Mission and Vision
The mission of INUO is to conduct essential and strategic research in olive groves and olive oils, advancing cutting-edge science to transform and enhance their socio-economic and environmental status by transferring knowledge to relevant sectoral stakeholders. Its approach and strategy are to provide international and interdisciplinary researchers with the necessary facilities to carry out cooperative, coordinated and sustainability-based research.
In line with its philosophy, INUO aims to attract and engage national and international talent, and to be a reference centre for training researchers and technicians in all fields related to olive groves and olive oils, and to transfer relevant knowledge to the olive grove/olive oil sector, and society as a whole.
The research undertaken at INUO has influenced the incorporation of innovative technologies that have improved products, crops, and processes, and contributed to sustainability in the field of olive groves and olive oils. These actions were supported by the research lines established by INUO for these years, which were as follows:
(1) Generation of high-impact knowledge on olive groves and olive oils.
(2) Development of new technologies and tools to enhance the sustainability of olive groves and olive oils.
(3) Innovation in new products and processes in the olive grove/olive oil sector.
(4) Analysis of the olive oil market behavior and agri-food chain stakeholders.
These lines of research encapsulate the focus of INUO’s research over the last decade and the key elements of the Institute’s current concerns, being fundamental to analyse the weaknesses, strengths, threats, and opportunities of the olive oil sector in order to define a conscious strategic plan in the coming years, based on the SWOT analysis carried out.
INUO has established priority research areas to follow in the next four years to develop cutting-edge tools and knowledge to achieve the objectives in the strategic axis of knowledge generation.
These lines are focused on responding to the needs of the sector and are coherent with INUO’s priority research areas that were aligned with those defined last year at national and EU levels. Our final goal is to prepare the institute’s human and structural resources to achieve its scientific, technological and knowledge transfer objectives, in a near and middle term future.
The priority research areas are as follows:
1. SUSTAINABILITY OF OLIVE GROVES AND OLIVE OIL.
2. RESILIENCE AND ADAPTATION TO CLIMATE CHANGE.
3. DIGITISATION AND TECHNOLOGY-BASED DEVELOPMENT OF NEW SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTS AND PROCESSES IN THE OLIVE GROVE SECTOR.
4. VALORISATION AND COMPETITIVENESS OF THE SUSTAINABLE OLIVE GROVE AND OLIVE OIL SECTOR IN TERMS OF HEALTH, CONSUMPTION, AND SOCIETY.
