The University of Jaén is located in the province of Jaén (Spain), which is the main producer of olive oil in the world.

In order to foster the joint participation of researchers, SMEs, public administrations, universities and research institutes in R&I project proposals on the olive sector, the UJA International Projects Office (OFIPI) has created the so-called OLEA Initiative, which started in Brussels on 29th June 2017 (OLEA R&I Project Info & Networking Event) with the help of the SOST Office and is implemented with the collaboration of the UJA Advanced Research Center in Olive Grove and Olive Oils (plus the expertise of the UJA Advanced Research Center in Earth, Enery and Environmental Sciences). Following the success of this first meeting, the UJA hosted a second meeting on 25th January 2018 (OLEA R&I Project Development day) with over 100 participants. In 2019, a meeting with enterprises from the province of Jaén was also hosted at the UJA in December. Furthermore, the International Olive Council endorsed this Initiative after a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the UJA and the IOC on 13th January 2020.

A III OLEA International Project Networking Event is now taking place online (due to COVID-19), which has been divided into two sessions: Session 1 (26th, 27th, 28th May 2020) & Session 2 (October 2020 – April 2021). In order to close this last Session, the UJA has prepared the following agenda for 30th April 2021 (Please, find the registration link below):