AdviosryNetPEST
SUMMARY
OBJECTIVES
Objective 1: To develop an EU network of advisors, covering 27 MSs and the UK, fostering the sharing of knowledge and practical solutions among advisors and the self-organization and sustainability of the networks.
Objective 2: To identify, select and analyse 93 NAs to RURP, across 4 Crop Sectors and 4 EU Regional Clusters, and to foster their adoption through adaptation to different contexts.ž
Objective 3: To exchange knowledge on the NAs to RURP at national and EU level, scaling them up through a series of targeted and tailored measures – cross visits, farm demos, training and education events, brokerage events.
Objective 4: To link the network with other projects, initiatives, and policy makers, increasing the knowledge flows across the AKIS and the CAP Networks, at EU and national level, and provide policy recommendations.
Objective 5: To communicate, disseminate and exploit the results and outcomes of the project through relevant networks and across all EU MSs, ensuring their accessibility and uptake in the long-term.
METHODOLOGY AND APPROACH
Mixed Approach to NA Development:
AdvisoryNetPEST adopts a dual strategy of bottom-up and top-down approaches to meet farmers’ needs effectively across regional, national, and international levels. The bottom-up approach focuses on establishing local advisor networks within Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation Systems (AKIS) in partner countries, selecting grassroots Novel Agricultural Practices (NAs), analyzing their fundamentals, and validating their acceptability through regional cross visits. Concurrently, the top-down approach identifies NAs from existing initiatives like EIP-AGRI OGs and thematic networks, compiling a comprehensive inventory at regional, national, and EU levels. This multifaceted, interdisciplinary approach ensures a robust framework for developing and implementing innovative solutions.
Gradual Networking for Long-term EU Impact:
AdvisoryNetPEST aims to build and sustain a wide-reaching EU network of advisors specialized in Rural Pest Management (RURP), integrating regional and national networks. Recognizing the need for enhanced advisor capabilities across Europe, the project emphasizes governance measures and networking activities to foster connectivity and cross-fertilization. Through workshops, meetings, and engagement initiatives at regional, national, and EU levels, the project aims to embed advisor networks within AKIS frameworks and integrate them into the broader innovation ecosystem. This strategic approach lays the groundwork for long-term sustainability and effective utilization of Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) measures.
Identification, Selection, and Validation of NAs:
Central to AdvisoryNetPEST is the rigorous process of identifying, selecting, analyzing, and validating Novel Agricultural Practices (NAs) for Rural Pest Management. Guided by a Scientific and Technical Working Group (STWG), the project employs a dual approach—bottom-up sourcing from National Networks (NNs) and top-down identification from EU-level sources. Selected NAs undergo comprehensive feasibility analyses encompassing technical, economic, social, and environmental dimensions, culminating in field validation through cross visits. This iterative process ensures the relevance, applicability, and scalability of NAs across diverse agricultural contexts.
Fostering Adoption through NA Adaptation:
The project prioritizes the critical evaluation and adaptation of NAs to facilitate their adoption within the European agricultural landscape. Through EU regional cross visits and multi-actor engagements, feedback from stakeholders refines and contextualizes NAs, addressing behavioral, value chain, and territorial barriers. These insights are incorporated into well-documented case studies, enhancing their relevance and applicability across different regions and sectors. The approach ensures that NAs are tailored, context-based solutions supported by comprehensive stakeholder input.
Scaling Up NAs Across the EU:
AdvisoryNetPEST undertakes a series of scaling activities to promote widespread adoption of Novel Agricultural Practices (NAs) for Rural Pest Management (RURP) throughout Europe. This includes empowering advisors with technical and soft skills through cross visits, training events, and farm demonstrations organized at regional and national levels. Collaborations with EU advisor networks and educational institutions strengthen capacity-building efforts, ensuring advisors are equipped to effectively disseminate and replicate NAs. The project’s comprehensive scaling strategy aims to maximize impact across diverse agricultural sectors and geographic regions within the EU.
PARTICIPANTS
AdvisoryNetPEST aims to establish a robust EU-wide network of advisors specializing in Rural Pest Management (RURP), encompassing all 27 EU Member States and the UK, along with diverse pedo-climatic regions and crop sectors. With 19 partners representing various stakeholders across Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation Systems (AKIS), the project focuses on identifying and adapting Novel Agricultural Practices (NAs) for widespread adoption throughout Europe. Emphasizing multi-actor collaboration, AdvisoryNetPEST integrates advisors, farmers, and stakeholders to share technical expertise across regional, national, and European levels. Nationally, the project engages 14 countries in creating advisor networks specialized in specific Crop Sectors such as Arable, Vineyards, Orchards, Horticulture, soft fruits, and ornamental plants, selected based on production area and economic significance. Additionally, structured into four EU Regional Clusters (South-West, North-West, South-East, North-East), aligned with pedo-climatic zones, the project facilitates knowledge exchange tailored to local contexts, enhancing scalability and adoption by farmers. A twinning approach pairs each National Network with an Associated Network, promoting collaboration across EU regions with similar agricultural and linguistic contexts. This strategy ensures comprehensive coverage and effective knowledge dissemination, supported by targeted activities spanning networking, training, and policy integration across all project phases.
IMPACT/OUTCOMES
Expected OUTCOME #1. Progress towards the most urgent policy objectives linked to Cluster 6, as well as the European Green Deal, and in particular the Farm to Fork Strategy, the new CAP, and the sustainable carbon cycles communication, with a view to increasing the sustainability of farming, helping to raise awareness, and tackling societal challenges, including climate change, and helping to RURP.
Expected OUTCOME #2. Supported implementation in MSs of the CAP cross cutting objective of modernising the sector by fostering and sharing of knowledge, innovation and digitalisation in agriculture and rural areas, and encouraging their uptake.
Expected OUTCOME #3. Development of interaction with regional policymakers and of a potential EU network to discuss institutional challenges to the reduction of pesticide use and the associated risks in practice, such as bottlenecks, lock-ins, political inertia, ambiguous regulations, inequality between MSs and power imbalances.
Expected OUTCOME #4. Production of supporting services & materials to facilitate RURP, including knowledge networks and peer-to-peer counselling, master classes, advice modules, communication and education materials, effective business models for farm management with less pesticides, and other risk mitigation tools and measures.
Expected OUTCOME #5. Speed up of the introduction, spread and implementation in practice of innovative solutions related to pesticide use and measures to reduce risks and pollution from pesticides, in particular by a) creating added value by better linking research, education, advisors and farming practice and encouraging the wider use of available knowledge across the EU and b) learning from innovation actors and projects, resulting in faster sharing and implementation of ready-to-use innovative solutions, spreading them to practitioners and communicating to the scientific community the bottom-up research needs of practice.
SEASN’s INVOLVEMENT IN THE PROJECT
SEASN’s role in this project, as a beneficiary involves disseminating project results through various channels. We will create and provide articles for specialized media, practice abstracts for advisors, short videos, digital newsletters, and open-access scientific papers.