Concerning the number of project partners and compared with ThermalMapper, whose consortium includes a total of 3 institutions (2 from WB countries), SEELEGUMES is a very comprehensive project, including 9 institutions from WB countries, 6 partners from EU countries, and 4 associate partners from Armenia, Finland, and Russia. Even if SEELEGUMES started with a significant delay, to a certain extent causing lasting consequences in some cases (in particular for institutions involved in molecular characterisation), most of the objectives have been achieved so far. Timely reactions of the coordinating team were essential in this regard.

However, Cupina and Nüchter both confirmed that good cooperation among the involved partners within their projects contributed to a high extent to the project’s success so far.

As Mr. Nüchter remarked, a north-south disparity as regards the funding, basic equipment and materials available in research institutions as well as the know-how is still existent in WBC. In order to overcome the challenges, also when Croatia joins the EU next year, “the research cooperation between EU countries and other WBC is highly desirable and must be further supported”, he added. Mr. Nüchter further highlighted the importance of networking in the field of science and research in general and encourages the colleagues from WB countries to visit conferences and other relevant events in their country and abroad but also to present their research papers to a wider public: “One should never skimp on the travel costs!”, he said.

Mr. Cupina addressed further the importance of knowledge transfer and of establishing new co-operations with other regional, European and international projects and networks. In the case of the SEELEGUMES project: “The transfer of knowledge on legume genetic resources obtained through different international past as well as running projects was one of the initial drivers of the project success.”

Interviews conducted by Ines Marinkovic, with special thanks to Mr. Cupina and Mr. Nüchter.