Enhancing knowledge flows and skills

Enhancing knowledge flows and skills for future challenges

Farmers, foresters and rural communities are in urgent need of knowledge, innovations, and skills that can help them tackle the challenges of today and tomorrow. It is essential to strengthen the links between research and practice and to rapidly disseminate the research and innovations developed under EU-funded Research and Innovation (R&I) programmes (and beyond) to ensure that (end-) users can deploy it on the ground at a wider and faster pace to deliver on the objectives and targets of the European Green Deal and common agricultural policy (CAP).  

Horizon Europe has increased resources and tools dedicated to enhancing human capital and innovation systems, ensuring dissemination and coordination at European level. Central to this is the support to Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation Systems (AKIS). Through EU R&I programmes, AKIS accelerates innovation and the practical application of research, fostering interactive innovation and co-ownership of results.  

R&I efforts are supported for and with (end-) users through multi-actor projects, speeding up the sharing of knowledge and uptake of innovation in practice. 

Research in action

Harnessing the power of involving all actors

A multi-actor approach makes the R&I process and its outcomes more reliable, demand-driven, shared and relevant to society through genuine and sufficient involvement of a targeted array of relevant scientific and practice actors, who contribute complementary knowledge to address specific research objectives.

• The PREMIERE project offers support to help set-up more effective multi-actor projects in a co-creative manner, including trainings, questions and answers (Q&A) sessions, webinars and more.  
• Good practices to foster interactive innovation via multi-actor approach across a range of projects (for example thematic networks, Operational groups) have been developed by LIAISON.

Thematic networks: bringing knowledge to users

Thematic networks are multi-actor projects which collect existing knowledge and best practices on a specific theme, ensuring its dissemination across the EU in easily understandable formats for end-users such as farmers, foresters, advisors, consumers and others.  

So far, 65 thematic networks were funded under both Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe programmes. Ongoing examples include:

• The ResAlliance project engages with Mediterranean farmers and foresters to share knowledge and foster landscape resilience, focusing on climate change hazards. The project creates a Mediterranean thematic network on landscape resilience for forestry and agriculture.  
• The OH-FINE project (Organic Farming Innovations Network Europe) aims to empower European farmers and smallholders by defining, enhancing, and transferring effective and competitive organic farming knowledge and alternatives. It will establish a pan-European organic farming learning community.
• FarmBioNet unites experts and stakeholders across Europe to address biodiversity-friendly farming practices with the aim of spreading practical, context-specific knowledge  at national and European-level networks.

Check out the complete list of thematic networks to find out more about each project.

Thematic networks building on Operational Group results

A number of Horizon Europe thematic networks specifically build on results from Operational Groups. The Operational Groups involved in these networks can complement their knowledge and share valuable project results more widely across the EU. 

• AQUAGRI-KNOW aims to improve EU on-farm water management by leveraging EIP-AGRI groups' insights and addressing water scarcity through strategies focused on efficient use, smart crops, soil-water interactions, and reuse.
• Soil-X-Change accelerates the sharing and co-creation of sustainable soil and farm management practices by harmonising data and disseminating innovative solutions.
• CLIMED-FRUIT, gathering practical insights and technical recommendations from Operational groups across Europe on how to adapt cultivation of perennial Mediterranean crops for climate change resilience;  
• Oper-8 seeks to unlock the full potential of Operational Groups on alternative weed control, by collecting, analysing, validating, and widely disseminating non-chemical weed solutions 

Advisory networks: connecting advisors across Europe

Advisors play a key role in steering and influencing farmers’ decisions. Advisors should be able to translate the research results into concrete opportunities for the end users and adapt those to specific local circumstances. Introduced under Horizon Europe, Advisory Networks are a tool introduced to connect advisors across all EU countries and help them stay up to date with the latest developments.  

The advisory networks facilitate the exchanges between farm advisors across the EU, increasing the speed of knowledge creation and sharing, capacity building, demonstration of innovative solutions.  

Some ongoing initiatives: 

• ClimateSmartAdvisors is a pan-European initiative to mobilise agricultural advisors across 27 countries to find ways to adopt climate-smart (CS) farming practices, focusing on strengthening the advisors’ capacity in providing CS advice and boosting the advisors’ role in the transition towards CS farming through their involvement in innovation projects.
• OrganicAdviceNetwork builds a network of advisors specialising in organic farming, offering online and in-person training, peer exchanges and resources to support the transition and growth of organic agriculture.  
• AdvisoryNetPEST aims to establish and upgrade a network of advisory services across the EU, increasing the knowledge sharing between advisors, and among the whole AKIS, and the adoption of innovative solutions to reduce pesticides by farmers.
• STRATUS focuses on integrated fertilisation management, connecting advisors to accelerate knowledge sharing and application of best practices for soil fertility and reduced nutrient losses.
• NBSOIL will design a blended learning programme to mainstream knowledge and help soil advisors implement a holistic vision of soil health.

Some thematic and advisory networks have joined forces to create the AdvisoryAgriHub, a one-stop resource hub for agriculture and forestry advisors.  

Check out the full list of advisory networks.

Supporting directly AKIS implementation across EU

In order to foster a better AKIS at EU level, Horizon has also funded a set of specific projects in support of EU countries for the implementation of AKIS.  

• MODERNAKIS contributes to an efficient and effective AKIS at national level by supporting the development and implementation of AKIS strategies by the Member States’ coordination bodies.  
• ATTRACTISS aims to improve & embed competencies, approaches, instruments and governance models for Member States AKIS and specifically for Innovation Support Services (ISS) as a crucial AKIS actor.  
• The EU-Farmbook is building an EU-wide online platform that will serve as a knowledge reservoir, bringing together all the practice-oriented outcomes and materials generated by Horizon projects, EIP-AGRI Operational Groups and beyond in one place, to make this knowledge accessible to all.