The main focus of Ploutos was on developing the Sustainable Innovation Framework (SIF) and the key approaches and principles of its three core pillars (behaviour innovation, sustainable collaborative business model innovation and data driven technological innovation), launching the 11 SIPs and supporting them in co-creating, applying and validating the different sustainable innovations. The SIF was successfully developed and improved throughout the project. A number of key results were developed in the context of each of three core pillars:
1. Behavior innovation: The values, drivers and barriers concerning sustainable innovations in the agri-food value chain, were elaborated in collaboration with actors from the ecosystem.
2. Sustainable business model innovation: A key result is an approach for collaborative sustainable business model innovation (SCBMI), which supports agri-food actors in analyzing their context and designing and evaluating new business models. Furthermore, an approach for the valorization of data and digital services has been developed.
3. Data-driven technology innovation: A set of innovative data sharing mechanisms was developed, together with a common data model, namely the Ploutos Common Semantic Model (PCSM), to facilitate data sharing and interoperability.
The 11 SIPs have been launched, engaging the actors of >26 agri-food value chains across 13 (Greece, Italy, France, UK, Germany, Belgium, Spain, Ireland, Slovenia, Cyprus, Netherlands, Serbia and North Macedonia) in the co-creation, implementation and testing of different sustainable innovations. The SIPs were supported in their innovation process through the PIA, where experts representing the 3 core pillars of the SIF are offering guidance to the SIPs’ actors through 149 co-creation workshops and webinars as well as through an online support mechanism.
A total of 759 actors (farmers, advisors, food processors, etc) were engaged in piloting activities, in 2 annual rounds. All 96 sustainable innovations that were tested in the context of these activities, were evaluated as capable of increasing sustainability performance and cooperation within the targeted agri-food value chains. The results of each SIP were presented in the context of 41 demonstrations events to >4300 interested stakeholders.
As a way to support the replication of the project results, 18 practical guidelines, training materials and recommendations were developed. In this context, a set of Policy Recommendations have been identified and validated, focusing on two closely linked categories:
1. Policy Recommendations for Rebalancing the Agri-Food Value Chain
2. Policy Recommendations for Enabling the Uptake of Digital Technologies in the Agri-Food Sector
The Ploutos’ dissemination strategy focused on presenting the project results through both relevant events and social media. A total of 107 events were either attended or organised by Ploutos. Especially in the context of the Ploutos-led events, we were able to attract >4280 participants from different target groups and explain how Ploutos results can change the way we think agriculture. In terms of social media, due to the highly engaging material, the Ploutos community now counts of >1680 followers. In terms of exploitation, 28 exploitable results were identified, which have different commercial and/or non-commercial exploitation paths. Furthermore, a total of 7 business plans and a business case were defined for the key commercial results and validated with the relevant actors.
