Actions and projects to strengthen AKIS

The Common Agricultural Policy and the Horizon research and innovation programme both offer funding to set up innovative tools and projects across Europe, such as Operational Groups and multi-actor projects, including thematic and advisory networks, to boost innovation and knowledge exchange for agriculture, forestry and rural areas.

AKIS is an important component in Member States’ CAP Strategic Plans (2023–2027). The CAP offers funding and support for setting up a range of interventions, which can boost innovation and knowledge exchange, disseminate innovative solutions, strengthen farm advice, and connect all people and organisations in the Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation Systems.

In EIP-AGRI Operational Groups, partners with complementary expertise ‘co-create’ innovative solutions while focusing on actual needs and opportunities from farmers, foresters or rural communities. National CAP Networks and, particularly, advisors, can support Operational Groups in developing project plans and disseminating their project results more widely, to make sure they reach other innovative projects, researchers, advisors, the National CAP Network or the EU CAP Network in an efficient flow of knowledge.

The CAP offers funding for National CAP Networks and Operational Group projects to organise networking activities, cross-visits or on-farm demonstrations, which can help disseminate project results and foster contact possibilities, boost peer-to-peer learning or form the start of further collaboration.

On-farm demonstration is a particularly good method to share knowledge and experiences in a peer-to-peer setting and support the co-creation of knowledge and innovation between farmers and others in the AKIS. Such events can serve as learning platforms to demonstrate the benefits of applying innovative solutions in practice.

It is crucial to keep improving the skills of the agricultural community, notably of farmers, foresters, and advisors. Developing and increasing skills is a key outcome of a well-functioning AKIS. CAP Strategic Plans provide several actions to foster knowledge exchange and training on innovative approaches.

Under the CAP 2023–2027, advisors need to provide more competent and broader advice. They need to capture farmers’ needs, act as innovation brokers, participate in Operational Group projects and help share innovative project results. To support advisors in their expanding role within the AKIS, training and upskilling are absolutely necessary.

To contribute to sustainable farming, forestry and rural areas, the Horizon Europe programme provides funding opportunities for ‘multi-actor projects’. These are research and innovation projects in which researchers create solutions together with farmers, foresters, rural communities and others, each contributing with their knowledge and expertise, to tackle real needs or opportunities from practice. By means of multi-actor projects, including thematic networks and advisory networks, Horizon Europe helps speed up innovation and knowledge exchange in practice.

A number of Horizon Europe multi-actor projects, including ModernAKIS and ATTRACTISS, are specifically reinforcing AKIS aspects. ModernAKIS focuses on AKIS coordination and its main actors, while ATTRACTISS helps to develop and strengthen innovation support services.

Through the Mission ‘A Soil Deal for Europe’, Horizon supports research and innovation in real experimentation sites through ‘living labs’, and demonstration activities through ‘lighthouses’.

European Research and Innovation Partnerships under Horizon Europe bring a wide range of public and/or private partners together, in collaboration with the European Commission, to address some of Europe’s most pressing challenges.

Practical knowledge and innovative solutions that are produced by EIP-AGRI Operational Groups and other innovative projects need to be shared widely across the EU. Project results need to reach farmers and foresters, as well as researchers, advisors, CAP networks, and EU-wide projects, such as Horizon multi-actor projects, who can apply the innovative solutions in practice, build on the project results, or help disseminate them further. Connecting CAP-funded and Horizon-funded projects can facilitate the flow of information between practice-oriented projects and EU-wide multi-actor networks.

The EU CAP Network and the National CAP Networks organise networking events, including field visits or brokerage events, where Operational Groups can connect with farmers, advisors, researchers, partners in other innovative projects, EU-wide research and innovation projects, or Horizon National Contact Points. This can stimulate peer-to-peer learning or form the start of further collaboration or knowledge exchange.

Results from Operational Group projects can also be tested and disseminated during on-farm demonstration events, which can be nationally, regionally, or CAP-funded, or through living labs or lighthouses, funded under Horizon.

The EU CAP Network regularly organises cross-visits for Operational Groups, which allow them to share results, offer inspiration to tackle common challenges, or start new collaborations.

All Horizon multi-actor projects, including thematic networks, are strongly recommended to work with Operational Groups. A number of Horizon Europe thematic networks specifically build on results from Operational Groups, including CLIMED-FRUIT, Oper8, FOREST4EU, NUTRI-KNOW, and Soil-X-Change. The Operational Groups involved in these networks can complement their knowledge and share valuable project results more widely across the EU.

To create efficient knowledge flows, it is important that all relevant knowledge from research and practice is easy to find, up to date, freely accessible, and ready to be taken up by farmers, foresters, advisors, researchers and all others who can use it. National and EU-wide digital knowledge platforms and databases with practical project results can help share knowledge across Europe and bridge the gap between research and practice.

Several Horizon thematic networks are building knowledge platforms or knowledge reservoirs that collect good practices on specific themes.

The EIP-AGRI project database features thousands of Operational Groups and Horizon multi-actor projects that are developing solutions for EU agriculture, forestry and rural communities.

Intermediate and final project results from Operational Groups and Horizon multi-actor projects can be added to the EIP-AGRI project database in the form of ‘practice abstracts’.

The Horizon project EU-FarmBook is building an online platform that makes practice-oriented knowledge and results from European research and innovation projects freely available.