iSAGE
Innovation for Sustainable Sheep and Goat Production in Europe (iSAGE) is making the European Sheep and Goat sectors more sustainable, competitive and resilient. These improvements come from strong collaboration between industry and research institutions.
In this collaboration, industry is telling research institutions the challenges and opportunities in the sheep and goat sector in Europe. Together industry and research partners are thoroughly assessing the sustainability of the sector and developing strategies to respond to the identified challenges and opportunities.
iSAGE will assess the sustainability sheep and goat sector in Europe to future challenge such as climate change, food security, resource use efficiency and rural deprivation in marginal regions. Following the sustainability assessment, iSAGE will develop strategies to meet or prevent these challenges. Such strategies will include all levels of the industry including farmers, local populations, consumers, processors and retailers.
Industry and research working together will to ensure that relevant issues are addressed and the project outcomes are applicable in practice.
The project started on 1 March 2016 and will continue for 48 months.
EAAP registration to the Virtual Meeting is now open!
The EAAP Annual Meeting will be held on-line from December 1st to 4th, 2020.
We will showcase hundreds hours of programming delivered through plenty of scientific sessions, workshops, plenary sessions, interactive and innovative exhibit hall, live discussions about the latest animal science topics.
The Early Registration, before September 15th, is discounted. Those who submitted abstracts for the 2020 annual meeting must also be registered before September 15th.
Don’t miss this important event!
iSAGE Newsletter Issue n. 5
The iSAGE newsletter n. 5 is now available! Read the full issue here!
CORDIS new article on iSAGE project
“Weatherproof sheep? How to enhance animal resilience to climate change” is the new article published by the CORDIS Editorial Team.
CORDIS is part of the European Commission’s strategy for the dissemination and exploitation of research results.
You can read the full article here.
The role of ruminants on climate change mitigation: “The good and the bad”
This infographic video has been produced as part of the BC3 contribution to the COP25 in Madrid (Pabellón España-5th December 2019) and under the H2020 project iSAGE. […]
iSAGE scientist wins prestigious award
Breeding weatherproof sheep to adapt to climate change
Enrique Sánchez-Molano, Vanessa V. Kapsona, Joanna J. Ilska, Suzanne Desire, Joanne Conington, Sebastian Mucha & Georgios Banos
BMC Genetics volume 20, Article number: 84 (2019)
Innovation leaflets
You can find here innovation leaflets that summarise the key outcomes of case studies undertaken by the project including advice for successful implementation.
iSAGE UK regional training course and workshop from 3 to 6 December
iSAGE organizes the UK regional training course and workshop from 3 to 6 December. For registration and further information please see here!
Webinar on “The role of ruminants in sustainable diets”
The Belgian Association of Meat Science and Technology (BAMST) and the International Dairy Federation (IDF) organised a meeting and webinar in Brussels on 21st June 2019 on “The role of ruminants in sustainable diets”.
For info and to follow the webinar: https://www.fil-idf.org/bamstidfevent2019/
iSAGE Newsletter_Issue n. 2
The iSAGE Newsletter 
n. 2 is now available! Read the full issue here
iSAGE in Turin for the Slow Food exhibition and events
Terra Madre is the major event that SLOWFOOD is organizing in Turin every two years, together with the international food exhibition “Salone del Gusto”: from 20 to 24 September 2018 the 12th edition was held at the Lingotto Exhibition Center.
iSAGE Presentations at EAAP Annual Meeting 2018
The 69th Annual Meeting of the European Federation of Animal Science (EAAP) will take place in Dubrovnik, Croatia, from the 27th to the 31st August 2018.
iSAGE Field Studies in Greece
iSAGE Coordinator (AUTH) has recently conducted new field studies in Greece […]
iSAGE Turkish Partners’ Workshop at Nigde Omer Halisdemir University
The workshop “Assessment of feeding alternatives in sheep and goat farms in Turkey” was held on the 27th April 2018 in Nigde, Turkey, at Nigde Omer Halisdemir University. […]
iSAGE at DairyCare final conference
The EU COST action DairyCare – focused on dairy animal health and welfare and particularly on the use of technologies to assist good husbandry – held its final conference in Thessaloniki, Greece, on 19th and 20th March 2018. […]
2018 iSAGE Summer School (Zaragoza, Spain, 21-23 May)
The iSAGE project has organized the summer school: “Approaches to innovation and research for the sustainability of sheep and goat production systems” (Zaragoza, Spain, 21-23 May 2018).
