The “Let’s meet” tool is a guide to support the organisation of local events to celebrate and promote local products, remarkable people, and stories. agroBRIDGES empowers farmers through new business and marketing models based on Short Food Supply Chains (SFSC) and Let's Meet is one of the tools. To make things easier for farmers and small producers, we have developed a set of templates, concept descriptions, and promotional materials, which they can adapt and adjust according to their needs. Further, 4 guidelines for how to organise their events have been developed. We developed the Let's Meet tool focusing on making it very easy and usable for farmers / small producers with less experience in using social media, graphical layouts, and easy compliance with e.g. GDPR rules. We focus on 4 different types of events: - Open days - Producer events - Culinary events - Celebrating local SFSC heroes The tests of the tools indicated a general acceptance of the templates, whereas the guidelines have been adjusted marginally and a few new templates added.

An important element in the building of a SFSC is to create a space or a platform where the various actors in the value chain can meet and explore opportunities for collaboration. Let's Build our SFSC is an online matchmaking event that makes this possible. By using an online matchmaking platform, the players get the opportunity to meet 1:1 with potential partners who are identified through the system's AI algorithm based on the wishes and needs that the participants feed the system with. It can therefore be expected that the actors will have the opportunity, effectively and within a short time, to meet potential business partners that they were not aware of beforehand and thus develop their business in a positive direction.It is not likely that the individual farmer has the resources (financial/time) to set up meetings of this nature on an online matchmaking platform. It is therefore a prerequisite that there is a support organization that can handle the system as well as setting up and running the meeting itself.

Two sets of differentiated guidance materials, videos and presentations (for food producers and public authorities respectively) have been prepared to help know, understand and benefit from the opportunities offered by the new EU public procurement rules and the EU Sustainable Food Procurement Recommendations. Examples of good practice in public procurement of food products in this area have also been provided. The documentation emphasises the importance for both food producers and public purchasers to link environmental production aspects to product quality (e.g. better nutritional properties, taste, health aspects due to fewer additives/chemical products, etc.) and to try to quantify the latter when offering or requesting them. In this way, public purchasers will be able to introduce clearer award criteria based on these, i.e. award criteria based on food quality parameters related to environmental friendliness, which will ultimately lead to fewer problems and claims when tenders are launched. This approach can be combined with public purchasers requiring food suppliers to adopt sustainable production and distribution practices, either as a technical solvency requirement or as a contract performance clause, but these alone are not sufficient and may give rise to potential claims that they are restrictive of competition. 

This document presents a set of materials, communication guidelines, social media messages and resources that brand owners can use to engage producers and consumers in order to identify needs and demands. The content includes (i) Key social media channels; (ii) Best practices to share content; (iii) Key facts and messages about the Short Food Supply Chain; (iv) Sample keywords and images for social media; (v) Related accounts to find inspiration. In the first part of the tool, a definition and approach of the main social media channels in Europe are explained according to the target and the market size. The main social media channels identified to leverage the hashtags were: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn. A formal literature review from the European Commission reports was conducted to develop the content for these channels after completing the literature review, SIE was able to elaborate on a set of top 10 social media messages to communicate and disseminate the benefits of the SFSC products. Once these key messages were identified, the rest of the tool focused on advising the producer and consumer on how to write content based on these top 10 ideas as well as integrating the #WeNeedLocalFood hashtag by including some examples in the framework of copywriting, social media creativities and some social media channels where the user can find inspiration in terms of branding. 

This document presents a set of materials, a handbook, and webinars that explain the value of local food in terms of quality, freshness, and nutritional value, the benefits, and shortcomings of different SFSC types. The content includes (I) Relevant information about local food, Short Food Supply Chains, and healthy diets (II) The skills that both consumers and educators need to have when training others, including tips to carry out knowledge transfer activities (III) Customisable communication materials that can be used in training activities for both children and adults (IV) Relevant country-specific information. In the first part of the tool, an overview is provided of SFSCs, local food, and healthy diets. The idea is that the reader learns about these basic concepts and all the relevant information is provided before carrying out knowledge transfer activities. This focuses on raising awareness. The second part of the handbook includes information focused on how to teach others to share the information already provided in the 1st part. The tool is focused on informing educators and raising awareness amongst consumers on benefits at socioeconomic and health level of locally produced food along short food supply chains. 

