Welcome to the website of the
European Mushroom Working Group (EMushWG). The EMushWG was established on the 6th of December, 2018, with the mission of uniting the mushroom communities in Europe and, together, develop this important but undervalued field. We want to create a network that allows anyone with an interest in mushroom forming fungi to find like-minded people throughout Europe. By having different interest groups organized in the same larger network, exploring new topics and making new connections should be stimulated, thus creating true synergy.
For the more distant future, Europe-wide activities are contemplated. These can include efforts to improve the position of mushroom forming fungi on the European agenda, as well as efforts that address international issues regarding mushroom forming fungi. For example one could think of initiatives to map and preserve species across Europe, clarify regulations on medicinal mushrooms, or exchange and standardize cultivation techniques for industry or research institutes. But our first priority is to establish a broad network.
The following steps are planned for 2019.
- Gathering network members through an email campaign.
- Identification of the first theme-groups.
- Identification of theme-group and / or country representatives.
- The first network meeting.
- Launch of a special interactive EMushWG Website.
- Exploration of possibilities for a COST action (European funding to build our research network).
The scopes of the EMushWG are best defined as:
-
European. The organised activities of the EMushWG will be focused on European issues. However, the platform is explicitly non-exclusive regarding members, and any person from outside the EU is welcome to participate in EMushWG activities.
- Mushroom. Interests represented by the EMushWG will be any topic on any fungus that, in principle, is able to form fruiting bodies. This extremely broad approach is purposely selected to create as many synergies as possible among different disciplines. These are currently lacking.
- Working Group. The EMushWG aims to offer a platform where professional, semi-professional, amateur, and commercial or business related people can meet, connect, and exchange information.
For the starting network, we envision the following structure:
- A central EMushWG website:
- General section(s)
- Theme-groups (Professional / Amateur)
- Institute section
- Business section / Commercial section
- A yearly meeting.
Anyone who is interested in mushroom forming fungi is welcome to participate. Just sign up by completing the registration form, and submit it to WGem.euvring[at]gmail.com. Currently, no costs are charged for membership. Please forward this message within your network.
Sincerely,
Arend van Peer (coordinator), Alfredo Martínez, Antonio Pisabarro, Lorin von Longo-Liebenstein, Lucía Ramírez, Nancy Pyck, Paolo Sambo, Pyry Veteli