Agriculture is a sector which is highly exposed to the impacts of climate change and the uncertainty it brings. The EU aims to increase the resilience of farms, while at the same time supporting them to reduce emissions and mitigate the effects of climate change. Under the CAP, advisors have an increasingly important place in AKIS (Agriculture Knowledge and Innovation Systems), with their roles in transferring knowledge and innovation, capturing farmers’ needs, acting as innovation brokers, and addressing wider environmental, social, and economic challenges. The ClimateSmartAdvisors project, funded by Horizon Europe and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), is launching a European-wide advisory network with 260 regional groups of advisors called Communities of Practice (CoP). This initiative aims to equip Europe’s agricultural sector to meet the demands of a changing climate. It focuses on the crucial role of advisors in the development and dissemination of climate-smart innovations and practices.

ClimateSmartAdvisors, which began in April 2023 and will run until 2030, focuses on building the capacity of agricultural advisors across Europe by providing them with the skills, tools and knowledge necessary to encourage and guide farmers in adopting sustainable practices. These practices are designed to tackle mitigation (reducing greenhouse gas emissions) and adaptation (improving resilience to climate impacts), fostering a transition toward low-carbon, climate-resilient agricultural systems.

To develop the network, one of the main activities of the project is to set up 260 Communities of Practice (CoPs) to leverage collaboration and peer-to-peer learning among advisors within a given region. Since June 2024, 38 CoPs spread across 27 countries have already kick-started their work. Each CoP is facilitated by a Climate Smart Coach, who receives training before the start of the CoP activities, mainly on facilitation, soft skills and advisory tools. Advisors sign up to be part of a CoP, and receive a small remuneration from the project for their participation. The members of the CoP decide on the topic, learning questions, and objectives for their CoP. This ensures ownership and relevance for their working context. CoPs have chosen topics such as dealing with methane emissions, or facing the issue of farmers who may be reluctant to take up climate-smart practices. The coaches facilitate eight meetings over a two-year period for the advisors to work together, collectively improving their skills, sharing knowledge and experience and training one another.

The project will also facilitate knowledge exchange between CoPs from different regions and countries, enabling capacity building across borders. This activity will be based on thematic exchanges. There are 12 thematic areas which include agroforestry, soil health and biodiversity, water management and energy management.

Further training sessions, webinars, and online learning modules in 27 languages will also be offered, targeting advisors beyond those involved in the CoPs. The training will cover agronomic technical knowledge, innovation management and soft skills development. In total, across its activities, the network aims to involve 10 000 agricultural advisors.

ClimateSmartAdvisors AKIS meetings will also be held in each country on a national level to look into how effectively the CoP is contributing to solving concrete issues, and to identify other stakeholders that should be involved. The project is also working with sister projects Climate Farm Demo and ClieNFarms; one of the outcomes of this collaboration will be a ‘Knowledge Repository’ gathering technical knowledge on climate-smart mitigation methods and tools for advisors to use in their work.

Lies concludes “Overall, ClimateSmartAdvisors’ network seeks to have a long-term impact, by equipping existing advisory service providers and advisors with the necessary skills to support farmers in the reduction of the carbon footprint of European agriculture while enhancing its resilience to climate change.”