Label Me is a labelling guide that presents information about how to create Short Food Supply Chain labels for products, respecting European Union regulations and practices. The overall objective of this guide is to provide users with a labelling tool to increase the demand for SFSC products. By using these labels, consumers can also make better-informed choices. In this tool users will find (i) Definitions & Benefits of SFSC products, (ii) European Union Labelling Practices and (iii) Guidelines to design a SFSC Label. Label Me will help producers to design effective and visually appealing labels to ensure the key messages and benefits of consuming SFSC products are properly addressed but also, with these labels we want to increase citizen awareness by reinforcing a better understanding among the general public. With the Label Me tool users can easily learn about the 12 Rules of Labelling. This technique will allow users to know the requirements and specifications of designing a label in the European legal territory as well as to find creative resources and best practices to design a label such as how to play with the format, how to include interactive content, how to structure the information, etc. 

Aiming to enhance the practical use of the “Yes, you can!” tool, a white paper was created to increase the scope and the impact of the main beneficiaries. The aim of the white paper is to let producers learn about other practices and acquire new knowledge and also to make consumers more aware about the benefits of cooperation. The structure of the white paper was defined from the beginning to follow a real educational, inspiring, and simple approach, as it targeted collecting and gathering best practices identified during previous activities of the agroBRIDGES project and assessing them using common attributes and features and to promote the dissemination of the agroBRIDGES Toolbox. Sharing inspiring success cases are useful initiatives to demonstrate the numerous options available to empower farmers and producers in their mission to deliver directly their food. They can be used to encourage similar practices to be fine-tuned based on each region’s characteristics. 

The purpose of the Why Am I Special? tool is to create a set of questions that lead to the identification of the producer’s Unique Selling Points (USP). Once identified, a set of customisable communication materials (social media messages and key messages for website and advertisements) are provided to the producer with those USPs. This will support producers in developing a brand, identity, and market position through USPs as well as responding to consumer demand. The tool only considers those with a score higher than 80% as USPs. The tool recommends utilising the communication materials associated with each Unique Selling Point to maximise their impact. By clicking on "download materials" producers can access a variety of communication resources that provide insights into the key messages behind each USP. Additionally, producers will find examples of how to effectively utilizeutilise them and creative brand assets to enhance their marketing efforts. The content of each communication material includes: • TOP KEY MESSAGES: short catchy messages of information that the consumers/audience can easily remember and understand. These messages include the value that the producers will bring to stakeholders. • COPYWRITING EXAMPLES: A few copywriting examples using persuasive marketing were included in each communication material . The examples are based on the top key messages. Producers can find inspiration in these texts and use them for promotional purposes (advertisement, social media content, etc.). • HASHTAGS: Hashtags are an integral part of communication and social media as it helps to link the related content. According to each USP, a set of popular related hashtags have been identified to help producers to promote and boost their messages. • LOOK & FEEL: An image has been included to illustrate the content revolving around each USP. In addition to this image, a reference mentioning to view suggesting the use of the Social Media guidelines #WeNeedLocalFood is included so the producers can find additional tips and best practices in the field of communication and dissemination.

The "Hear my voice" tool is one of the digital spaces developed as part of the agroBRIDGES Toolbox. The tool functions as an idea exchange space for Short Food Supply Chains (SFSCs), supporting the design of new services and products for local food markets. Farmers, producers and other agri-food businesses can publish (business) ideas about new services and products based on SFSCs. Other businesses and consumers can provide feedback and recommendations for improving the ideas and collaborate more actively with the business that proposed the idea, through direct communication. In a different section of the tool, consumers and citizens can express their needs for products, services and activities related to their local food market. Other consumers can support these needs and provide further details or feedback. Businesses can use these identified market needs as inspiration to further develop their services and product lines. Finally, the tool provides a space for businesses to promote crowdfunding campaigns they've published in specialised platforms (Kickstarter, GoFundMe, IndieGoGo, etc.) to raise funding from their local community as an alternative to traditional funding methods (banking, investment). Moreover, an introductory crowdfunding guide is offered to farmers and other producers who are not familiar with this financing method. Finally, consumers can find an organised list of crowdfunding campaigns and decide which ones to support financially. The tool, however, does not support transactions for crowdfunding. Business ideas, consumer needs and crowdfunding campaigns can be filtered based on their type and location. 

The agroBRIDGES Smart Delivery tool’s main objectives are the following: - To allow consumers to express their needs so producers can spot consumer driven opportunities. - To match producers with consumers. To achieve these objectives a short food supply chain (SFSC) platform has been developed with the following key features: - An online repository to store and manage different users’ profiles and agrifood data. - “Smart delivery” Profile page where distributors, retailers, etc. offering new logistics approaches can connect with producers based on their product offering. as offer and demand can be expressed. - A forum where consumers can post their needs or questions about local products. - Hashtag that will allow producers to easily check consumers’ feelings and needs, having a closer look to market trends. Once spotted, producers can develop/choose the SFSC business and marketing models that could provide them with a better income through the decision support tool (based on sustainability assessment), smart delivery tool and net tool which allows efficient resources sharing. Different types of short food distribution channels are included in the platform for the farmer or the consumer to choose according to its preferences: - Direct on-farm sales: pick your own - Direct on-farm sales: sales to individual consumers - Direct off-farm sales: internet deliveries - Direct off-farm sales: delivery to consumer - Direct off-farm sales: farmers’ markets (fairs) - Sales to small retail outlets (one intermediary)