2nd Workshop of iSAGE Spanish Partners at INIA
On the 2nd of February the iSAGE Spanish partners held their 2nd workshop at INIA, in Madrid. […]
iSAGE events in Toulouse: Modelling Workshop; 1st Project Review; WP Leaders & Industrial Partners Meeting; Visit to Project Farms
The iSAGE consortium recently held 4 meetings in Toulouse, France:
- Tuesday, 21st November: Modelling Workshop;
- Wednesday, 22nd November: EC Project Review;
- Thursday, 23rd November: WP Leaders & Industrial Partners Meeting;
- Friday 24th November: Visit to Farms involved in iSAGE activities.
iSAGE introduces innovation in a Turkish sheep farm
In the framework of iSAGE work plan, ATAUNI recently applied an innovation in a Romanov sheep farm in Cerkezkoy, Istanbul. The introduced innovation tested the estrus synchronization protocol in a prolific sheep flock. […]
iSAGE sustainability assessment in Greek goat farm
A sustainability assessment was recently conducted by members of the AUTH team, who visited an innovative goat farm in Florina, in north western Greece. […]
iSAGE Workshop On Reaction Norm Models
The workshop “Training on Reaction Norm Models” was held on the 4th and 5th April 2017 in Madrid, Spain, at Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria (INIA). This workshop was organized as part of the activities developed within iSAGE Task 5.1 “Animal phenotypes for resilience, adaptability and sustainability”. […]
iSAGE on Çiftçi TV
Recently, iSAGE was promoted in a program broadcasted by Çiftçi TV, the most important TV channel for farmers in Turkey. […]
iSAGE Spanish Partners’ Workshop in Granada
On the 22nd March 2017, a workshop titled “Individual data recording in sheep and goats farming in Spain” was held in Granada at Estación Experimental del Zaidín (EEZ). The event saw the participation of all iSAGE Spanish partners (ASSAFE, INIA, IAMZ, OVIARAGON, ARDIEKIN, CABRA, AGRAMA, AESLA, CSIC). […]
Great success of Laparoscopic Artificial Insemination in goats at Cukurova University
In the framework of iSAGE WP4 activities, Laparoscopic Artificial Insemination (LAI) with frozen imported semen from Alpine and Saanen Goats was conducted in Cukurova University, Research and Application Farm. […]
The iSAGE project presented during IDELE 2025 meeting
On the last 20th of December, the French Livestock Institute (Institut de l’Elevage – IDELE) presented the results of its strategic reflection: IDELE 2025. […]
Seminar of the FAO-CIHEAM Network on Sheep and Goats: Extended deadline
The deadline for sending contributions for the next Joint Seminar of the FAO-CIHEAM Network on Sheep and Goats, titled “Innovation for Sustainability in Sheep and Goats”, has been extended to 25 January 2017.
8th International Conference on Information & Communication Technologies in Agriculture, Food and Environment
The Conference will take place from the 21st to the 24th of September, 2017, in Chania (Crete, Greece). The event is co-organized by the Hellenic Association for Information and Communication Technologies in Agriculture, Food and Environment (HAICTA) and the Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Chania (MAICh) in cooperation with several other Institutions: […]
Results of the workshops “The EU sheep meat forum”
Four workshops took place (between November 2015 and October 2016) at the initiative of Phil Hogan, European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, to explore current and future challenges of the EU sheep meat sector. […]
Qualitative Consumer Research
As part of the iSAGE project, focus groups will be conducted in Spain, Finland, France, Greece, Italy, Turkey, and the United Kingdom to explore consumers awareness, attitudes and preferences towards livestock-based food products (meat, dairy) as well as overall consumer acceptance of goat and sheep animal products. […]
Insights into the needs of sheep and goat farmers in the UK
As part of the iSAGE project, the Organic Research Centre (ORC) and the National Sheep Association (NSA) interviewed sheep and goat farmers in the UK to identify challenges and constraints they face, and the innovations that iSAGE should bring to the sector. […]
iSAGE at ICG 2016
The iSAGE project sponsored 2 speakers at the 2016 International Conference on Goats; Jean-Marc Gautier and Carol Delaney. Their topic covered the Use of Precision Livestock Farming for Dairy Goats in France and Practical Measures to Increase Productivity for Goat Dairy Farms. Both presentations were very well received with lots of questions and follow up discussions at the coffee break. […]
iSAGE visits farms in preparation for preliminary qualitative survey
One of the goals of Work Package (WP) 2, of the iSAGE project is to identify in greater depth geographic, demographic and other socio-economic variables and understand their impact on farmers and the whole supply chain of the whole sheep and goat production sector. […]
This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 679302.