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Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - AgriLink (AgriLink. Agricultural Knowledge: Linking farmers, advisors and researchers to boost innovation.)

Teaser

Summary

The aim of AgriLink is to better understand the role of advisory services in farmersâ€™ decisions regarding various innovation areas (technological, process, marketing and social), and to enhance the contribution of advice to sustainable development of agriculture. The political context is characterised by high expectations for the contribution of advice to ecological transitions, as reflected in the various policy briefs by the Strategic Working Group on Agriculture Knowledge and Innovation Systems, of the Standing Committee on Agricultural Research (SCAR-AKIS-SWG). At the same time, uncertainties remain: about the actual sources of farmersâ€™ services and knowledge regarding various innovation areas, the methods and conceptions of advice that better support farmers, but also the public policies framing advisory services. In this context, AgriLinkâ€™s key features are:
- A conceptual framework to better understand the role of farm advice in farmersâ€™ decision making, in a multilevel perspective;
- interviews with farmers to describe their micro-level Agricultural Knowledge and Information Systems (microAKIS);
- An understanding of the supply of services in 26 focus regions;
- A mapping of the economic regimes framing the advisory activities across European countries;
- An assessment of the implementation of the European Farm Advisory Systems (EU-FAS) regulation;
- Interactivity as a backbone of the project, through i) implementation of codesign thinking in six Living Labs (LLs) where service innovations are co-developed; ii) e-conference and specific interactions with the SCAR-AKIS-WG; iii) socio-technical transition scenario to discuss about possible trajectories of advisory services towards a better support of sustainable development, in a variety of contexts.
AgriLinkâ€™s methodology is structured around five Work Packages (WPs) combining theoretical innovation with cutting-edge research methods within a multidisciplinary approach, complemented by dissemination and management WPs (fig. 1).

Work performed

During the first 18 months of the project, most of the work involved WPs 1, 2, 3 and 6.
A first achievement is the conceptual framework of the project (WP1), to which various consortium members (researchers and practitioners) contributed theory primers. These provide information and resources on concepts used in the project. Communication actions on the conceptual framework included its publication on the projectâ€™s website, writing practice abstracts to highlight the value that various concepts may have for practice and to incite more people to read science.

A major outcome of the conceptual framework is a model of the role of advisory services at different stages of farmersâ€™ decision-making (fig. 2), following key concepts of the Triggering Change Cycle: i) in â€˜triggeringâ€™ change processes, ii) during active assessment of innovation options, and iii) during implementation of innovations. We assess the role of advice vis-Ã -vis other sources of knowledge, but also which advisory organisations play which role, and with which method. AgriLink develops the key concept of microAKIS: the knowledge-system that farmers personally assemble, including the range of individuals and organisations from whom farmers seek services and exchange knowledge with, the processes involved, and how they translate this into innovative activities (or not).
The Triggering Change model and the microAKIS concept were operationalized into the WP2 methodology. A case study approach was adopted to cover a diversity of rural and agricultural contexts (in 26 regions) and in various innovation areas. More than 900 farmersâ€™ interviews have already been completed. Presuming no simple relations between sustainable development and innovation, both farmers who adopted innovations and those who did not were interviewed, to investigate how advisory services help farmers arbitrate the possible trade-off between innovation and sustainable development. The various tools used to implement a complex methodology, combining qualitative and quantitave approaches, in a multi-actor perspective, include a wiki to share ideas and first results, and webinars and tutorials on interviewing process and data management. In an open science perspective, a detailed research protocol was written for application of AgriLinkâ€™s methodology beyond the project.
Another achievement is the launch in WP3 of its six LLs. Their codesign approach supports the development of service innovation for farmers, ranging from technological innovation based on digitalisation to social and organisational innovations. LLs involve five core principles: i) co-creation, ii) active user involvement, iii) real-life setting, iv) multi-stakeholder participation, and v) multi-method approach. At this initial stage, a dialogue between AgriLink partners and potential stakeholders of the LLs was launched to assess the needs and stakes for developing the lab. Facilitators and monitors of LLs were trained during workshops (picture 1) on facilitating a meeting, system thinking, brainstorming and stakeholder analysis. WP3 developed a toolbox to facilitate the early stages of the LL process (table 1).
The recently started WP4 has so far derived a methodology from the conceptual framework to analyse the regimes that shape the functioning of advisory services. Identifying advisory regimes in different European countries will later feed the WP5, which will find potential transition scenarios of advisory services towards more effective support to sustainable development of agricultures.
WP6 has fostered the participation of advisors and policy makers in AgriLinkâ€™s activities by enrolling them in the review process of Practice Abstracts and by ensuring a continuous and active presence in the SCAR-AKIS-SWG.

Final results

It is still early to assess the potential impact of the project, but interactions between WPs will ensure some progress beyond the state of the art.
- WP2-WP4 interactions will help understand the potential effects of advisory regimes on the contribution of advice to innovation (e.g. does public policy support to back-office activities reinforce the capacity of advisory organisation to assess positive and negative effects of innovations for farmers? e.g. are funding schemes relevant to compensate for inequalities of access to services?). Reciprocally, what are the consequences of the transformation of advisory landscapes (new players, services, technologiesâ€¦) on advisory regimes? This will impact the literature on both advisory services and farmersâ€™ decision making and enable the production of massive empirical knowledge to support interactions with practitioners and policy makers.
- WP3-WP4 interactions will help assess the effects of contexts on the success or difficulties of co-innovation strategies (namely the LLs ). The first stages of LLs revealed that building trust between partners as a foundation for codesign represents a different journey in different countries. AgriLink will not only produce a â€œtoolboxâ€ to facilitate these journeys, but also open a debate on how context plays on the development of interactive innovation. The project will thus support both codesign thinking for the development of new advisory services, and critical thinking on consequences of the generalisation of such approaches.