The agroBRIDGES Net tool is a networking tool with an advanced profile page where users can: present available facilities to be shared or at the same time, express their need so they can find others in the same circumstances and join forces. The tool promotes economies of scale and joint investments.The overall functionality of the tool is presented in the next key points: An online repository to store and manage different users’ profiles and available resources. A platform and IT management system for short food chain optimisation, which connects all the participant in the market. The tool will support producers in sharing resources and finding allies to jointly deliver products to meet market requirements.

The Decision Support Tool (DST) is one of the digital spaces developed as part of the agroBRIDGES Toolbox. Decision Support Tool is an online tool that supports farmers to explore new business models and sales channels using short food supply chains (SFSC) by providing recommendations about the most suitable business models and sales channels, based on their own information as well as country and regional specific background information. In addition, the tool provides an evaluation of environmental, social and economic impacts of different sales channels. First, the user fills in information about the farm (location, size, number of production months, products produced, etc.), second, information on farm activities including whether the producer or farmer would like to welcome consumers and tourists to visit the farm is collected, and third, information about her/himself as a producer is gathered. The tool uses this information to identity the most suitable short food supply chain business models and sales channels for the producer or farmers specific circumstances. In the analysis part, the tool provides recommendations for business models and sales channels, the sustainability criteria of recommended sales channels and a comparison between them. Additional information about descriptions of SFSC business models and sustainability criteria, instructions about how to read the analysis results and information about how the results were calculated, are provided.

The agroBRIDGES Toolbox is an online platform that contains tools and guidelines to support the development of Short Food Supply Chains (SFSCs) in Europe. The agroBRIDGES Toolbox offers: (i) communication material, (ii) digital spaces (tools), (iii) training programmes for public food procurement, and (iv) event organisation guidelines. All tools are available in 12 European languages: English, Greek, Finnish, Dutch, Danish, French, Spanish, Italian, Polish, Latvian, Lithuanian and Turkish. The agroBRIDGES Toolbox is designed in such a way that users can easily find the tools that match their role in the agri-food sector and the specific topic of interest. The platform will be supported by user guidelines available into 12 languages to support users in finding their way across the different tools and functionalities. The tools of the agroBRIDGES Toolbox aim to provide practical support, awareness and capacity building to farmers and producers about the concept of SFSCs and to better connect them with citizens and consumers, other businesses in the agri-food sector, hospitality and public food procurers and serve as a day-to-day instrument to create new business opportunities. By using the agroBRIDGES tools, we expect that farmers will be able to create new sales channels and business models and increase their income and profits with the support of their local community. At the same time our tools inform consumers about the economic, social, and environmental benefits of SFSCs. Our tools have also a target to inform public food procurers (schools, hospitals, and other public structures) so that they create more inclusive procurement requirements for small-scale farmers and SFSC. In parallel they also provide farmers with an easy-to-understand introduction to public tendering procedures. Agri-food and HORECA businesses are facilitated in creating new collaborations with farmers and developing new SFSCs in local markets, through ideas exchange, networking, and infrastructure sharing. Finally, farmers and producers can use the toolbox and develop delivery systems for local customers. 

This PA aims to address a report that will enable partners, stakeholders, and general audience to assess different Short Food Supply Chain (SFSC) business models are based not only on academic research but also based on knowledge captured by co-creation exercises in each of the agroBRIDGES´s Beacon Regions.Business Models' final list provide valuable insights in order to represent diverse regional contexts and eventually offer useful information about the main factors to be considered in developing a successful business model that can enhance market success in the long term; by defining and stretching out value proposition and business model CANVAS for each of the SFSC that are most common in each of the regions.Five different Business Model and Value Proposition CANVAS have been addressed and developed, providing valuable insights to strengthen farmer´s strategy to enhance their position within the whole value chain and improve their customer experience.

Farmers interested in short food supply chains (SFSC) are advised to assess the potential profitability of their investment prior to implementation. In other words, they should seek to answer the question of whether the investment will pay off. Simple calculation methods such as the net present value method, the internal rate of return method, the annuity method, and the dynamic amortization calculation can support farmers in their decision-making as they allow them to evaluate the return on their investments. These methods are briefly summed up in the so-called extended practice abstract 'Assessing the profitability of investments in the short food supply chain in a nutshell'. Additionally, a practical example is presented. In the example, a farmer is interested in investing in a mobile layer hen barn calculates its profitability by taking different egg prices that can be achieved through the SFSC into consideration. In addition to this, the calculations made are included in an Excel file to allow a deeper understanding. 

