CINEA brings together leading research organisations, industry associations and innovation players from the EU and the MED region to bridge the existing gap between research and innovation in the area of food and agriculture research (societal challange 2: food safety, sustainble agriculture). The ultimate goal is to facilitate the transfer of scientific knowledge to industries and public services and bi-regional cooperation between all stakeholders along the knowledge value chain in the agro-food domain, thus contributing to meeting European and national/regional sustainable development goals. This will be achieved through• SWOT analysis of bi-regional R2I cooperation in the field of food and agriculture research with the feedback to policy level;• Direct brokerage between research, public services and industry players in the agro-food area;• Implementation of the CINEA innovation capacity building training programme• Preparation of the set of pilot technology transfer projects involving European and Mediterranean research performers and users• Creation of sustainable innovation support services – CINEA's Central R2I Helpdesk• Building synergies with other relevant initiatives in the region.The project builds on the fundamental of previous RTD cooperation capacity building initiatives (e.g. INCO ERA-WIDE projects MAP2ERA, FAWIRA, WATEREUS-MED) and involves leading Mediterranean research entities (INRAA, CBS, USF, USMBA), industry associations/ innovation support agencies (API, CGEM, ANVREDET). On the European side the consortium includes exemplarily innovative research organisations (CNRS) and technology providers (CENTA), and relevant expert organizations and facilitators in the field of innovation and technology transfer (UAGF, GIRAF).