The European equine sector, a vital component of rural economies and agricultural landscapes, faces numerous challenges in the 21st century: economic pressures, environmental concerns, and the need for improved animal welfare practices. EUnetHorse, launched in March 2023, aims to address these issues by enhancing the resilience and performance of equine farms across Europe. This initiative brings together nine European countries to identify the pressing needs of equine farmers, propose innovative solutions, and facilitate knowledge exchange within the industry. By focusing on socio-economic performance, equine health and welfare, and environmental sustainability, EUnetHorse seeks to create a more robust and adaptable equine sector. EUnetHorse project addresses the critical challenge of fragmentation within the European equine industry. This initiative aims to create a cohesive structure across nine participating countries, fostering knowledge sharing and best practices among equine farmers. The project started with a needs assessment, engaging stakeholders through over 40 interviews in each country. This process revealed a diverse range of challenges faced by equine farmers. Building on this foundation, EUnetHorse focuses on identifying existing knowledge and best practices. Bibliography work, exchanges with other projects and breeders from different countries have been conducted. These activities serve to reveal practical solutions already implemented in the field. In total, more than 1000 have been identified. Analysis from participating countries has led to the identification of nine priority needs at the European level, categorized into socio-economic issues, environmental sustainability, and equine health and welfare concerns. This categorization provides a framework for assessing the global impact of various solutions and guides strategies for addressing key challenges within the industry. To disseminate the assessed solutions, EUnetHorse plans to implement dissemination activities to present findings to farmers, trainers and advisors through demonstration days and training sessions. The project will elaborate a training kit and conduct dissemination activities for trainers, and advisors. This will provide them with "ready to use" content to present solutions effectively, ensuring that the knowledge reaches a wider audience beyond direct project participants.Another important aspect of EUnetHorse is to work, during 4 years, to the establishment of a trainers and advisors network across Europe. This network will ensure that project results continue to be disseminated beyond the project's lifetime. Communication activities are planned to increase the project's visibility, mobilize farmers, trainers, and advisors, and ensure that solutions are available and known to a large public. This will help in maximizing the reach and impact of the project's findings.
Implementing these activities, EUnetHorse is expecting to have an impact on the equine indsutry:1) Thanks to networking activities, EUnetHorse aims to improve governance models enhancing decision-making processes, stakeholder engagement, and innovation in each participating country. By developing more effective governance structures, the equine sector can better respond to challenges and opportunities.2) Enhanced Sustainability and Competitiveness: Through the deployment of digital technologies, EUnetHorse seeks to increase the sustainability and competitiveness of equine farms. 3) Effective Stakeholder Engagement: The project focuses on more efficiently engaging all relevant parties in the equine sector. This inclusive approach ensures that diverse perspectives are considered in the development and implementation of solutions.4) Strengthened Science-Policy Interfaces: EUnetHorse works towards improving the connection between scientific research and policy-making, particularly in relation to achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This alignment will help ensure that the equine sector contributes positively to broader sustainability objectives.
