Open-source, interactive database for farmers and foresters goes online A newly launched online platform for agricultural knowledge invites contributions to further Europe’s transition to sustainable farming and forestry. Food and Natural Resources © Worawut/stock.adobe.com The EU-funded EU-FarmBook project has launched an online platform that makes it easy to look for and share practical knowledge about forestry and farming. To support the transition to sustainable agriculture and forestry, this digital multilingual meeting place aims to help farmers, foresters and other rural actors find innovative solutions to the daily challenges they face. Before the platform went online, an exclusive first look was offered to EU project coordinators and agricultural journalists as well as EU, regional and national policymakers at a pre-launch event held on 8 February 2024. The event was broadcast live from the studio of EU-FarmBook project partner European Forum for Agricultural and Rural Advisory Services, Latvia. Participants were introduced to the platform and informed about its importance and benefits. The project’s technical team then demonstrated the material upload process and the platform’s current features and planned future improvements. The initial contributions to the platform are practice-oriented materials from EU-funded research and innovation projects. “We have been working towards this moment and are now looking forward to many contributions,” commented Prof. Pieter Spanoghe of EU-FarmBook project coordinator Ghent University, Belgium, in a press release. In addition to ordinary documents, contributions can be in the form of slideshows, audio files, videos, apps, data sets and images. Contributors can upload materials on forestry, crop farming, livestock, environment, society and economics in any European language they choose. Users are able to refine their search for information by selecting the resource types, topics, sub-topics and countries they are interested in, as well as the projects whose results they are looking for. These materials can help farmers and foresters meet their practical needs and deal with future challenges. They can also provide valuable insight to policymakers, researchers, advisors, educators and students. Training for sustainability EU-FarmBook is holding three online training sessions in May 2024 to facilitate use of the platform. The first session will provide contributors with support in uploading practice-oriented materials. The second session will focus on connecting Horizon project platforms with the EU-FarmBook platform through practical guidance and case studies. The third training session aims to promote interoperability with regional-, national- and sector-level online platforms. Anyone interested in attending any of the sessions can request more information by filling in the form available at this link. The EU-FarmBook (EU-FarmBook: supporting knowledge exchange between all AKIS actors in the European Union) platform makes knowledge easily findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable for Europe’s agricultural and forestry communities, in line with FAIR – findability, accessibility, interoperability and reusability – data principles. Information on how to become a contributor is available on the project website, which describes a contributor’s importance: “The EU-FarmBook platform thrives on the dedication and expertise of its contributors. They are the driving force behind the platform’s success, shaping it into a vibrant hub of knowledge and collaboration. Their valuable contributions, be it in the form of content, discussions, or insights, fuel the growth and effectiveness of the platform. We deeply appreciate and rely on the commitment and passion of our contributors in making the EU-FarmBook community a valuable resource for all.” For more information, please see: EU-FarmBook project website Keywords EU-FarmBook, sustainable, agriculture, farming, forestry, farmer, forester, online platform, training
