The United Nations invites Ljusgårda to share research breakthroughs – where AI and biology unite to unlock the full potential of plants

At the meeting, members of Ljusgårda’s research team will present results from their groundbreaking AI project, carried out with support from Vinnova – Sweden’s Innovation Agency. By combining plant science, sensor technology, and artificial intelligence, the team has explored a new frontier in indoor cultivation, where the plants’ physiological status is measured in real time and the growing environment automatically adapts to their actual needs. This work marks a significant step toward the next generation of smart, self-optimizing cultivation systems.

The purpose of the meeting is for the international expert group on innovation and competitiveness to explore transformative innovation policies in practice, with the long-term goal of developing recommendations for how AI can be leveraged to guide progress toward a sustainable and inclusive future.

The project resulted in a 34 percent increase in yield, clearly demonstrating the potential to build more precise, resource-efficient, and sustainable growing systems. Ljusgårda’s discoveries open new opportunities for advancing intelligent cultivation technologies within the field of controlled environment agriculture (CEA).

UNECE serves as an international forum for governments, experts, and businesses to develop standards, exchange best practices, and promote sustainable development and innovation. Ljusgårda’s participation takes place within the Team of Specialists on Innovation and Competitiveness Policies, whose annual session this year focuses on exploring transformative innovation policies in practice and formulating recommendations for how countries and policymakers can apply AI and innovation to ensure progress that benefits both people and the planet.

The meeting will take place on 27 October in Geneva, bringing together experts, researchers, and representatives from member states to discuss the future of innovation policy. Ljusgårda participates as an industry expert in sustainable agriculture, invited for its pioneering work with AI and sustainable cultivation.

This exploratory project has led to a groundbreaking understanding of how advanced sensor technology can be used to measure plant stress levels in real time. By feeding this data into our AI models, we can interpret it and, in essence, give the plant the ability to regulate its own ecosystem. It’s a major and important step toward more intelligent and self-optimizing cultivation systems, says Erik Lundgren, Founder and Head of Research at Ljusgårda.

“We are honored to take part in such an important discussion on how the innovation and sustainability of the future can be enabled. For new ideas to grow, support from governments and public agencies must be accessible and manageable for innovative companies. It is valuable to be part of this dialogue and to share insights from our work,” says Julia Ragnell, Business Developer & Innovation Project Manager at Ljusgårda.

Ljusgårda is a Swedish company specializing in Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) – cultivation in controlled, high-tech indoor environments. With an innovation-driven research team, Ljusgårda combines plant science, advanced technology, and sustainability to unlock the full potential of plants.The research extends beyond food production, encompassing new applications in functional ingredients, bioactive compounds, and bio-based materials, driving the next generation of sustainable cultivation where precision-grown biology becomes a resource for both health and industry.