The aim of this guide is to clearly present the agroBRIDGES toolbox to different stakeholders and to provide practical information on how to use it. These tools are grouped into 4 types: digital tools (4 tools), communication tools (5 tools), training materials (1 tool) and event organisation tools (2 tools). - Each of the digital tools has been developed in response to the needs and barriers identified for reaching consumers and producers. In addition, they are expected to have a direct impact on the cooperation between stakeholders in the agricultural sector and to improve the positioning of producers in the market. - In terms of communication tools, one of the main impacts of the agroBRIDGES project is to stimulate the full adoption of business models based on Short Food Supply Chains (SFSCs). - The training materials produced as part of the agroBRIDGES toolbox will help end-users (public administrations, producers, consumers) to implement and actually participate in SFSCs. - The tools for organising events are expected to have a positive impact on activating and strengthening links between producers and consumers/other users of the products.

As part of the validation process of the agroBRIDGES event tools, one online event “Let's build our SFSCs” took place in Lithuania. It was held on 27th March 2023 and was organized virtually on the Brella platform – online brokerage and networking platform that offers virtual one-to-one meetings, sessions and relationship building. The virtual meeting in Lithuania was aimed at supporting building strategic relashionships between different actors supporting SFSC creation and offering innovation support services for SMEs, including those that supports SFSC creation. During the meeting, the agroBRIDGES toolbox was presented followed by a presentation of synergic EU projects with complementary scope to agroBRIDGES. Concrete and tangible business, matchmaking and financing opportunities at local and international levels were shared as a basis for group discussion and experience sharing about possibilities of creating SFSC in Lithuania. The online event was organized at strategic level to interconnect competences and joint forces focusing on identifying potential new synergies and joint actions. Special focus was put on cross-fertilization activities that might support Lithuanian SMEs developing SFSC that are offered by Lithuanian and European business and innovation support organizations. The validation process is aligned with the concept of dynamic marketing capabilities (DMC) to sense, seize and reconfigure companies’ internal and external competencies to address rapidly changing environments and can serve as a foundation for reconfiguring processes to determine superior performance, creating new business and innovation interactions in virtual environments offered by business support organizations in Lithuania and Europe

As part of the validation process of agroBRIDGES tools, one online event “Let's build our SFSC” was held in Latvia. It took place on March 30, 2023, and was organised virtually through the Brella platform - an online brokerage and networking platform that offers virtual individual meetings, sessions and relationship building. The goal of the virtual meeting in Latvia was to create short food supply chains in Latvia, bringing together participants in the agricultural and food value chain together with business support and academic organisations interested in this topic. During the meeting a set of agroBRIDGES instruments was presented, followed by presentation of EIT Food activities in Latvia and synergistic EU projects complementing agroBRIDGES. Concrete and tangible business, matchmaking, and financing opportunities at local and international level for companies and start-ups were shared, which served as the basis for a group discussion and exchange of experience on the possibilities for setting up SFSCs in Latvia. The online event was organised at both business and strategic level in order to interconnect the objectives of competence and business support organisations to join forces and identify possible joint actions. Special attention was put on different products and activities developed by Latvian SMEs, as well as bottom-up collaboration activities that are taking place in the field of public procurement. The validation process is aligned with the dynamic marketing capability (DMC) concept to sense, seize and reconfigure the internal and external competencies of companies in response to rapidly changing environments. This can serve as a basis for reconfiguring processes to determine higher performance, create new business and innovation interactions in the virtual environment offered by business support organizations in Latvia and Europe.

As part of the validation process of the agroBRIDGES event tools, one online event “Let's build our SFSCs” took place in Poland. It was held on 31st March 2023 and was organised virtually on the Brella platform – online brokerage and networking platform that offers virtual one-to-one meetings, sessions and relationship building. The virtual meeting in Poland was focused on boosting synergies between different actors supporting SFSC creation, gathering representatives from diverse sectors and industries engaged in agri-food value chain and working with SFSC concept. During the online meeting, local and international opportunities for collaborations in the agri-food sector were presented, focusing on identifying potential new synergies and joint actions. Additionally, one-to-one meetings and group forum were brokered after the event to build new linkages between participants. The validation process is aligned with the concept of dynamic marketing capabilities (DMC) to sense, seize and reconfigure companies’ internal and external competencies to address rapidly changing environments and can serve as a foundation for reconfiguring processes to determine superior performance, creating new business and innovation interactions in virtual environments.

