, the Institute of Agricultural and Food Economics - National Research Institute hosted a meeting with representatives of several European research institutions on contemporary changes of rural economy and entrepreneurship.

It is with great sadness that we have to inform you that professor Bernardo M. Telles de Sousa Reynolds Pacheco de Carvalho passed away. He worked in University Tecnica de Lisboa w Portugalii, CIAT - Centro Ag. Tropical / Instituto Superior de Agronomia Tapada da Ajuda. Professor Pacheco de Carvalho was a long-term associate of the Institute of Agricultural and Food Economics - National Research Institute, he was an expert in the field of: food security, tropical agriculture and sustainable development economics.

On 23-25 November 2016 took place an international conference entitled "Risk in the food economy - theory and practice" in Jachranka, near Warsaw. The Conference was organized under the Multi-Annual Program 2015-2019 "The Polish and the EU agricultures 2020+. Challenges, chances, threats, proposals" by the Institute of Agricultural and Food Economics - National Research Institute.

In recent years we have witnessed the emergence of alternative food supply chains and markets due to important changes in consumer perceptions of food and farming. Short food supply chains (SFSCs) can act as a driver of change and a method to increase sustainability, trust, equality and growth in agricultural and food sectors, but also more generally benefit business development in rural areas, as well as have positive social and health related outcomes. SFSCs include different practices such as farmers? markets, on-farm sales, consumer cooperatives, direct internet sales, etc.

Budapest, 3-5 October 2016. Almost 80 participants representing 36 institutions from 13 countries met in Budapest during 14th ERDN Conference: Knowledge sharing and innovation in agriculture and rural areas.

On 26-27th September two representatives of the IAFE-NRI - Paweł Chmieliński and Barbara Wieliczko participated in a kick-off meeting launching implementation of the PERCEIVE project. PERCEIVE - Perception and Evaluation of Regional and Cohesion Policies by Europeans and Identification with the Values of Europe - is a project implemented within the EU Horizon 2020 (grant no.: 693529). The project was launched in September 2016 and its implementation will end in September 2019. The project's consortium includes: The University of Bologna (UNIBO) - project leader, The University of Gothenburg (UGOT), Romanian Academy - Institute of Agricultural Economics, Institute of Agricultural and Food Economics - National Research Institute (IAFE-NRI), University of Barcelona, University of Portsmouth, Vienna University of Economics and Business and BAM! Strategie Culturali.

On 29 September 2016, the Institute of Agricultural and Food Economics - National Research Institute hosted a meeting with a delegation of seven scientists from the Rural Development Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (RDI CASS), Beijing.

In 26-28 September 2016, Institute of Agriculture and Food Economics - NRI abreast of Warsaw University of Life Sciences and Selcuk University from Turkey organized a conference: 3rd International Conference on Sustainable Agriculture and Environment.

Directeur, Conseil Scientifique et tous les employés d'Institute sont bouleversés par l'attentat a Nice. Nous envoyons notre sympathie aux familles des victimes.