Europe

Regional Content

Welcome to Europe

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About this content

For Europe Staff

In this unit you will find the organizational training required for the Alliance Europe employees, you can do them during the first two months, at the end of each training you must send a copy of your certificate to the Human Resources focal point of your region.

Part 1

Welcome on Board!

Welcome on board!

Welcome to the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT! We are thrilled to have you with us. We believe that your skills, experience and creativity will have a real impact on our organization. The Alliance is a center of excellence and we go the extra mile to find the best candidates as we build our team. I hope you will take time to learn all about who we are and be ready to give your best to achieve our mission and vision. I look forward to a face-to-face interaction with you sometime soon. Welcome to the Alliance Team!

Part 2

Structure

Part 2

Structure

Part 3

We work across six science levers as shown in the infographic below.

Ensuring sustainable growth

Europe

The Alliance is part of the CGIAR, a global research partnership for a food-secure future dedicated to transforming food, land, and water systems in a climate crisis.

Part 4

Presence in Europe

The Alliance in Europe Italy is the host country to the Alliance headquarters. The Italian Government provides generous financial support to our agenda, both at an institutional as well as a project level, including the assignment of crucial human resource capacity in the form of talented Junior Professional Officers. Our fruitful partnership with the Italian Agency for Cooperation expands to policy dialogue, knowledge exchange and joint delivery, and field cooperation across several priority areas, including sustainable rural development, resilient food systems and nutritional security, gender, and climate change adaptation.

Part 4

Presence in Europe

Rome, ItalyMontpellier, France Leuven, Belgium

Part 5

Rome, Italy

Rome

Having the Alliance headquarters in Rome plays a critical role in partnering with the UN Rome-based agencies, (Food and Agriculture Organization, the International Fund for Agricultural Development and the World Food Programme) and bodies such as the Committee on World Food Security (CFS).

Part 5

Rome, Italy

History and Climate Rome, Roma in Italian, historic city and capital of Roma provincia (province), of Lazio regione (region), and of the country of Italy. Rome is located in the central portion of the Italian peninsula, on the Tiber River about 15 miles (24 km) inland from the Tyrrhenian Sea. Once the capital of an ancient republic and empire whose armies and polity defined the Western world in antiquity and left seemingly indelible imprints thereafter, the spiritual and physical seat of the Roman Catholic Church, and the site of major pinnacles of artistic and intellectual achievement, Rome is the Eternal City, remaining today a political capital, a religious centre, and a memorial to the creative imagination of the past. Area city, 496 square miles (1,285 square km); province, 2,066 square miles (5,352 square km). Almost 6 million people are living in the region, more than 4 million in the province and almost 3 million in the actual city. Rome’s hot, dry summer days, with high temperatures often above 75 °F (24 °C), are frequently cooled in the afternoons by the ponentino, a west wind that rises from the Tyrrhenian Sea. The city receives roughly 30 inches (750 mm) of precipitation annually; spring and autumn are the rainiest seasons. Frosts and occasional light snowfalls punctuate the otherwise mild winters, when high temperatures average just above 50 °F (10 °C). The tramontana, a cold, dry wind from the north, frequents the city in the winter.

Part 5

Montpellier, France

France is a strategic partner of the Alliance, in particular the Agropolis International campus in Montpellier, which gathers a vibrant community of more than 2,700 researchers with a strong focus on Agriculture, Biodiversity, Nutrition and Environment. Since 1984, the Alliance has an office on the campus adjacent to numerous research partners such as the CGIAR System Management Office (SMO), the French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development (CIRAD), the French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development (IRD), the National Institute of Agricultural Research (INRAE), the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), the SupAgro Institute, the AgroParisTech Institute and the University of Montpellier, enabling strong and regular collaborations. The staff members in the office work mostly on Banana Genetic Resources and Management Systems, Multifunctional Landscapes, Digital Inclusion, and Global Food System Partnerships (UN Food System Summit, IPBES, CBD, EAT Forum).

Part 5

History of France

France is a country in Western Europe that is roughly hexagonal in shape. It has existed as a country for a little over a thousand years and has managed to fill those years with some of the most important events in European history. It is bordered by the English Channel to the north, Luxembourg and Belgium to the northeast, Germany and Switzerland to the east, Italy to the southeast, the Mediterranean to the south, southwest by Andorra and Spain and west by the Atlantic Ocean. It is currently a democracy, with a president and prime minister at the top of government. As a hub of sorts including fashion, cuisine, art and architecture, Paris is what many people think of when it comes to French culture, but life outside of the City of Lights is very different and varies by region. The current population of France is around 68 million people.

Part 5

Leuven, Belgium

Belgium is a crucial partner for the Alliance, hosting the International Musa Germplasm Transit Centre (ITC) at KU Leuven. With more than 1,600 samples of wild and edible species of bananas, the ITC is the world’s largest banana genebank, studying and safeguarding banana diversity for the benefit of current and future generations.

Part 5

History of Belgium

The country of Belgium gets its name from the original settlers of the area. They were a Celtic tribe called the Belgae. The Belgae lived in the area of Belgium until they were conquered by the Roman Empire in 100 BC. The area became a productive province of the Roman Empire for the next 300 years. Belgian culture involves both the aspects shared by all Belgians regardless of the language they speak and the differences between the main cultural communities: the Dutch-speaking Belgians (Flemish) and the French-speaking Belgians (mostly Brussels and Walloon people). Most Belgians view their culture as an integral part of European culture. The territory corresponding to present-day Belgium having always been located at the meeting point of Germanic and Latin Europe, it benefited from a rich cross-fertilization of cultures for centuries. Due to its strategic position in the heart of Europe, Belgium has been at the origin of many European artistic and cultural movements. The country has a total of 860 miles (1,385 km) of land boundaries with neighbors; it is bounded by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, and France to the south. Belgium also has some 40 miles (60 km) of shoreline on the North Sea.

Part 6

Our facilities

Europe

Facilities

The Headquarters is located close to FAO and other international organizations based in Rome. The headquarters will host Alliance staff and colleagues from the CGIAR System Organization, CGIAR Advisory Services, CIFOR, IFPRI, IWMI, and ECPGR.

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Source Comms. Team

Part 7

Working Schedules

Europe

Schedules

Staff located in Bioversity Country Offices are entitled to the national and local holidays in the city in which the office is located up to a total ten (10) official holidays per annum. In those offices where national and / or religious holidays exceed ten (10) days per year, agreement on compensatory measures is coordinated by Human Resources in consultation with the respective office.

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Part 8

Local Benefits

Europe

Benefits

See Personnel Policies Manual which describes all types of Bioversity International contracts

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Part 9

Regional offices Key Contacts

Bartholomeus Panis Principal Scientist – Biodiversity for Food & Agriculture

b.panis@cgiar.org

Belgium

Tina Aourai Manager, Europe Region

t. aourai@cgiar.org

France

Paolo Viggiano Manager, Facilities & Logistics Europe Region

p. viggiano@cgiar.org

Rome

Andrea Gentile Digital & Internal Communications

A.Gentile@cgiar.org

Rome

Bianca Nicolini Manager, Human Resources, Europe Region

b.nicolini@cgiar.org

Rome

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