The value of bringing small-scale producers together with food service companies in small groups where they can exchange information and at the same time learn or improve a specific skill is high and very popular with small-scale producers. The owner of a farm bakery has developed the concept for a baking course for a small group of hotels, cafes, and small-scale producers. As part of this course, they are invited to develop dough recipes, bake different types of bread, and learn about different types of flour from a local producer. Sustainable handling of the bread in their companies was also part of the programme. A farmer and miller shared information with the group about the different types of flour and the supply options available to source directly from the company. The concept can be adapted for use by other bakeries or other small-scale producers. Furthermore, with a few adjustments, the farm bakery can use the concept on consumer courses for consumers interested in baking their own bread. The group, including the farm baker, discussed forming a small community with the aim of continuing to exchange experiences and knowledge within the group in the future. 

"Let's meet!” is one of the event concepts for the local promotion of the agroBRIDGES project. We decided to organise a culinary event. The planning and implementation of the event were carried out in accordance with the project's target. Since the event was held in cooperation with the İstanbul Nişantaşı University, it attracted great consumer attention (55 persons) and received more than expected participation (25/55), increased visibility for local, healthy products, and brought awareness to the importance of supporting short food supply chains. Sabri Ülker Foundation has many academic collaborations, so the event has been applying with faculty of gastronomy and 2 famous chefs attended the event and prepared dishes that they had not cooked before with local products. Additionally, each participant received an agroBRIDGES informational handbook about the short food supply chain and the local products used during the event, adding an informational aspect to the hands-on experience. It was really quite interesting for all the participants. This situation caused us to receive more attention on social media (almost all participants contributed to the project's announcement by sharing the chefs on their social media accounts). 

As part of the validation process of the agroBRIDGES event tools two events were organized in Finland. The first one was "Let's meet" event arranged as a face-to-face event on February 14th, 2023. The second one was "Let's build our SFSCs" event organised online using the Brella platform on March 15th, 2023. Both events were organised together with national projects that focus on local food aiming to increase the knowledge and stakeholders’ collaboration around the subject. The first event was a producer event with the topic of: “Cooperation gives strength to short food supply chains”. The event was arranged with partners from a national project that concentrates on local food and aims to have closer dialogue between farmers, consumers, and retailers. The second event was targeted also for producers, but also for other agri-food chain operators. Again, we ended up joining efforts with other project and the event was arranged together with national Food Sector Coordination Project. The topic of the second event was: “Boosting short food supply chains with marketing and communication”. Joining efforts and collaborating with these projects was essential especially in reaching the target audience as well as sharing knowledge and ideas with these projects. Finland is a very small country, and it does not make sense to organise many similar events here, especially if they are targeted at a similar group of participants.

In order to test the one of the four “Let’s meet!” event concepts designed in agroBRIDGES for the local promotion of Short Food Supply Chains, Vegepolys Valley decided to organise culinary events. The organisation, planning and implementation of the event was performed using the guidelines and templates designed by the project. The small difference is that the events took place into a pop-up store: the open doors of the store into the street, and the kitchen smells attracted a lot of people and some stayed to watch a bit the cook show and explain about the products and the cooking process. This resulted in an audience that was bigger than expected. Thanks to VEGEPOLYS VALLEY network, we were able to invite famous chefs to cook recipes based on local and fresh products. This made the culinary event more attractive and visible on social network as well. We planned 3 different culinary workshops of 1 hour to address different aspect of local food : - "from vegetable to plate" - "vegetable bites" - "edible gardens" According to participants, the intervention and preparation of the different chefs was interesting and resulted in very tasty food.

Italian stakeholders and representatives of the MAP are involved in the validation process of agroBRIDGES toolbox since it is created and built to provide them practical support in promoting and managing their SFSCs activities. After a first phase of internal exchanges, the research team approached the different possible users, via email and telephone, in order to meet them and present the tools provided. Stakeholders were brought together in order to analyse the different types of tools presented, receive feedback and validate them. Since the stakeholders come from two different Italian regions, the team decided to meet them in person to establish more direct contact with them and to be as detailed as possible when presenting and testing the tools with them. During the meetings and interviews, some audio-visual material was collected to create a video explaining the validation process and the applied methodology, available on agroBRIDGES YT channel. Meeting the stakeholders and future possible users of the tools not only means refining the product to produce the best possible tool, it also means establishing a stronger bridge between parties and creating a trusting relationship that can also positively influence the use of the toolbox itself. 

