Multi-actor collaboration dynamics and capacity building network inside and between AKIS to foster the upscaling of SFSCs across Europe

Project Information

EU4Advice

Grant agreement ID: 101059911

DOI

10.3030/101059911

EC signature date 7 June 2022

Start date 1 October 2022

End date 30 September 2027

Funded under

• Food, Bioeconomy Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment

Total cost

€ 3 809 059,25

EU contribution

€ 3 809 059,25

Coordinated by

INNOGESTIONA AMBIENTAL SL
Spain

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - EU4Advice (Multi-actor collaboration dynamics and capacity building network inside and between AKIS to foster the upscaling of SFSCs across Europe)

Reporting period: 2022-10-01 to 2024-05-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

In line with the new CAP post2020, the F2F Strategy and the Green Deal, the EU4Advice Project will build a network of dedicated advisors throughout the 27 MS and develop methodologies and tools, with the ultimate aim of fostering the upscaling of short food supply chains (SFSCs) across Europe. SFSCs are a mean for producers bargaining power and to improve their position within the value chain and for consumers to increase their options towards a more transparent, trustable and fair food buying experience. However, as identified by previous projects, several political and socioeconomic barriers and gaps are hindering the development of Short Food Chains. Among these, EU4Advice focuses on three central ones: the need for improved knowledge and innovation transfer, for support of horizontal and vertical cooperation and networking, and for the adaptation of some key aspects of the regulatory frameworks affecting their development.
In this context, EU4Advice is designed with the following main objective: to settle the foundations and structures required to ensure effective capacity building of SFSC actors through fluent knowledge transfer. EU4Advice aims to boost the role of advisors as catalysers of the knowledge flow from research to practice, through the creation of an EU network of advisors with knowledge and expertise on SFSC issues, and the implementation of measures towards the effective integration of SFSC advisors into national AKIS. Conceiving “advice” as an interactive and multi-disciplinary process, driven by bottom-up dynamics and peer2peer interactions, breaking away from top-down unilateral schemes of knowledge transfer.
The central results from EU4Advice will be: (1) EU network of SFSC advisors for knowledge and best practice exchange; (2) SFSC-specific training contents, tools and methods to support their development; (3) EU network of policy-makers tackling SFSC regulatory and governance barriers; (4) Policy recommendations to overcome the main regulatory barriers hindering SFSC development and enhance the integration into AKIS.
The successful implementation of EU4Advice project, will contribute to the following impacts:
• Creation of a strong SFSCs community through knowledge exchange and experience sharing within the EU network of SFSC advisors.
• Larger availability of ready-to-use knowledge and innovations, best practices and tools for upscaling SFSC initiatives, benefitting advisory services, SFSC stakeholders, municipalities, etc.
• Increased political awareness of factors hindering SFSC development and AKIS functioning and more favourable political framework for SFSC development.
• Greater knowledge of the governance of AKIS and of the changes needed for a more effective AKIS.
• Better structure and connections between SFSC advisors, researchers and policy-makers at national and EU level and higher presence of SFSC advisors in member states’ AKIS.
• Greater capacity of SFSC advisors to contact other SFSC advisors, researchers, other AKIS actors and related policy-makers, facilitating the creation and exchange of knowledge, experience and best practices, and the co-learning.
• Capacity building of SFSC advisors on the skills and knowledge needed to meet CAP requirements and the needs and challenges faced by SFSC stakeholders.
• Strengthened structures for knowledge transfer and advice on SFSC-related issues.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

During the first reporting period of EU4Advice, a mapping of SFSC advisors and AKIS stakeholders in all EU countries was carried out. 4 Living Labs focusing on SFSC issues (in Hungary, the Netherlands, Spain and Ireland) have been established (WP1), which have been crucial for the work carried out towards identifying the existing barriers, the knowledge gaps, the national AKIS position towards SFSC advisors, the characterisation of the advisors' profiles, the identification of barriers hindering the integration of SFSC advisors into AKIS, the outline of an initial path for the integration of SFSC advisory service into the AKIS, and the definition of an action plan for the constitution of a EU network of SFSC advisors (WP2). Furthermore, training needs have been identified and the design of a comprehensive training addressed to SFSC advisors is under development (WP3). Best practices on regulatory and collective governance related to SFSCs has been compiled and are being analysed with a replicability purpose (WP4). To work on these issues and suggest enhancements on policy issues affecting the development of SFSCs, an EU network of policy makers is foreseen (WP5). Much work has been done as well to update and promote the Sustainable Food System Innovation Platform and the Linkedin ‘Short Food Chain EU Community’ (WP5). In this context, close cooperation with a diversity of projects has been established, particularly with I2Connect and EUFarmBook, to create an EU wide Advisory Service Database, and Modern AKIS and ATTRACTISS, in order to contact and collaborate in the integration of SFSC advisors in the 27MS AKIS. The first reporting period has also seen a lot of effort put into setting up the project communication and dissemination channels and materials (WP6). All this has been done in close coordination with EU4A sister project COREnet (WP7), while searching at all times to maximize the project impact (WP8).

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

Through the implementation of different project activities, the following results are expected:
• An extended and dynamic network of SFSC advisors at EU level for knowledge and best practice exchange
• Integration of SFSC advisors into member states’ AKIS
• SFSC-specific contents, tools and methods, to support the development and upscaling of sustainable and empowering SFSCs
• Guidelines for SFSC advisors to provide a holistic advice to producers
• EU network of policy-makers tackling the barriers, adaptation and harmonization of SFSCs’ regulatory framework, as well as promoting the structuration of AKIS
• Policy recommendations on the main regulatory barriers hindering SFSC development and advice
• Guidelines for a more effective governance of AKIS
• Dissemination strategy and tools, adapted to different target groups

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