On consecutive days in March, SPECTRA brought its research to the heart of Thessaloniki’s public life, hosting two connected events at the Thessaloniki International Exhibition and Conference Centre (HELEXPO) that together reached researchers, policymakers, industry representatives, farmers’ organisations, NGOs and members of the general public.
The 2nd SPECTRA Science Cafe – 13 March
The second Science Cafe of the SPECTRA project took place on the evening of 13 March, running from 17:00 to 20:00 at HELEXPO’s Pavilion 02. Science Cafes are deliberately informal: the format is designed to create a relaxed environment where researchers and citizens can meet on equal terms, exchange ideas and discuss scientific questions that bear directly on everyday life. Free and open to all ages, the event drew a diverse and engaged audience.
The theme for the evening was Science, Society and Innovation, and the discussion ranged across how science, technology and social innovation can work together to address environmental and food-related challenges. Participants explored emerging contaminants in food and the environment, innovative monitoring approaches for environmental protection, food safety and authenticity, and case studies drawn from agricultural and marine food systems. BD Inventions contributed expertise on how social innovation connects with technological and business innovation to generate sustainable, community-centred solutions, with real-world examples illustrating how that integration can drive meaningful change.
The Science Cafe format consistently demonstrates its value as a space where researchers stop performing expertise and start genuinely thinking out loud alongside the people whose lives their work affects. The second SPECTRA edition was no exception.
National Outreach Workshop for Stakeholders – 14 March
The following morning, the same venue hosted the National Outreach Workshop for Stakeholders of the SPECTRA project, running from 10:00 to 14:30. Where the Science Cafe had prioritised open public dialogue, the workshop brought together a more targeted audience of researchers, policymakers, industry representatives, farmers’ organisations and NGOs for structured knowledge exchange focused on practical pathways and collaborative solutions.
Discussions centred on the challenges and opportunities that SPECTRA’s analytical work creates at the science-policy-society interface: how advanced analytical monitoring, AI-driven tools and innovative traceability approaches can contribute to addressing water management, environmental contamination and food authenticity issues in the Mediterranean region. BD Inventions again contributed to the stakeholder engagement dimension of the day, facilitating dialogue on how social innovation can be effectively connected with technological and business innovation to generate impact that reaches beyond the research community.
The workshop reinforced a principle that sits at the heart of SPECTRA’s design: that research excellence and societal relevance are not competing priorities but mutually reinforcing ones. Building the scientific capacity to detect, characterise and monitor emerging contaminants matters because people, communities and ecosystems are affected by those contaminants. Keeping that connection visible, through events that bring researchers and stakeholders into genuine dialogue, is part of what makes the science meaningful.