As part of the validation process of the agroBRIDGES “Let’s Meet” event tool, an Open Day event was organised at the American Farm School (AFS), located at approximately 15-20 minutes driving distance from Thessaloniki city centre. AFS offers educational programmes spanning all grades from pre-school to Masters’ degrees, also having a large farm that produces, as part of its educational activities, various products that are sold in the local market. During the event, AFS opened its premises to members of the public and their families and received approximately 60 visitors, including children. After a brief presentation of the agroBRIDGES project and the AFS mission and history, the visitors were offered a walking tour of the campus and the educational farms to learn about the farm activities and products, followed by lunch made using the products of the school. Overall, the event was a very pleasant and informative experience. Open Days can play an important role in awareness raising and promotion of local food, as the promotion and branding of local food is heavily based on memory and experiences. Local small-scale producers, businesses and educational institutions like the American Farm School, work very hard to produce quality food and create tangible impact, taking pride on their efforts. Such events can therefore be extremely motivating for producers, especially when people get to know them, their activities and products at their own site. The events are highly recommended and can strengthen local food supply chains if organised on a frequent basis, so that consumers know how to anticipate them. According to collected feedback, most people would like to see Open Days happen 3-4 times a year or more frequently. 

The collection of the best practice included stakeholders from the agrifood value chain, within the corporate network of the Yıldız Holding (agricultural and food producing companies) that SUF is affiliated with, but also civil society organisations, parental groups, teachers and nutritionists from the broader community of SUF. Surveys, interviews and focus groups were used to collect insights.
The conclusions of the discussions held points to the fact that there is always a fragile attempt for trade-off between commercial interests and the sustainability of the value chain. It is there where the continuous efforts of the consumers and their representatives as well as advocates for fair trade step in to make sure that there is a balance between the profit and the impact on the society, health or nature.
Recommendations about the SFSCs are concentrated around pointing the 'stakeholders' at the end of the value chain from the beginning of the cycle to make sure that there is responsible consumption of food and planned reuse of the waste value streams. The meaning of cost has to be defined with all engaged stakeholders, from the small-scale, independent farmers to the individual consumers, especially those that have difficulties making their own nutritional choices. Children shall be actively supported with providing a vast diversity of affordable but also healthy food options that are designed to make the value chain self-sufficient, fair and resilient.

CTA identified within its cluster, suitable businesses that could fit into the agroBRIDGES’ definition of SFSCs and become members of the Multi Actor Platform (MAP) while also ensuring that the selected stakeholders could be identified with multiple business models. Thus, CTA in a regional co-creation workshop established a dedicated session to understand determining factors for SFSC business models, as well prioritise them based on the MAP members’ opinion and feedback. The results have been consolidated into four main typologies namely: Financial (12), Social (5), Environmental (8) and Technological (6). In total, there are 31 key metrics to take into account when selecting and deploying SFSCs in practice. Indeed, each of the typologies has been prioritized based on audience opinions during the polls held in the course of the co-creation workshop. The benefit of this approach is to obtain valuable feedback from the first step of the design phase concerning the list of metrics that the project should monitor in order to assure stakeholders that the solutions provided are solving their specific needs and desires, and that progress can be easily assessed. As a recommendation for drafting the Metrics, the workshop organiser should provide some examples to foster the acquisition of proposals from the audience. As well, the results of the value-based prioritization should be displayed visually to make them aware about the conclusion that can be reached.

Different groups in the agri-food, ICT and related value chains in Poland were involved in co-creating Short Food Supply Chain (SFSC) models using multi-actor approach and engaging regional stakeholders (MAPs members). At first, potential barriers in the development of SFSC were identified in the region together via desk-research, interviews with selected MAP members and participatory observation. Next, multi-actor representatives from Poland were invited to the virtual co-creation workshop to assess the identified barriers and add any further challenges. Following, a discussion and co-design of solutions to mitigate barriers took place taking into account the local needs and expectations of Polish stakeholders. During the workshop, ten key barriers were analysed and fifteen potential solutions were proposed in a participatory discussion and brainstorming exercise facilitated by the Beacon Leader. Transport and packaging were identified as the key barriers and success factors for SFSC's business models in Poland. The demand and social trends related to the consumption of sustainably produced food also were highlighted as important factors for SFSC development.

One of the goals of the agroBRIDGES project is to develop a multi-criteria decision-making model that links specific short food supply chain (SFSC) business models to sustainability outcomes. Developing such a model requires data on both SFSC business models and on sustainability outcomes. This poses challenges because of (i) the diversity in SFSC business models; (ii) the inconsistent use of terminology and classification of SFSC business models in various reports and publications; (iii) the diversity in farms and regions (iv) the complexity of sustainability indicator measurement; (v) the lack of sufficient information in the secondary literature to perform such measurements. The danger then becomes that existing information for some business models and for some sustainability indicators is aggregated or transposed to other business models, leading to inappropriate conclusions, for instance, that a business model is recommended to a farmer that does not optimally fit the farm's location or production characteristics. To partly overcome this challenge, decision rules have been applied to sort out unsuitable sales channels beforehand based on farm and regional characteristics.

