i2connect

GOAL: EMPOWER ADVISORS AS WELL AS THEIR ORGANISATIONS TO ENGAGE FARMERS AND FORESTERS IN INTERACTIVE INNOVATION PROCESSES

 

SUMMARY

The i2connect project aims to enhance the skills of advisors who support interactive innovation in European agriculture and forestry. It focuses on raising awareness, providing new tools and methods, and motivating and organizing advisors to foster bottom-up innovation. Utilizing existing advisor networks, the project seeks to create a broader network to drive change and achieve the EIP 2020 target of forming 3,500 operational groups.

An inventory of current advisory practices will be conducted, updating previous work by Pro-AKIS. Best practices across Europe will be analyzed and used to develop training materials. Trainers will be prepared to coach advisors, and efforts will be made to create an enabling environment for interactive innovation, involving managers, researchers, and policymakers.

The project supports learning through courses in multiple European languages, including peer coaching and cross-visit studies. A professional network, supported by an online platform, will facilitate mutual coaching and experience sharing. The network also connects actors in the enabling environment and new advisor education. An online infrastructure will support communication and the sharing of materials, analyses, and stories to raise awareness of interactive innovation processes.

i2connect involves 42 organizations, primarily focused on rural and food system innovation across Europe, with a strong presence in Central and Eastern Europe. The consortium, speaking 16 languages, is committed to continuous learning and improving advisory support, leveraging the EIP program to bridge the gap between research and practice.

 

OBJECTIVES

The project’s overall objective is to “Empower advisors as well as their organisations to engage and support farmers and foresters in interactive innovation processes”.

To reach this overarching goal, our three specific objectives are:

Objective 1: To strengthen the skills, competencies and attitudes of advisors to support interactive innovation, by: identifying and sharing best practices, developing tools and methods, training, and organising peer to peer learning & networking.

Objective 2: To enhance and profile the role of advisors in interactive innovation processes, at different scales: by a better understanding of the AFKIS at country level, by identifying providers of advisory services across Europe, by creating an enabling environment within advisory services, by better connecting and embedding advisory services within the AFKIS and by appropriate public policies.

Objective 3: To create a social support network and a networking culture among advisors facilitating innovative innovation processes. In particular, emphasis will be given to ensure that advisors in Central and Eastern European countries make use of the opportunities being created in the project.

 

METHODOLOGY AND APPROACH

Overall concept

The i2connect project adopts a multi-level networking and peer-to-peer learning approach to enhance advisor competencies in innovation. Drawing from human resource development, innovation studies, and organizational research, the project focuses on fostering knowledge, practices, skills, and competencies that support innovative change in agriculture and forestry. Aligned with the objectives of a Coordination and Support Action (CSA), i2connect aims to facilitate the transition towards sustainable intensification, climate-smart production, and balanced rural development. The concept for addressing innovation advisors is structured into three dimensions to effectively achieve these goals (Figure 1):

 

Interactive Innovation Dimension: Focuses on advisors engaging in multi-actor settings to support interactive innovations. This involves facilitation, networking, knowledge access, resource provision, and addressing client/group needs. Operationalized through field reviews and cross-visits.

Professional Community of Practice Dimension: Involves advisors using professional networks for learning and self-development through peer-to-peer learning, coaching, and cooperative relations. Learning activities cater to individual needs, emphasizing experiential learning to apply knowledge practically. Operationalized through training events, pilot projects, and reflective sessions.

Enabling Environment Dimension: Concerns the organizational management and institutional frameworks supporting advisors in their innovation roles. Includes policies and infrastructures sustaining innovation processes within AFKIS. Operationalized through excellence classes, summer schools, and stakeholder workshops.

These dimensions serve as guiding frameworks for partners to analyze project experiences systematically, ensuring effective understanding and documentation of insights.

 

Overall methodology

As a Coordination and Support Action (CSA), i2connect employs a multi-actor learning and networking methodology to empower advisors and advisory organizations in supporting interactive innovation. This approach emphasizes the exchange of knowledge and collaborative actions among diverse stakeholders with varying competencies and interests. i2connect unites farm and forestry advisors, support staff, researchers, university lecturers, and public administrators from across Europe. The project utilizes a multi-level networking and peer-to-peer learning strategy, focusing on four core methodologies (figure 2): 

• conducting field reviews of best interactive innovation practices, 
• offering targeted and regularly updated training programs, 
• facilitating cross-visits to explore innovation support best practices in Europe, and 
• employing reflective practices to systematically capture project insights and learning experiences.

 

 

PARTICIPANTS

 

EXPECTED IMPACTS

Expected Impact 1 (EI1): improving networking and peer-to-peer learning of advisors, stimulating the interactive role of advisors to boost innovation and providing a set of best practices for advisors, thereby building an advisory network covering the EU in a balanced and comprehensive way

Expected Impact 2 (EI2): enhancing the impact of advisors on the strengthening of knowledge flows between scientific research and practical implementation for more productive and sustainable agricultural practices and rural development;

Expected Impact 3 (EI3): improving education by developing efficient material and dedicated training systems for advisors that help to preserve practical knowledge in the long-term, and by delivering a substantial number of “practice abstracts” in the common EIP-AGRI format, including audio-visual material.”

What is interactive innovation?

The OECD defines innovation as the implementation of new or significantly improved products, processes, marketing methods, or organizational practices. The European Commission, in its EIP agri guidelines, expands on this, describing innovation as successful new ideas that can be technological, non-technological, organizational, or social. These ideas may involve new or traditional practices adapted to new contexts and become innovations when widely adopted and proven effective. The guidelines also promote interactive innovation, where ideas emerge through collaboration among stakeholders such as farmers, advisors, NGOs, and researchers, facilitating faster adoption and adaptation of practical solutions tailored to specific circumstances.

 

SEASN’s INVOLVEMENT IN THE PROJECT

In this project, SEASN serves as a primary beneficiary for several work packages. We lead Task 2.3, where our role involves collecting successful practical cases for field review within Work Package 2. Our primary responsibilities lie in Work Package 4, particularly in Task 4.2, where we lead the organization and execution of cross-visits for 80 advisors. Following these visits, we will provide a comprehensive final report. Additionally, we are responsible for Work Package 5, specifically Task 5.9, where SEASN will organize international events, including the second and final i2connect conference. We will also actively participate in organizing Regional Stakeholder Workshops, which aim to introduce Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation Systems (AKIS) from different countries of the project partners. Final reports will be provided for both the conferences and workshops.