Different groups in the agri-food, ICT and related value chains in Lithuania were involved in co-creating Short Food Supply Chain (SFSC) models using multi-actor approach and creating regional platform of stakeholders (MAP). At first, potential barriers in the development of SFSC were identified in the region with good practices via desk-research, interviews with selected MAP members and participatory observation. Next, multi-actor representatives (MAP members) from Lithuania were invited to the virtual co-creation workshop to assess the identified challenges and add any further barriers. Following, a discussion and co-design solutions to mitigate them took place taking into account the needs and expectations of Lithuanian stakeholders. During the workshop, eight key barriers were analysed and twelve potential solutions were proposed in a participatory discussion and brainstorming exercise facilitated by the Beacon Leader and local expert. Awareness, promotion and education, public support measures, branding/packaging and transport have been identified as a key success factors for the development of SFSC's in Lithuania.

Different groups in the agri-food, ICT and related value chains in Latvia were involved in co-creating Short Food Supply Chain (SFSC) models using multi-actor approach and engaging regional stakeholders (MAPs members). At first, potential barriers in the development of SFSC were identified in the region via desk-research, interviews with selected MAP members and participatory observation. Next, multi-actor representatives from Latvia were invited to the virtual co-creation workshop to assess the identified barriers and add any further challenges. Following, a discussion and co-design of solutions to mitigate these barriers took place taking into account the local needs and expectations of Latvian stakeholders. During the workshop, seven key barriers were analysed and eight potential solutions were proposed in a participatory discussion and brainstorming exercise facilitated by the Beacon Leader and local experts. High costs of logistics have been identified as the main challenge. Eliminating inefficiencies in procurement procedures, accelerating process of ensuring food safety and traceability should be among top priorities for SFSC successful development in Latvia.

European experts and representatives of the production sector were involved by CREA (Council for Agricultural Research and Economics, "Policies and Bioeconomy" and "Food and Nutrition" centres) in co-creating and defining a list of attributes and indicators suitable for constructing a decision-making tool to support producers in the choice of the most appropriate SFSCs business model, in the light of an overall goal of sustainability (economic, environmental, and social). After a first phase of literature review that allowed the creation of a logical framework for sustainability, a qualitative approach characterised by 2 online focus groups and 2 Delphi rounds was adopted. Indeed, the COVID-19 pandemic and concomitant restrictions made it necessary to rethink the traditional focus group modalities. Several collaboration and communication tools were examined to identify the most useful ones for conducting virtual focus groups. "Microsoft Teams" was used as the main tool for real-time communication. This was complemented by "Mentimiter", a digital platform using interactive elements such as questions, polls, word clouds, reactions, etc., that allowed feedback to be processed and shared with participants simultaneously. Despite the exchanges being carried out remotely, the design and organisation of meetings (including the need to adapt them to the new settings), combined with the use of targeted tools, allowed the inclusiveness and interaction of participants.

At the end of every agroBRIDGES event organised by MTU and TEAGASC in Ireland, programme participants are asked to evaluate the event using an online questionnaire. The goal of this exercise is to measure the extent to which the event has succeeded in achieving its purpose,to document the lessons learned in order to improve upon the next event and to develop a programme for a subsequent event. This involves distributing an event evaluation form to participants immediately after the event for their feedback. For example an evaluation form was sent out to all participants who attended the Irish regional co-creation workshop upon conclusion of the event. Feedback was received from about half of those who attended the event. Overall, attendees mainly agreed that the event was interesting, useful, insightful and collaborative, and somewhat agreed that the event was inspiring. The attendees also stated that the overall organisation of the event, the topics discussed and the presentations were “Very Good”. In addition, the outcomes of the workshop and the digital tools and platform used were rated as “Good”, and the opportunities for networking were rated as “Average”. A large majority of the participants said their interest in the agroBRIDGES project had increased.

Virtual interactive sessions are organised for the Irish Multi-Actor Platform (MAP) Forum members on a regular basis to discuss the challenges associated with various stages of SFSC business development in Ireland (e.g the start-up and expansion into other counties in Ireland). The identified barriers hindering the development of SFSCs are drawn from the results of studies carried out in the agroBRIDGES project. The purpose of the workshops is to help producers identify solutions to the challenges they face at various stages of their SFSC business so that they can run sustainable and profitable enterprises. Study findings from the agroBRIDGES project are shared with producers during the workshop events in order to enlighten them about the overall SFSC situation in Europe and stimulate conversations among producers about SFSC development in Ireland. Green enterprises are also being explored as viable business options during the workshops with a view to increasing awareness among producers about the importance of starting and scaling up their SFSC businesses in an environmentally and economically sustainable way. Domain specific challenges such as public procurement are also being discussed to help producers find ways to overcome barriers associated with the purchase of local produce by public institutions. The workshops are a collaboration between TEAGASC and Munster Technological University (MTU), Ireland’s Beacon Region Leader for the agroBRIDGES project.

Individuals, representing different groups in the agri-food value chain of the Central Macedonia region in Greece, were involved in co-creating Short Food Supply Chain (SFSC) models, with benefits for the local economy, society and environment. Good practices in the region were identified, the most significant barriers were selected, and solutions were proposed. In a brainstorming exercise, participants contributed to the definition of two improved SFSC models in the region: a) online shop, selling fresh fruit and vegetables to local consumers and businesses in the local HO.RE.CA sector, b) retail sales of premium local food, either in small shops focusing on personal relationships with customers but have presence in a few points within an area, or in dedicated supermarket sections with higher density of selling points but less personal interaction with consumers. SFSCs should, most importantly, add value by addressing consumer needs related to easier, faster and more flexible customer service for better access to local quality food. Modern technologies in production, traceability and logistics and novel marketing techniques could play a role in making traditional farming processes attractive, especially for consumers in urban areas. SFSCs need to be financially viable and backed by solid business plans. Farmers should place importance in scaling their production, improving their logistics and forming partnerships with fellow farmers and regional stakeholders, to improve their market position. Having established their market position, SFSC actors may then focus on creating value for the environment and the local society.

In the frame of AgroBridges project, the French beacon region gathered different type of actors around Short food supply chain (producers, distributors, policies, researchers, etc.) to discuss about common challenges. First, we discovered a high number of already existing initiatives and tools in different geographical areas to develop this new distribution model. So, each stakeholder has been able to share about what they know, their own experience and good practices to develop and set-up short food supply chain activities in their territory. These discussions led to the identification of common barriers and economic, politic and social obstacles to go further with short food supply chain as: the consumer awareness, the price, the understanding of labels, and the logistic for producers, etc. According to the business model chosen by the producer (on-farm, producer's shop, open air market, etc.), some leverages have been identified with this multi-actor approach to overcome the difficulties and facilitate the development of the value chain with the objective to connect producers and consumers with multiple benefits (environmental, social, economic, politic).

Individuals, representing different groups in the agri-food value chain in Finland, were involved in co-creating Short Food Supply Chain (SFSC) models, with benefits for the local economy, society and environment. The discussion themes were: 1) Best practices and success cases, 2) Key barriers and solutions to mitigate them, and 3) Business and marketing models for SFSCs. In a brainstorming exercise, participants contributed to the definition of three improved SFSC models in the region: a) local food collective, b) self-picking of berries, and c) public food services. In addition, projects and tools available for supporting SFSCs were discussed. SFSCs should most importantly, add value by addressing consumer needs related to easier and more flexible customer service for better access to local quality food. In addition, improved visibility and availability of the SFSC services is essential, including guidelines for consumers to be able to make better choices. There is also possibility to of including additional services for SFSC business models. Collaboration between the producers and other actors (e.g. logistics providers, marketing) would bring additional value (effectiveness & business success) for SFSC solutions, also in the public food services.

In the first press release about agroBRIDGES, two objectives were addressed: 1) stakeholder involvement from the beginning of the project and 2) awareness of the potential to improve local producers' market position and reduce intermediaries' margin from SFSCs. The press release was based on the press release from the agroBRIDGES project management, but adjusted to be more relevant for the Danish target groups and a Danish context in general. The press release was send out to a handpicked media group within the agrifood sector.
Addressing this purpose in a precise and relevant way meant that the press release resulted in many articles in highly relevant professional journals / magazines such as:
*PolicyWatch
*FødevareWatch
*AgriNews
*Effektiv Landbrug
*Fødevare Fokus
*Food Supply DK
*LandbrugsAvisen
Which in turn resulted in direct contact with farmers, producers and other stakeholders within the Stakeholder Groups relevant for agroBRIDGES:
*Producers and farmers
*Distributors
*Consumers
*Academics and researchers
*Policy makers and public food procurers
*Technology networks, hubs and clusters
*Civil society
A clear description of ""what's in it for the farmers / producers"" did allow the stakeholders to assess the relevance for themselves immediately. Which is thought to be the reason why so many have responded promptly to confirm their interest. Thereby, it has been possible to select actors, who adequately reflect the ecosystem in the region, which form the basis of the MAP (Multi-Actor Platform).